The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney Read Free Book Online

mother opened the door. “Hello, Sayeh,” she said. “Won’t you come in?”
    Then Darek went out and knocked. Mrs. Nasiri opened the door and said, “Hello, Darek. Won’t you come in?”
    He rushed in and toddled right over to the table, shouting, “Humfy! Humfy!”
    Next, Sayeh convinced her dad to practice English with her mom.
    “What time it is?” asked Mrs. Nasiri.
    “What time is it?” Sayeh corrected her.
    Mrs. Nasiri got it right the second time. Then Dad looked at his watch. “Seven-fifteen,” he answered.
    “Would you like some tea?” Mrs. Nasiri asked.
    “Yes, please. I would like some tea,” Mr. Nasiri answered.
    Guess what? They had a tea party right on my table.
    As a reward for all their hard work, I spun my wheel as fast as my legs would go, and they all cheered.
    Later, after the lights were out, Sayeh slipped out of her room to talk to me again.
    “Thank you, Humphrey,” she whispered. “My mom says she’s ready to go to English class now. But I wish you were the teacher.”
    “So do I,” I squeaked, and I meant it.
    There were more English lessons on Sunday and Sayeh showed Darek how to clean out my cage. Suddenly, the boy began to giggle.
    “Humphrey poop!” he yelled. His English was improving, too.
    On Sunday night, Sayeh gathered her family together again.
    “I want to teach you the American song,” she said. Then she opened her mouth and began to sing, “Oh, say, can you see? By the dawn’s early light.”
    I stood up, just like we do in the classroom when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is being sung. But I’d never heard it sung like that before. Sayeh had the most beautiful voice in the world! It was like a gentle breeze . . . no, like rippling waters . . . no, it was . . . well, it was beautiful.
    If only our classmates in Room 26 could hear her!
    Which gave me the start of another idea. But I didn’t have time to think much at all. Because soon, the whole family was singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and I squeaked right along with them! Even on those high notes.
    When we got back to school on Monday morning, though, I was a little disappointed. Mrs. Brisbane asked Sayeh how things went over the weekend.
    “Fine,” said Sayeh. And nothing more.
    Like Ms. Mac said, “You can learn a lot about yourself by getting to know another species.” But boy, sometimes it’s a lot of work.
    That Monday, I sat in my cage worrying about Sayeh for quite a while before I dozed off. When I woke up, I noticed that Room 26 had changed. The bulletin board was covered with brightly colored leaves. The tops of the chalkboards were lined with big paper witches, ghosts and skeletons. Hanging from the light fixtures were black crepe-paper bats. Then I looked to my right and gasped. A horrible, huge orange face with an evil grin was staring directly at me. I jumped back, my heart pounding.
    “Hey, Humphrey, don’t you like old pumpkin head?” A.J. whispered to me from his seat nearby.
    “Look! Humphrey’s scared of a little old jack-o’-lantern,” Garth said. “Scaredy-cat. Scaredy-hamster.”
    I stood up straight and looked as un-scared as I possibly could.
    “Quiet, Garth and A.J.,” said Mrs. Brisbane. Then she quickly returned to a math problem she was writing on the board.
    Suddenly, I noticed a little movement in the center of the room. A murmur. A change. I looked over and YES-YES-YES! Sayeh had her hand up. Everyone noticed it, except Mrs. Brisbane, who had her back to the rest of us.
    “Mrs. Brisbane?” Heidi called out.
    Without turning, the teacher said, “Raise-Your-Hand-Heidi.”
    Now Heidi had her hand raised as well as Sayeh.
    “Well, what is it?” Mrs. Brisbane turned to face the class and was obviously surprised at what she saw.
    “Yes, Sayeh,” she said.
    In a loud, clear voice, Sayeh said, “May I move the pumpkin away from Humphrey’s cage?”
    Mrs. Brisbane looked from Sayeh to the cage and back.
    “Yes. I guess it is a little close. Thank you,