Meeting Miss 405 Read Online Free Page B

day. Just in case.
    Mom never answers.
    Dad and I came up with a special system. If I see a yellow stickie on our front door when I get home, I have to go on to Miss Stella’s. If there is no stickie, I know Dad is at home and I go right in. But he still does not meet me at the door like Mom would.
    I have only talked to Mom twice on the phone. Once she cried. The other time she sounded very far away. I told her about exploring Miss Stella’s apartment and learning calligraphy so I can get a star for handwritingat school. I told her that I went to Parveen’s house and ate Indian supper like the grown-ups while all the kids had pizza, and that we played with her auntie’s wedding bracelets. All forty of them!
    I told her that I miss peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for after-school snack, but that Miss Stella gives me other interesting stuff instead. But I told her not to worry. I do not have allergies. I will not fall over and get all blotchy in the face and not be able to breathe, like Devin did when he had another attack last week. Mr. Howarth saved his life again.
    I even told Mom that Mr. Howarth will never be as nice as Ms. Peters from grade four. But I like him better now that he’s saved Devin’s life twice. I know he will save mine if I ever need saving.
    I think she was listening to what I told her. But she didn’t say much at all.

    One day when I knock on Miss Stella’s door, she swings it open wide and says, “Ta-Dah!”
    She is wearing a long silky black robe over her shorts and T-shirt. When she turns around I see abeautiful fire-breathing dragon in bright yellows and oranges on the back.
    â€œWhat do you think?” she asks. Her wrinkly legs and arms are hidden in her robe. Her face is full of smiles, as if all her wrinkles were washed away.
    â€œI love it,” I say. “Are you going somewhere nice?”
    â€œNo such luck. This is pure ornament.” She opens her arms wide again and turns around slowly. “I ordered this silk kimono from Japan months ago. At my age, there’s not much to long for. But I have always wanted one, and it finally came today.”
    Today is the day I get to explore her bedroom. I feel funny on my exploring trips. But I sure like them! I did the living room and the kitchen and the dining room and the bathroom. Which means I have been coming here for four weeks.
    Each time I’m done, I practice calligraphy on a list of my favorite things:
    Kitchen
    Cheese grater
. When you wind it round and round, the cheese squirms out the middle.
    A loopy thing for hanging bananas on to get ripe.
Miss Stella hangs her shopping list from it with a bulldog clip.
    Bulldog clips
. There are lots in the drawer and you can use them for:
    1. Hanging shopping lists from the banana ripener thing
    2. Closing a bag of chips so they stay crisp for next time (We use them at home now, instead of elastic bands)
    3. Clipping wet calligraphy to the curtain rail to dry
    4. Taking the huge ones to school to threaten Devin and Ryan with (until Mr. Howarth confiscates them)
    5. Giving one away to Parveen, who wanted one but didn’t know what to do with it
    Dining room
    Calligraphy pens
. They all have different nibs. Miss Stella says they are quite cheap, so when one fell out the window and Mr. 104 ran over it in his car, she said I was not to worry.
    Two wine glasses
with colored flowers all over them. We use them for juice sometimes. I believe it tastes better that way.
    Living room
    A pottery frog
with a purple vest that used to hold Miss Stella’s grandpa’s tobacco. Now it just has asafety pin, an old movie ticket and some elastic bands. Sometimes wine gums when she wants to save some for herself. But there haven’t been any in there for ages, so she must have found another hiding place. I am addicted to wine gums now.
    The purple afghan
Miss Stella covers me with if I have to stay late. She says I could use her room, but I like to