Pajama Day
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur or any of its characters or content from the series. The characters and etc. from Arthur belong to Marc Brown, PBS, WGBH, and Cookie Jar (formerly CINAR).
On Friday, March 29th, in Mr. Ratburn's class, Mr. Ratburn was wearing his blue suit and his students were all wearing their casual clothes. Mr. Ratburn had an announcement to make to the students.
"Class," said Mr. Ratburn, "next Friday on the fifth of April is Pajama Day. On that special day, make sure to wear your pajamas to school, and you must wear your shoes when you are walking to different places, but you may bring your slippers to wear only in the classroom. Don't forget to bring your pillows and blankets. And don't forget to bring your own lunch, because you guys will be eating lunch in the classroom. And remember, before you go to school, have your parents or someone you know and trust to drop you off to school. Do not walk to school or ride on your bikes, because we don't want you guys to get dirty for whatever might happen to you. But if you wear your casual clothes to school or forget to bring your pillows or blankets, you will have to go to the media center to finish your homework, or just read a book if you don't have any homework. And, there will be no recess or art class tomorrow, and in place of recess is a ten-minute nap. And, for your extra credit assignment, we will be watching a movie and you guys will answer the questions about what happened in the movie. I'm also going to read to you guys a book, and it will also be an assignment for you to answer the questions. And after that, I'm going to tell you guys a story."
"Maybe I could get a ride with you to school," Francine said to Muffy.
"Deal," replied Muffy.
On Thursday on the following week, the teachers in each classroom were making the announcement for the final time.
The next morning, Arthur was getting ready for school, wearing his blue and white striped pajamas. He took off his white bunny slippers and put them in his bookbag. He then put on his socks and his red and white sneakers. Then he picked up his bookbag, his blue Bionic Bunny blanket, and a pillow that was in a blue Bionic Bunny pillowcase.
Arthur walked down the stairs and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. After he walked into the kitchen, he packed his lunch into his blue Bionic Bunny lunchbox and put his lunchbox in his bookbag. He sat at the kitchen table and poured some Bionic Bunny cereal and milk into his cereal bowl. His sister D.W. who was wearing her pink nightgown with purple polka-dots was at the table eating Mary Moo Cow cereal.
"Guess what today is?" asked Arthur.
"What?" replied D.W.
"It's Pajama Day," replied Arthur.
"Pajama Day?" said D.W. "But I thought kids at your school were never supposed to wear pajamas to school."
"But it's a special day," said Arthur. "I have to wear pajamas to school, so does everyone else. Even the teachers, the principal, and other staff members will be wearing pajamas."
"Oh," said D.W.
At Buster's condo, Buster was wearing his blue dinosaur pajamas. He took off his tan aardvark slippers and put them in his bookbag. He then put on his socks and his red and white sneakers. Then he walked into the kitchen and packed his lunch into his Bionic Bunny lunchbox and put his lunchbox into his bookbag, also. He sat down at the kitchen table to eat Bionic Bunny cereal.
At the Frenskys' apartment, Francine was wearing her white pajama top with a big red 6 on the front and sky blue and white striped pajama pants. She took off her gray cat slippers and put them in her bookbag. She then put on her socks and red and white sneakers. Then she walked into the kitchen and packed her lunch into her Bionic Bunny lunchbox and put her lunchbox into her bookbag, also. She then ate toast for breakfast.
At the Crosswires' mansion, Muffy was wearing her purple nightgown. She took off her purple princess slippers and put them in her bookbag. She then put on her socks and black Mary Janes. Then she walked into the kitchen and packed her lunch into her purple lunchbag that had a princess on it. She then ate a cinnamon roll for breakfast.
At the Powerses' house, the Brain was wearing his green sleepshirt and light blue pajama pants. He took off his brown bear slippers and put them in his bookbag. He then put on his socks and red and white sneakers. Then he walked into the kitchen and packed his lunch into his Bionic Bunny lunchbox. He then ate a cinnamon roll for breakfast.
