Rain was munching on some grass by the playground when she heard Eliza call her name.
"Rain!"
The paint mare frowned upon seeing her, saying. "You've got some nerve coming back here after what happened yesterday."
"We can see you're still mad about this, but…" Darwin said, only to be cut off by Rain, who said. "Oh, I am way beyond mad."
"But if you can hear us out a mintue…" Eliza said, before Rain raised her front legs, saying. "Not this time or..."
"Put the legs down, lassie!" Toto demanded, to which Rain complied.
"Now, blaming one another is not going to help get our friend back." Toto went on.
"But, Eliza..." Rain began, but Toto finished for her, saying. "...may be the reason Spirit got caught by the rougish lot back there, aye. But...if we are to bust him out, we must learn to trust each other again. And by 'we,' I meant you and Eliza.
"Go ahead, lass." Toto said to Eliza, who said to...
"Rain, you can stay mad at me if you want to. But all I'm asking from you is to give me a chance, just one chance, to prove I can get Spirit back to you."
She extended her hand, asking. "Truce?"
Rain looked at Toto, who raised an eyebrow at her.
Looking back at Eliza, she said while raising her hoof. "We'll see where it goes from here."
As they shook, Darwin said to Toto. "You are quite the peacemaker."
"I am, aren't I?" replied Toto.
Meanwhile, I was telling the Imaginaries about my drawing and how it gave me the inspiration to fix up the wreckage from last night.
"Nathan Rosenberg, you're downright crazy if you think you're going to use me hard-earned money on some cockamamie project." Mr. Krabs said afterwards.
"Says the cheapstake who wants to charge Dorothy's rent." said Squidward.
"You stingy man!" Patrick called out.
"How do you expect us to get paid?" asked Mike.
"You?" said Mr. Krabs.
"Well, a job this big needs the right crew." explained Mike. "And I'm pretty sure the guys at Monsters, Inc. will be more than happy to help."
"Will they make it look just like the Great Bear Lodge?" I asked.
Mike and Sulley looked at each other, then at me.
"Well, we can't make any promises, kiddo." said Mike.
"But we'll think of something along the way." added Sulley.
"And do you think they can get it done before Christmas?" I asked.
"Actually, it's gonna have to be long past Christmas to get that drawing of yours to become the real thing." said Mowgli, who had overheard our conversation while exiting the boys' room.
"And since when does a prank-loving kid like you know about construction?" asked Mr. Krabs.
"Well, not much," said Mowgli. "Except for the fact that it takes a lot of time to set up a plan, how the final product should look, and, of course, a heavy amount of hard work and persever..."
While hearing him speak, we hardly noticed Junie B., Lucille, Grace, and Ranjan sneaking up from behind…until they pounced on Jim, startling us.
"Oh, this will never get old." Junie B. said as she laughed alongside the other kindergarteners.
"Yes, even I must admit that this is more fun than playing horses." said Lucille.
"Right?" said Grace, who let out a loud roar, which Junie B., Lucille and Ranjan did too.
As she helped Jim up, Dorothy scolded. "You oughta be ashamed of yourselves, pouncing on someone without warning."
"We're sorry." the kindergarteners said shamefully.
"Hey, don't worry about it." said Jim. "At least it's not who we came across yesterday."
"But, out of all seriousness," Squidward said, turning to Mowgli. "What are you teaching these kids?"
"Do you realize how many times I've been asked that question?" asked Mowgli.
A million bazillion?" guessed Junie B., whom we all stared at.
"Baloo and I used to play tigers and monkeys all the time back at the jungle." explained Mowgli. "And believe me, those were some of the craziest times we had together."
"You know that's true, by the way." said Junie B. "Plus also, we did meet Baloo, and Bagheera, and Shere Khan, and King Louie*, and…"
"We'll take your words for it." interrupted Mr. Krabs.
"Now, if we can just get Mr. Beckwith to let me use my drawing…" I said, walking back to Room 29 with the Imaginaries.
"Drawing? What drawing?" asked Junie B.
Having finished their tests, Jane and Shanti were about to hand them over to Mr. Beckwith, when I burst through the door.
"Mr. Beckwith!"
"Whatever could it be this time?" asked Jane.
"Can I use my Visit My World drawing?" I asked Mr. Beckwith, who asked back. "What for?"
"Well, last night, SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward's house, on top of the Krusty Krab, fell off the roof of my house." I explained.
"That would explain the sleepless night." Mowgli said as he entered the room with the Imaginaries.
"And when I saw this," I went on, pointing at my drawing. "I felt that, somehow, it could become the real thing."
"Pfft. In your dreams, maybe." said Jane, whom I stared at, annoyingly, then asked Mr. Beckwith. "So, can I bring this one home?"
