Gertie's Leap to Greatness

Gertie's Leap to Greatness Read Free Page A

Book: Gertie's Leap to Greatness Read Free
Author: Kate Beasley
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pieces, right? So I decided to try it on people. And I got a bunch of those Fourth of July balloons from the Piggly Wiggly and tied the strings to my belt loops—”
    â€œWhat did your mother say about this?” Ms. Simms asked. It wasn’t interrupting when the teacher was the one doing it.
    â€œShe likes it when I’m not in the house. Says I need the fresh air. Anyway, so I got more and more balloons until I started to feel kind of light…”
    But Gertie didn’t want to hear any more. Roy’s speech was good. Maybe too good. She was holding her shoe box to her chest and rocking it gently, when Ewan Buckley dared to interrupt.
    â€œMy mom told me you broke your arm falling down the stairs,” Ewan said.
    â€œNo inter—” began Ms. Simms.
    â€œYou hush your mouth!” said Roy at the same time.
    The class gasped.
    â€œRoy!” Ms. Simms leaped to her red high heels.
    â€œI’m sorry! I wasn’t talking to you, Ms. Simms.” Roy’s face actually turned white—something Gertie had only read about in books. “I meant Ewan! I—”
    â€œRoy, sit down. Sit down right now.”
    â€œI would never tell you to hush your mouth,” Roy said.
    Gertie let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Roy was out of the running for best summer speech.
    â€œGertrude Foy,” Ms. Simms called out.
    Several people sniggered.
    â€œIt’s Gertie.” She stood up, walked to the front of the room, and faced the class. “In this box,” she said without preamble, “is a frog.”
    The class stopped sniggering.
    Gertie set the box on the seat-stealer’s desk, and the new girl leaned back and cringed, like she was scared the frog would jump out and bite her head off.
    â€œThis frog was completely and utterly dead,” Gertie told the class. “And in the name of science, I rushed him to my aunt Rae’s kitchen. And using only everyday kitchen tools, I brought him back to life. That makes him”—she tore off the shoe box lid, grabbed the frog under his armpits, and raised him over her head—“a zombie frog.”

    The frog was lifted high, and everyone turned their faces up to see him—his long legs scrabbling against Gertie’s arms, his green-brown skin gleaming in the sunlight that streamed through the window.
    â€œGosh he’s big,” Ewan said, and Ms. Simms was so stunned by the mega awesomeness of Zombie Frog that she forgot to tell Ewan not to interrupt.
    â€œOne day,” said Gertie, “when I have a real laboratory, I’ll be bringing people back to life just like I was Dr. Frankenstein.”
    â€œHe was exactly how dead?” asked Ewan.
    It was all in the telling. “ Utterly dead. As a doornail.”
    Roy crossed his arms. “ How’d you bring him back?”
    â€œTurkey baster.”
    Roy frowned at the ceiling, thinking. Then he nodded.
    â€œCan we see him?” asked Leo.
    Gertie carried the frog around so that everyone could look straight into his resurrected eyeballs. When her classmates had appreciated him, she put Zombie Frog back in his box and snapped the rubber band around it.
    â€œThank you, Gertie,” said Ms. Simms, and she wasn’t giving anything away, but Gertie knew she had to be pleased.
    Phase One was going to be an instant success.
    After Gertie, Ella Jenkins talked about going to her grandmother’s house, which wasn’t nearly as good as a zombie frog.
    And Junior’s speech was painful to watch. “Ummm,” he said. “Well.” He chewed on his thumbnail and stared at his shoes for so long that the class started laughing again, which made his shoulders hunch.
    â€œDid you go on vacation?” Ms. Simms asked.
    Junior looked up. “Like the beach or wilderness camping?”
    â€œExactly!” Ms. Simms smiled.
    â€œNo,” said Junior, shaking his head. “No, I didn’t

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