{"id":258,"date":"2020-02-05T10:39:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/?p=258"},"modified":"2020-02-05T10:39:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:39:18","slug":"tj-mouse-and-the-rat-pack-gang-chapter-2-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/2020\/02\/05\/tj-mouse-and-the-rat-pack-gang-chapter-2-of-3\/","title":{"rendered":"TJ Mouse and the Rat Pack Gang – Chapter 2 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A collaborative story written with Mrs. Lee’s 2008 2nd grade class at University Park Elementary in Fairbanks, AK.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 2:  The Friends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar looked at the phone\nwith a frown.  Elliot asked him what was\nwrong.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d Elliot\nasked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he said, \u201cI\u2019m\nsick\u201d,\u201d he said.  \u201cBut he told me that\nthe Rat Pack is back.  And that spells trouble\nfor our favorite snacking stadium.  We\nbetter hurry on over to the stadium quick so that we can save our future share\nof leftover popcorn and pretzels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Rat Pack?\u201d Elliot\nmoaned.  \u201cOh, those guys scare me.  The last time I saw Big Tom, he hit my\ntoenail with a shovel.  It hurt!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar sighed.  \u201cElliot, when are you going to learn that an\nelephants should not be afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m always afraid,\u201d\nElliot protested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know,\u201d Gunnar said\npatiently.  \u201cBut sometimes you just have\nto forget your fear to do what\u2019s right. \nAre you coming with me to stand before the Rat Pack?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, if I don\u2019t go with you,\nI\u2019ll have to stand on this street corner alone. \nSo I guess I\u2019m coming.\u201d Elliot said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen let\u2019s go!  And we\u2019ll pick up Hedgie and Oreo if we don\u2019t\nsee them heading to the stadium already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar and Elliot ran down\nthe street, a seven-foot gorilla and a one-ton elephant moving fast in the\ndark.  They soon passed the pet store and\nheard a familiar voice yell, \u201cCowabunga!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And they looked up and saw\nHedgie standing on the edge of a second story window in his daredevil costume\nwith his stunt helmet strapped tightly to his chin.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCowabunga again!\u201d he\nyelled.  He leapt from the window and did\ntwo somersaults before landing on his feet on Elliot\u2019s back.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go eat popcorn!\u201d he\ncried.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar and Elliot applauded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell done, Hedgie,\u201d Gunnar\nsaid.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliot gushed, \u201cOoh, Hedgie,\nI would be soooo scared to jump from that high.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hedgie bowed\ndramatically.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, well, it\u2019s nothing to a\nnaturally talented, coordinated Hedgehog like me.  Everyone knows that hedgehogs like to curl up\ninto a ball and roll.  I just add a\nlittle excitement to it.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar smiled.  \u201cWell Hedgie, maybe you can use some of that\ntalent in our battle against the Rat Pack. \nThey\u2019re back, and they\u2019re at the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d  Hedgie said. \n\u201cI thought they all got sent off to the work farm.  I\u2019ll help in any way I can.  We need to save our leftover popcorn and\npretzels.\u201d  He jumped up and down\nenthusiastically on Elliot\u2019s back. \n\u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trio started off again\nand trotted down the road.  They turned\nthe corner and passed by the bookstore where Oreo lived.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHelloooo,\u201d meowed a slow\nvoice from the dark bookstore doorway. \n\u201cGoing for some popcorn and pretzels after the big game?\u201d  Oreo slinked into the light.  \u201cI was just doing some reading and found out\nthat Americans eat 1,000 pounds of popcorn a year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, that figure\u2019s in\njeopardy right now,\u201d Hedgie cried excitedly, doing flips on Elliot\u2019s back.  \u201cWe\u2019ve got to hurry and get to the stadium\nbecause the Rat Pack is back.  Hurry,\nhurry, let\u2019s go!\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedgie did two back flips and\nthen a forward roll.  And then he jumped\ninto a handspring and vaulted onto the sidewalk besides Gunnar.  He ran over and tugged on Oreo\u2019s left\near.  Oreo hissed shrilly and batted\nHedgie away like a ball.  Hedgie rolled,\ngiggled, then grabbed Elliot\u2019s trunk, swung up to one tusk, vaulted to the\nother and then scampered up to the top of Elliot\u2019s head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShow-off,\u201d Oreo\nsniffed.  She crouched low then jumped\nonto Gunnar\u2019s broad shoulders and curled her tail around his neck.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d she said\ndecisively.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the four friends ran together towards the stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A collaborative story written with Mrs. Lee’s 2008 2nd grade class at University Park Elementary in Fairbanks, AK. Chapter 2:  The Friends Gunnar looked at the phone with a frown.  Elliot asked him what was wrong.  \u201cWhat did he say?\u201d Elliot asked. \u201cI think he said, \u201cI\u2019m sick\u201d,\u201d he said.  \u201cBut he told me that the Rat Pack is back.  … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,56],"tags":[38,37,39,36],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children","category-tj-mouse","tag-collaboration","tag-rat-pack","tag-students","tag-tj-mouse","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}