"I''m sorry, Nathan, but I can't let you do that." said Mr. Beckwith. "You'll have to wait until the end of the school year to do so."
My shoulders slumped when he said that.
"But…now that you brought that up," he went on. "It does sound like an intriguing idea."
"It does?" I asked.
"Yes." said Mr. Beckwith. "In fact, I can see this work…as a group project!"
"Hold on, Mr. B." said Shanti. "When you said 'group project,' does that mean all of us?"
"Nope, just three of you." said Mr. Beckwith.
"Three of us?" Jane repeated in surprise. "As in…"
"Well, from what I've seen," explained Mr. Beckwith. "You kids have been at each other's throats since the start of the year."
"Now, he tells us!" said Mowgli, whom Shanti and Jane frowned at.
"But," Mr. Beckwith went on. "Hopefully, helping Nathan and the Imaginaries should also help resolve those differences."
"And guess what else?" Junie B. said as she burst inside the room. "Me and Lucille, and that Grace and Ranjan are joining your crew!"
As everyone else stared at her, I said. "You know, you don't have to describe Grace as 'That Grace,' OK? She's not a thing."
"Also, you're not even in this class." added Mr. Beckwith.
Junie B. put her hands on her hips, saying. "Yeah, only guess what? I am almost six years old. Plus, also, if there's any painting involved in this operation, I want in! On account of Grandma Miller says I paint beautifully."
"Oh, no." said Shanti. "There is no way neither of us are working with someone so…so…"
"Impractical?" Jane concluded for her.
"Precisely."
"What if I give you all extra credit for participation?" suggested Mr. Beckwith. "Will you work with them, then?"
Jane and Shanti looked at each other, then at me and Mowgli, then at the Imaginaries, then back to Mr. Beckwith.
"We're in." they said finally.
"Hooray!" cheered Ranjan. "It's a playdate!"
"Of sorts." added Junie B.
"Splendid!" SpongeBob and Patrick gleefully said together.
"Splendid!" repeated Morph.
"Now, about that drawing of yours, Nathan." Mr. Beckwith said to me. "I can't you let it take home…yet, but I can scan it for you."
He took my drawing out from the wall and took it to the copy room, where he placed it on the scanner, from which the copied picture came out…in black and white, which I looked at, then at my teacher.
"Uh, Mr. Beckwith? Doesn't the scanner have any color ink?"
"Ah, color ink is a waste of money, boy." Mr Krabs said, rolling up the paper, which he took from my hands.
"Mr. Krabs!" I said, feeling annoyed.
"Actually, he's right, Nathan." said Mr. Beckwith. "Besides, black ink is the only cartridge the scanner can hold."
I looked at Mr Krabs, who smiled smugly at me.
Just then, the bell rang. That meant the end of recess and the start of the assembly.
"You go on ahead and find a seat." Mr. Beckwith said to me and my friends. "We won't be far behind."
"Whatever you say, Paul." Mr. Krabs said…before bumping into Mr. Arrow, who said. "Why don't you watch where you're going!"
"You watch it with your scowling face and conservative clothes!" Mr. Krabs said back.
Mr. Arrow frowned at him, saying. "You wanna take this outside of school, Krabs?"
"Well, if you're looking to start a fight, you stone-headed man!" Mr. Krabs said, putting up his claws.
But as they got close to each other, Amelia got between them, saying. "There will be no fighting of any sort."
"Told ya she was nosy." Patrick whispered to us.
"Mr. Arrow," Amelia said to her first mate. "You should know better than anyone that this type of violence will not be tolerated here."
"Forgive me, Captain." said Mr. Arrow.
"You just love to get in the way, do you, Kitty?" asked Mr. Krabs, whom Amelia frowned at, saying. "In the future, you Imaginaries will address me as 'Captain' or 'Ma'am," not 'Kitty,' nor will I be referred to as "The Nosy Catwoman.' Is that clear?"
"Captain of what? The Hall Monitor Patrol?" joked Squidward, who chortled for a moment when he saw the look on Amelia's face.
"Uh, sorry that last one slipped out, ma'am."
"That'll do." Amelia said, motioning us towards the assembly doors, which the Imaginaries went through in a hurry.
I followed after them, when she leaned closer to me, saying. "Don't try to escape what must be heard."
She led me to the front of the room, where my class were sitting, then went up the stand with Mr. Arrow to join Kira for the assembly to begin.
Author's Note:
*What Junie B. was saying it true. She and her friends did meet Mowgli's animal friends and enemies in "Junie B. Jones and the Jungle Boy," which served as a prequel to "Nathan Rosenberg: 5th Grader."