At the Deegans' house, Prunella was wearing her blue nightgown that had white stars on them. She then took off her green alligator slippers and put them in her bookbag. She then put on her socks and orange slip-on shoes. Then she walked into the kitchen and packed her lunch into her sky blue lunchbag that had a magical fairy on it.
At the Reads' house, after breakfast, Arthur was leaving for school. He walked out the back door with his father David, and then they both stepped inside the purple 4-door station wagon. David was driving, and Arthur was sitting in the back seat.
As they reached the building, there was a line of cars dropping off the students to the front door. Prunella stepped out of her mother Wanda's sky blue 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88 sedan. In the next few cars after Wanda's car, Muffy and Francine stepped out of the black Cadillac limousine that the Crosswires' chauffeur Bailey was driving. In the next few cars after the limo, the Brain stepped out of his family's light blue 2-door coupe. In the next few cars after the Brain's family's car, Binky stepped out of his family's blue 4-door hatchback. In the next few cars after Binky's family's car, Arthur then stepped out of his family's car. In the next few cars after Arthur's family's car, Buster then stepped out of his mother's light green 2-door coupe.
After all the students were dropped off, they walked into the building. Inside the building, in the hallways, Muffy was talking to Prunella. Muffy was carrying her purple blanket with the word "Princess" in lavender cursive text and a purple and pink frilly pillow, and Prunella was carrying her blue blanket with white stars and a sky blue pillow with white stars. Buster, Francine, and the Brain were carrying the same blankets and pillows like Arthur was carrying, the Bionic Bunny ones. Sue Ellen and Fern were talking to each other. Sue Ellen was wearing a teal kimono nightgown, teal barrettes in her hair, and red sneakers. Fern was wearing purple two-piece pajamas and purple sneakers. Sue Ellen was carrying a pillow that resembled the flag of Japan and a rising sun blanket. Fern was carrying pillow with a picture of books on them and a blanket that had a picture of books on them, too. George was wearing an orange pajama top with buttons, orange pajama pants, and green sneakers. Jenna was wearing a pink nightgown and white sneakers. George was carrying a red pillow with a giraffe on it and a green blanket full of African animals. Jenna was carrying a pink pillow with a brunette girl in a purple dress and a pink blanket with flowers on it.
The students were not the only ones wearing pajamas, but the staff members were, also. Mr. Haney was wearing a red pajama top with buttons, red pajama pants, and a pair of brown slippers. Mr. Ratburn was wearing a blue pajama top with buttons, blue pajama pants, and orange slippers. Miss Sweetwater was wearing a purple nightgown and gray cat slippers with pink bows on the cats' heads. Mrs. Fink was wearing pink two-piece pajamas and black bear slippers. Mr. Marco was wearing a gray pajama top with buttons, gray pajama pants, and green slippers.
Almost everyone was wearing pajamas, but some of the students had unfortunately forgotten, and wore regular clothes instead. Binky Barnes had forgotten, Rattles Ciccone had also forgotten, Molly MacDonald had also forgotten, and the rest of the Tough Customers had forgotten. Two of the kids from Mr. Ratburn's class besides Binky had forgotten, the gray rabbit boy and the white rabbit girl with dishwater blonde hair.
When the students went to their lockers, the ones wearing pajamas took off their shoes and put them into their lockers, and took their slippers out of their bookbags and put them on their feet. Sue Ellen's slippers were a pair of white Japanese martial arts female fighter slippers, Fern's slippers were a pair of red cardinal slippers, George's slippers were a pair of tan giraffe slippers, and Jenna's slippers were a pair of white mouse slippers. They also took out their pencil boxes so that they could do their assignments.
Mr. Ratburn's students then walked into his classroom. The students stood right next to the desks that were moved all the way to the back of the classroom, waiting for Mr. Ratburn to arrive.
About half a minute after waiting, Mr. Ratburn then walked into the classroom.
"Good morning, class," said Mr. Ratburn. "Today is the day. I see all of you guys are wearing pajamas and slippers like me…except for you, Binky Barnes, and for you two, who are wearing casual clothes."
