Messy Miranda Read Free Page A

Neela.

    Back at home after school, Miranda got a phone call from Uncle Aldo.
    â€œMiranda, have you seen my magic hat? I can’t find it anywhere.”
    Miranda felt her heart beat quickly. She swallowed hard. “Don’t you have a bunch of magic hats?”
    â€œYes, but I’ve lost my most magical hat,” he said. “One of my rabbits is still in there.” Uncle Aldo explained that he had found one of the two rabbits that fit into the hat. But the hat and the other rabbit were missing.
    â€œOh no,” Miranda said. She didn’t know what to do. If she told Uncle Aldo about the hat, he would be angry with her. Plus, Miranda’s desk would get messy again. Ms. Basil would keep her in for recess.
    Miranda needed to think about this.
    â€œI’ll look around for it,” she said. “Maybe Ben borrowed it to practice magic.”
    Uncle Aldo paused. “Really? But he was downstairs with us the whole night.”
    â€œOh,” Miranda said. “You’re right.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I will look for it, Uncle Aldo.” She hung up the phone.
    Miranda felt bad about lying to her uncle. She didn’t like telling lies, and she had been telling them all day long.
    As good as the day had been, now she was worried about the hat. Was there a real rabbit inside? If so, she would have to feed it tomorrow!
    Miranda snuck into the kitchen to find a few special treats.

Chapter Seven
    In class the next day, all Miranda could think about was the poor bunny rabbit. It would be hungry. And had she squashed it with The Biggest Book of Big Things ? She hoped not.
    First, she had to try feeding it.
    While Ms. Basil was teaching a lesson about healthy food choices, Miranda reached into her pocket and pulled out a carrot stick. She kept her eyes on the teacher and slowly slipped her hand into the desk. She felt around for the hat. There it was! Her arm vanished into the hat. It was like somebody had put a giant hole in the bottom of the desk. She stretched her whole arm in. She waited for the bunny.

    â€œMiranda?” a voice called. It was Ms. Basil.
    Miranda pulled her hand out quickly.
    â€œCan you think of a healthy food choice?” she asked.
    Had Ms. Basil seen her? Miranda started to sweat. “Uh, carrots?”
    â€œGood answer.” Ms. Basil nodded. “Who else can think of a healthy food choice?”
    â€œPizza with ice cream and gummy spiders!” Jaiden said.
    The class started to laugh.
    Miranda reached into her pocket for another carrot. She put her hand back into the desk and dropped the carrot into the hat. She took another. And another.
    â€œMiranda?” a voice called again. “What are you putting into your desk?” It was Ms. Basil.
    â€œNothing!” Miranda said. She took out her hands and held them up.
    Ms. Basil stared at her for a moment. Then she got the class to start an activity.
    Miranda didn’t know how she was going to sneak the hat out. She had to get it back to Uncle Aldo soon. Maybe she could grab it quickly when no one was looking. She was going to have to wait until recess.
    â€œI know what you’re doing,” a voice said. It was not Ms. Basil. It was Jaiden. He stood behind Miranda and peeked into her desk. “You’re putting food inside. I saw you.”
    Miranda shook her head.
    â€œYes you did.”
    â€œOkay,” Miranda said. “I did. I was saving carrots for later.”
    â€œCan I have some?” Jaiden asked.
    â€œNo, they’re for later.”
    â€œI’m so hungry,” Jaiden said. “I can’t wait for snack time.” He pushed Miranda aside and peered into the desk again. This time, his whole head fit inside it. “Wow, it really is a big desk. How did that happen? And it’s so neat too!”
    â€œJaiden, get out of my desk!” Miranda yelled. “You’re going to get in trouble.”
    Jaiden