Imagination According to Humphrey Read Online Free Page A

nighttime.”
    â€œBecause I’m not sleepy at night,” I told her.
    â€œWell, guinea pigs sleep at night, like humans,” she explained.
    â€œOh.” I was disappointed. After all, I had lots of free time at night.
    â€œIt gets awfully lonely here after school.” Gigi shivered. “At the pet store, there were so many animals, I was never alone.”
    â€œPet store ? ” I asked. “
What
pet store ? ”
    â€œPet-O-Rama,” Gigi replied.
    That word made my whiskers wiggle. “Pet-O-Rama ? ” I squeaked. “I came from Pet-O-Rama, too! Say, does Carl still work there ? ”
    â€œHe sure does,” Gigi said. “I kind of miss him.”
    â€œBeing a classroom pet is a lot more fun than living in a pet store,” I said. “You’ll see.”
    The room was getting light. It was time for me to leave.
    â€œNext time, I won’t come so late,” I told Gigi.
    â€œThanks,” she said. “Please come back again.”
    â€œI will!” I said as I scurried away.
    As I slid under the door, I heard Gigi say, “I’m sorry I thought you were a monster!”
    â€œI’m sorry I scared you!” I squeaked.
    Once I was back in Room 26, I raced for the cord of the blinds and swung up again.
    â€œShe thought I was a monster,” I told Og as I slid past his cage. “Imagine that!”
    But by the time my friends started streaming into Room 26, I was sound asleep.
    Because hamsters
often
enjoy sleeping during the day.
    MY WRITER’S RAMBLINGS I finally got an idea!
I really hoped I would.
But I still have a question:
Is it any good?

Ideas Fly

    I was wide-awake again by the time Mrs. Brisbane started to read the dragon book. The author, Cameron Cole, had invented the most clever dragon world. It was close to the human world, but we kept hearing about details that were lots more dragon-ish!
    Think of this: they didn’t need a grill to have a barbecue. Their tissues were made out of foil so they wouldn’t catch fire when they sneezed. And since they could make it rain, they had a special group of fire-fighting dragons to put out accidental blazes.
    Gil enjoyed his tour of their cloud. But one thing bothered him a lot: how could a young knight like him help his new dragon friends ?
    Everybody groaned when she closed the book.
    Helpful-Holly raised her hand. “Mrs. Brisbane, how do you think Cameron Cole got all those wonderful ideas ? ”
    â€œHe must have used his imagination a lot,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “How do
you
think the author came up with those ideas, class ? ”
    â€œHe had a gigantic brainstorm—like a hurricane!” Simon said. “Or a brain-icane!”
    My friends giggled.
    â€œMaybe he saw a real dragon,” Cassie said. I could tell she still wasn’t sure whether dragons were real or not.
    â€œMaybe he saw a bearded dragon like Pearl,” Nicole said.
    â€œMaybe he dreamed he had birds’ wings,” Rolling-Rosie said. “Like I do.”
    â€œPerhaps he did.” Mrs. Brisbane glanced at the clock. “I think this is a good time to get out your writers’ notebooks, class.”
    I was unsqueakably curious to find out what my friends had written.
    â€œMrs. Brisbane, is it okay if I changed my mind ? ” Thomas said. “I was going to fly to Egypt to see the pyramids. But then I had a better idea!”
    I wished I had as many ideas as Thomas did.
    â€œWe’re not that far along,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “I suppose so. Would you share what you wrote with us ? ”
    Thomas read from his notebook. “If I could fly like an eagle, I could go to any football game I wanted to see. I’d swoop over the stadium, following every play. I could watch one game and fly straight to another game and see it, too.”
    Somebody said, “Cool!” I think it was Simon.
    I have never been to a football game, but I have seen