Binky, the gray rabbit boy, and the white rabbit girl looked down at their clothes and shoes in embarrassment.
"Now, for you three kids in your regular clothes," continued Mr. Ratburn, "I want you three to go to the media center, sit at a table, and copy at least 2,000 words from the dictionary working as a group."
Mr. Ratburn handed Binky a thick white dictionary leveled for grades 3-6 that had over 5,000 words, and a bunch of loose leaf paper. Binky, the gray rabbit boy, and the white rabbit girl then left the classroom and walked down the hallway and into the media center. When they entered the media center, they sat down at a wide table with four chairs that were two chairs on the opposite side of each other. The members of the Tough Customers came into the media center, also.
Back in Mr. Ratburn's classroom, Mr. Ratburn continued his announcement.
"And, on this special relaxing day, we're going to watch a movie, I'm going to read to you kids some books, and we're having lunch in this classroom like everyone else. Like I said yesterday, there is no recess today, and there is no art class today like any other Friday. Instead of recess, you guys will be taking a ten minute nap, and when the bell rings, it's time to wake up. Now, set your pillows and blankets on the floor, and crawl into your blankets."
The students then put their own pillows and blankets on the floor, and then they crawled into their blankets. Arthur was next to Buster, and the Brain was next to Buster on the opposite side of Arthur. George was all by himself. Francine was next to Muffy. Sue Ellen was next to Fern, and Jenna was next to Fern on the opposite side of Sue Ellen.
In Miss Sweetwater's classroom, the students not only brought their pillows and blankets, they also brought their stuffed animals. The students in Mrs. Fink's class did the same as Miss Sweetwater's.
None of the students in Mr. Ratburn's classroom brought their stuffed animals, since Mr. Ratburn wouldn't allow it. Right away, Mr. Ratburn walked out of the classroom, and in a minute and a half, he came back to the classroom walking in a tall cart that had a CRT TV on top and a VCR on the shelf below it. He then plugged the TV and VCR into the outlet at the front of the classroom. He then walked to his desk and picked up the VHS cassette in its case and walked over to the TV and VCR. He then turned on the TV and VCR, took the cassette out of the case, and then put it into the VCR and pressed the PLAY button. They were going to watch a movie, and it was an assignment. Mr. Ratburn then handed the students clipboards with the assignments that were two papers with fifteen questions on each one, totaling thirty questions. The students then took out their pencils and pencil sharpeners out of their pencil boxes, and signed their names and the date.
Mr. Ratburn then pressed the FF button to skip through the trailers and then pressed the PLAY button when they were almost to the movie.
As the movie was playing, the very first scene after the intro showed a monkey woman with long curly brown hair sleeping in her bed. The monkey in the movie was awakened by a loud ring of the alarm clock. She tapped the button of the clock to stop it from ringing, and stood out of bed and was wearing a purple nightgown.
After the kids watched that scene, the first question asked them how the woman felt when she was awakened by the alarm clock ringing. The answer to most of the students was startled; but according to Buster, his answer was scared.
In Miss Sweetwater's classroom, Miss Sweetwater was playing the guitar, and her students were singing along with her. The songs were all bedtime songs.
In Mrs. Fink's classroom, Mrs. Fink and her students were playing bedtime games, and she was directing the students a bunch of stuff like to hug their stuffed animals, a lot of other stuff.
Later, at 9:45 AM, the bell rang, and it was when they went to recess, but they had to take a nap for a half hour instead. Mr. Ratburn then pressed the STOP button and turned off the TV.
"All right, class, it's naptime," said Mr. Ratburn.
The students then set down their assignments that they were almost halfway through, and then they put their heads on their pillows and covered themselves into their blankets. Arthur took off his glasses and held them in his hand with his fingers locked. Mr. Ratburn set down his white pillow on the floor and unfolded his purple Spooky Poo blanket. He then sat on the floor, then put his head on the pillow, and covered himself into his blanket.
