Little Tommy Jan Sara woke up to the sound of his Mickey Mouse alarm clock/radio with the music going full blast. He forgot to put it on a reasonable volume, although he thought he did. But Tommy wanted to make sure he wouldn't sleep through his alarm, because he wanted to make it to school on time for the third grade breakfast which is held every year in honor of the third graders graduating from lower elementary and moving up to upper elementary. Walking over to his closet, he pulls out his favorite pair of jeans which have pictures of Burt and Ernie all over them. Burt and Ernie are his most favorite characters on the Sesame Street television show. He then pulls out a red plaid shirt and changes out of his pajamas to put it on. Tommy's mother is in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Tommy walks into the bathroom to say good morning to her. “Rise and shine, mommy.” “Yes, Tommy, dear. But that's something you say when you are waking someone up from his or her sleep.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” he replied. She asks Tommy to get a paper cup from the wall and hand it to her so she can rinse her mouth out. Tommy steps on the stool, gets a cup and hands it to her. He then gazes up at her face with her makeup done. “Mommy, why do you put colors all over your face in the morning?” he asks while tilting his head to the side and giving her a smile. After gargling water, Mrs. Jan Sara spits it out and dabs her lips with some tissue. Gazing down into Tommy's wide eyed expression, she explains, “Mommies like to do special things for themselves. I like to make myself pretty.”
“But you're already pretty, mommy.” Tommy replied. Stroking Tommy's cheek, she gives him a kiss. “You are a good little man.” She takes a peek at her watch. “We have ten minutes to spare.” The cafeteria is packed with third grade students and parents from corner to corner. Breakfast is a la cart. There is a huge selection of good things to eat, ranging from scrambled eggs and French toast to pancakes or waffles. There is also oatmeal and fruit along with sausage patties, and yogurt parfaits mixed with strawberries and blue berries. To drink, there is milk, grape juice, cranberry juice and orange juice for the kids. There is coffee and tea available for the parents. Mr.
Flanders, the principal, approaches the microphone on stage to greet everyone. “Parents, grandparents and children. Welcome to our Clyde Waldo Elementary tenth annual third grade breakfast. Today you're in for a special treat. There will be a slide presentation of the children performing in academics, arts and crafts. Basically their lives here at school. Then there will also be a presentation made by the children. You see, folks, each of these third grade students were asked to right up their goals in life and if they could have anything special happen to them in their lives, what would it be?”
Dolly Thomas takes the stage first, because the students are organized according to height. Her dream is to become an actress. If she could have anything in life it would be to win her very own Oscar. Tommy thought and thought about what to say, but all he wanted out of life was a school where he could feel secure. A school where his peers would give him acceptance. He never really had any real friends, because the other children made fun of his physical appearance. He had two buck teeth. He tried making friends by sharing with the other students in his class. Like when he he brought two of his favorite toy trucks to school to play with at recess. The other boys were nice to him for a while, but, when Mrs. Firestone called the students and had them line up to go back inside, everything went back to normal. The teasing and torture started up again. One boy smacked Tommy in the back of the head, because he wouldn't give him the answers to a test.
Tommy ignored him by pushing his own desk forward, but the other boy only taunted him more. So finally, Tommy got up from his desk and punched the other boy in the face. Mrs. Firestone sent both Tommy and Jeffery to the office to receive detention. In the fall the kids will be split up and they will be sent to five different schools. At least Tommy would be amongst kids who will be more accepting of him. But mostly, he kept to himself on the playground, because he had a hard time trusting the other kids. After three miserable years at Clyde Waldo Elementary he needed a change so desperately. For his birthday, Tommy's parents buy him a turtle. He names him Oliver. Everyday after school, Tommy talks to Oliver and tells him stories about his day at school. “Today in language arts, we had a spelling contest.
