Times like this she wished she had a box full of animal crackers and not just the broken pieces. Maybe if she had a kangaroo or a gorilla she could make it out of the 9-foot crater she was stuck in, but unfortunately, she had neither.   

Maybe we should start from the beginning.

Melanie was in kindergarten sitting with five other classmates at their assigned table. Every day, a different student brought in a snack for the class that their parent had packed. It was Mel’s favorite part of the day because it was her chance to try all kinds of different foods. Some kids brought in sandwiches, others pastries, but her absolute favorite snacks were cookies. She was extra giddy today because the assigned student, the bubble kid, told her that his mom packed cookies. They called him the bubble kid because whenever he sneezed, bubbles the size of pool balls shot out of his nose and ears.

The teacher, Ms. Bender, and bubble kid began to pass out the treats, table by table, saving Melanie’s for last. Once Ms. Bender reached her desk, she placed 12 “cookies” in front of her on a napkin. She cleared her throat and said, “Attention class, Jeremy brought in animal crackers for today’s snack time.” Mel picked up the animal cracker with a face of disgust and began to study it.

She rose to her feet and shouted “Hey, Jeremy! I thought you said you were bringing in cookies!” The students all turned towards her and erupted into laughter. A smiling Ms. Bender quieted down the class and made her way towards Mel. “Melanie, these are cookies. Well, I guess it depends on where you’re from! It can be a cookie, a cracker, or whatever you’d like it to be.” She squeezed Mel’s shoulders and told her to try one. Melanie looked at the different animal shapes. A lion, tiger, kangaroo, sheep, and seal all laid on the napkin in front of her. She made the lion gallop across the napkin and had it roar every other step. Mel had the kangaroo jump many feet as she lifted her hands up into the air. Without playing with the next cookie, she popped it into her mouth. She felt a little strange as she chewed the cracker, but maybe it had some ingredient in it she wasn’t familiar with. She swallowed the snack and sucked her teeth to get the rest of the cracker. She looked for the next cookie, but she was no longer sitting at the table. As a matter of fact, the chair she was sitting on had broken and there appeared to be wool everywhere. The kid sitting next to Melanie screamed.

“Where’d Melanie go?” Jeremy yelled across the room. By this time, all the kids in the classroom realized that a sheep was now inhabiting their space. Several of the students ran towards the sheep in amazement grabbing its soft and curly wool. The sheep looked puzzled, as if it had no clue what was going on. It started to panic and baa, and began to run around. Ms. Bender, who was also perplexed, chased after the sheep. It zigzagged between the tables, tumbled onto the reading mat, and screamed to the top of its lungs. Everyone in the classroom covered their ears and closed their eyes when suddenly there was no more noise – just a scared crying Melanie sitting on the reading mat. Ms. Bender ran over to Melanie and embraced her. Tears dripped onto her jacket as Melanie continued to sob. “It’s okay, I’m right here,” Ms. Bender said. She got Melanie to her feet and carefully walked her back to the seat next to hers. The rest of the class stared in awe, confused at what had happened moments before. “It’s okay, let’s get you a glass of water.” Ms. Bender walked over to the water fountain to grab a cup. While the teacher’s back was turned towards Melanie, she picked up another cookie and ate it.

Collectively, the students all screamed to the top of their lungs causing Ms. Bender to quickly turn around. Now she had to deal with two broken chairs and a lion.