The students in Miss Sweetwater's and Mrs. Fink's classes were all sleeping, and hugging their stuffed animals. Miss Sweetwater was sleeping on the floor in her classroom with her head on a purple pillow with a gray cat on it, and underneath her purple blanket with a gray cat in a blue dress playing the guitar. Mrs. Fink was sleeping on the floor in her classroom with her head on a pink pillow with a black bear on it, and underneath her pink blanket with a black bear in a pink dress dancing.
During naptime, the students in the media center who had a discipline for not wearing pajamas could never have naps, and still had to do the work they were supposed to do.
While everyone was sleeping, they were all dreaming. Arthur imagined himself in his tree house wearing his pajamas, and with his Bionic Bunny blanket, Bionic Bunny pillows, Bionic Bunny action figures, and a TV with the Bionic Bunny VHS tapes playing. Buster imagined himself in outer space encountering aliens that looked like dinosaurs. Francine imagined herself playing kickball. Muffy imagined herself as a princess. The Brain imagined himself as a scientist. Sue Ellen imagined herself standing on the balcony over the sea in Japan. Fern imagined herself wandering under the earth. George imagined himself out in the Savannah. Jenna imagined herself in the forest.
At 10:15 AM after naptime, the bell suddenly rang.
"Wake up, class," said Mr. Ratburn. "Naptime is over. Time to get back to work and finish the movie."
"Wake up, kids," said Miss Sweetwater from her classroom. "Naptime is over. It's time to get back with our singing."
"Wake up, kids," said Mrs. Fink from her classroom. "Naptime is over. It's time to get back with our fun and games."
When the teachers told their students that naptime was over, it all happened simultaneously.
In Mr. Ratburn's class, the students then sat up and yawned. Arthur then put on his glasses. The students then picked up their assignments and pencils. Mr. Ratburn then turned the TV back on and continued playing the movie.
After the movie, the entire class was looking over their papers as Mr. Ratburn was asking the questions and each of the students would answer. After looking over, Mr. Ratburn then came by to collect the papers and corrected them at his desk. The Brain's answers were the most accurate, but Buster's weren't very good.
After Mr. Ratburn corrected the papers, he was ready to read to the class a story. It was a book about a teenager who wanted to stay up late, and the book had fifteen chapters and 124 pages.
Later at noon, when Mr. Ratburn reached to about the seventh chapter, it was time for lunch. The students walked out of their classrooms, then opened their lockers, and took their lunchboxes out of their bookbags and walked back to their classrooms.
The kids that didn't wear pajamas to school had to eat lunch in the lunchroom, and those who didn't bring their lunch also had to eat lunch in the lunchroom.
In Mr. Ratburn's classroom, the students had to sit next to a wall to eat. For the lunchboxes and lunchbags besides Arthur, Buster, Francine, Muffy, and the Brain; Sue Ellen's lunchbox was teal with martial arts fighters, Fern's lunch box was purple with books, George's lunchbox was green with a giraffe and an elephant on it, and Jenna's lunchbag was pink with a soccer player on it. When the students were about to eat their lunches, Arthur's lunchbox had an apple, a chocolate chip cookie, and a lemonade juicebox; Buster's lunchbox had a pizza, two candy bars (one chocolate and another peanut butter), two carrots, and a blueberry juicebox; Francine's lunchbox had a pear, a cherry cupcake, and a cherry juicebox; Muffy's lunchbag had a peach, two cinnamon muffins, and a grape juicebox; the Brain's lunchbox had a grape jam sandwich, a slice of chocolate cake, and a lime juicebox; Sue Ellen's lunchbox had an onigiri, a cookie with a Japanese face on it, and a cherry juicebox; Fern's lunchbox had a sandwich with peanut butter and jam, a peanut butter cookie, and a grape juicebox; George's lunchbox had a sandwich with spinach and tomatoes, a slice of Swedish coffee bread, and an orange juicebox; and Jenna's lunchbag had an apple, a slice of coffee bread, and a strawberry juicebox. Mr. Ratburn was eating an apple, a lemon, and a piece of white bread at his desk, plus he was drinking a carton of white milk.
While they were eating, the boys sat on one side and the girls sat on another. Mr. Ratburn and all of his students were wearing white chest aprons to keep their pajamas clean.
