Jasper John Dooley, Left Behind Read Free Page B

were learning about. Everybody else had to guess what it was. They could be somebody in a story they were reading. They could be something from science or math. Jasper put up his hand for a turn, but Ms. Tosh picked Ori.
    Ori went to the front of the room and curled up into a tiny ball.
    â€œYou’re a baby!” Leon called.
    Ori didn’t move. He stayed curled up.
    â€œYou’re a rock!” Jasper shouted.
    Slowly, Ori began to uncurl and rise on his knees. Slowly, he spread his arms. Slowly, he lifted his smile to the ceiling.
    â€œYou’re a seed!” Zoë screamed. “You’re a seed growing into a plant!”
    Last week all the kids had planted beans in little pots.
    â€œYes,” Ori said, and he went back to his table.
    â€œVery good, Ori,” Ms. Tosh said.
    Jasper put up his hand to go next. He waved it so hard his arm almost fell off. But the person who guessed right always got the next turn, so Ms. Tosh picked Zoë. As soon as Zoë put her feet together and her arms straight out at her sides, everybody shouted out at the same time. Everybody knew she was the plus sign. Because everybody had shouted out at once, Ms. Tosh didn’t know who should take a turn. Jasper waved his hand again. Then he remembered he had a tissue in his pocket, the tissue he had waved to Nan with when she was going up the ramp of the ship. He took it out and fluttered it.
    â€œJasper,” Ms. Tosh said.
    Jasper was going to be Hammy. He was going to wriggle his nose and pretend to run on his wheel making the
Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
sound. But as he marched up to the front of the class stuffing the tissue back in his pocket, he remembered Nan going up the ramp of the ship and stopping to blow him kisses. He had caught them in the tissue, but now Nan’s kisses had fallen out all over the floor. All day kids would walk on them with their dirty shoes. When a reading group met on the carpet, everybody would plop their bums right down on Nan’s kisses.
    â€œJasper,” Ms. Tosh said. “We’re waiting.”
    Jasper stuck his hand under his shirt, over his three Band-Aids. Three Band-Aids weren’t enough if Nan wasn’t coming back by Wednesday to save him from Annie with the jujube eyes.
    Through the window, he saw that it was raining. On the way to school, Dad had told Jasper that if it was raining on the cruise, Nan might not be able to see any icebergs. Then why had she even gone away? Why?
    â€œJasper?”
    Jasper got down on his knees and curled up like Ori had, but not so tight.
    â€œHe’s a seed, too,” Isabel guessed.
    â€œHe’s an egg.”
    â€œHe’s a ball.”
    â€œHe’s moving!”
    Slowly, Jasper started to float across the carpet. He floated so slowly it was hard to see that he was moving at all.
    â€œHe’s a bug!”
    â€œGive us a hint,” somebody asked, but Jasper didn’t answer because icebergs can’t talk.
    â€œJasper,” Ms. Tosh said. “Can you give us a hint?”
    â€œI’m white,” Jasper said.
    â€œHe’s a snowball!”
    â€œHe’s a dirty tissue in a ball!”
    Everybody laughed.
    â€œAnother hint!”
    â€œI’m really big,” Jasper said. “I’m really big, and I can’t talk.”
    That was all Jasper would say. For a long time the kids kept trying to guess what Jasper was, but they were never right. Then Ms. Tosh asked everybody to take out their spelling books and copy the words for the week off the board. After everybody got busy, Ms. Tosh came over to the iceberg and crouched down with her warm hand on the iceberg’s back. She whispered in the iceberg’s ear, “Jasper? Is everything all right?” She rubbed his back and soon the iceberg didn’t feel so cold anymore. He could stand up and go back to his table and spell.

Chapter 4

    After school, it was still raining. Instead of going home, Jasper went to