When they finished eating, they threw away all their trash. Then it was naptime again, and they all crawled into their blankets.
While it was naptime, Arthur then started dreaming of himself being held captive in a Mary Moo Cow land. He was wearing his normal clothes and was crying for help. Bionic Bunny was coming to rescue him. As Bionic Bunny arrived, he picked up Arthur and off they went. Arthur was away from the land he considered "babyish".
"Oh, thanks, Bionic Bunny!" said Arthur. "You saved my life!"
After the school's second naptime, Mr. Ratburn continued reading where he left off from the book.
As Mr. Ratburn finished the book, he passed out to his students a very quick quiz over the entire book, and the quiz was only ten questions long.
While the class was doing the quiz, Buster was struggling to think. The Brain finished his quiz in a flash.
When everyone was finished with the quiz, the whole class started going over the quiz. And then after they went over the quiz, Mr. Ratburn then started telling a story in front of the class about himself having wonderful dreams each night.
Later, the classes had their third and final naptime. Arthur then started dreaming of his house having Bionic Bunny's poses everywhere on the outside of the house and on the inside of the house.
After naptime, Mr. Ratburn continued where he left off from the story he was telling.
Later at 3:30, school was over. The students who were wearing their pajamas were all leaving. They changed back into their regular shoes before they left the door. The three students from Mr. Ratburn's class who were told to copy 2,000 words from the dictionary were about five sixths of the way, and they had to finish it on Monday.
Outside, a school bus and some cars were there to pick up the students. David arrived to pick up Arthur. Catherine arrived in her family's brown 4-door sedan to pick up her sister Francine. Rubella arrived in her sky blue 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera to pick up her sister Prunella. Mr. Powers arrived to pick up the Brain. Bitzi arrived to pick up Buster. Bailey arrived to pick up Muffy.
Sue Ellen, Fern, George, Jenna, and many other kids stepped into the school bus. Arthur stepped into his family's car, Francine stepped into her family's car, Prunella stepped into her sister's car, the Brain stepped into his family's car, and Muffy stepped into her family's limousine.
"How was school?" asked David from inside the Read car.
"School was fun," replied Arthur. "It made my day so relaxing."
"That's nice to hear," said David.
Inside the Frensky car, Catherine was in her regular clothes, and there was 1970s music playing on the radio.
"How was school?" asked Catherine.
"It was very relaxing," replied Francine.
"Cool," said Catherine.
Inside Rubella's car, Rubella was in her regular clothes, and there was 1980s music playing on the radio.
"How was school?" asked Rubella.
"So comfy," replied Prunella.
"That's great," said Rubella.
"How was school?" asked Mr. Powers from inside the Powers car.
"It was awesome and relaxing," replied the Brain.
"Good," said Mr. Powers.
"How was school?" asked Bitzi from inside her car.
"So relaxing," replied Buster. "And it made me feel fresh cozy."
"That's great to hear," said Bitzi.
Later at night, all the kids that wore pajamas to school still wore them until it was bedtime. Muffy went over to Prunella's house to spend the night.
At the Reads' house, Arthur was sitting on his father's lap on his bed, and his father was hugging him, and his mother sat next to him and his father, and she hugged him, too. Arthur's parents then stood up, and then he crawled into his bed and then his parents pulled up the covers and handed him his Bionic Bunny blanket, and then he hugged his Bionic Bunny blanket, and then his dog Pal slept on the bottom end of it. His parents then took off his glasses and set them on the dresser, and then his parents kissed him goodnight.
At the Frenskys' apartment, Francine crawled into her bed and hugged her Bionic Bunny blanket, and then her cat Nemo slept on the bottom end of it.
Monday at school, all of the students and staff were back into their regular clothes. Binky, the gray rabbit boy, and the rabbit girl from Mr. Ratburn's class still had to finish copying 2,000 of the words from the dictionary. After all, the students felt so happy they had quite a wonderful pajama day. And Arthur and his friends couldn't wait to have another pajama day for the next school year.
THE END