It was the day before Thanksgiving at school, and it was obvious all the Sugar Rushers were very excited for the two-day break from school and the feast and parade that would take place outside the apartment building. All the Nicelanders, Q-Bert characters, and Ralph would be in attendance. Handprint turkeys hung in the classroom windows and paintings of fall trees were hung above the cubbies, the classroom decorated for Thanksgiving itself.
"All right, class, I know that Thanksgiving is coming up tomorrow, but we do have to do our math." Mary says, smiling at the 15 racers who all look at her, ready to listen. Mary starts the lesson on multiplication with the 4's and 5's times tables as the class listens quietly to the lesson.
After she finishes, she hands out worksheets to the students. "We're going to see how well you listened when I was teaching the math lesson. Problems one through ten are problems where you multiply by 4 and problems eleven through twenty are problems where you multiply by 5. You may begin."
The class gets to work on their math worksheets, but Candlehead sits at her desk, looking very confused.
"I don't understand any of this..." Candlehead says as she still looks confused.
Mary takes notice as she walks up to Candlehead's desk. "Is something the matter, sweetie?" Mary asks her.
"This math is confusing..." Candlehead says. "And here I thought rabbits were the only things that multiplied...Math is so hard..."
"Now, now, Candlehead, we'll work on this together, okay?" Mary says reassuringly. "Then we'll talk to Tamora about this later."
Candlehead nods as she looks back down at her worksheet and works with Mary.
When school ended for the day, Felix and Tamora came to get the kids from school. 14 smiling racers ran off to get a good spot in the back of Felix's truck, with Felix following close behind. Candlehead just sits at her desk, looking a bit upset.
Mary looks at Tamora. "She's been having a bit of trouble with her math. Today, we worked on multiplying with the 4's and 5's times tables, but I think she didn't understand too much of the lesson or the worksheet."
"Is that so?" Tamora looks at the birthday-themed racer, who's still looking sad. "Well, I could help her a bit at home if that helps. We could work a little bit over the break."
"That sounds like a good idea. It would help her understand math a little bit better." Mary says with a smile. "You guys have a good Thanksgiving, okay?"
Tamora smiles back. "We will, Miss Mary. We'll see you tomorrow." she says as she walks with Candlehead to Felix's truck.
That night, while Felix was making dinner, Tamora starts working with Candlehead on her math.
"So, are you understanding multiplication a little better, sugarcube?" Tamora says as she's showing Candlehead basic multiplication facts.
"A little bit, Mama Tammy." Candlehead says as she looks at the book before her. "I never knew math could be such a fascinating thing to learn!"
"Well, we'll keep learning a lot about math before school starts after the break." Tamora says, smiling.
Candlehead smiles, grateful for her mother's help with her math.
On Thanksgiving Day, the racers wake up bright and early. Felix and Tamora whip up a breakfast of pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and chocolate milk in cups patterned with fall leaves.
"Wow!" all the racers say in unison.
"Let's eat, everyone! Then it's off to the parade!" Felix says cheerfully.
The racers eat breakfast and then get ready for the parade, dressing in their best Thanksgiving outfits.
At the parade, there were colorful floats and big balloons floating in the air. The balloons looked like arcade characters, cartoon characters, flowers, stars, clowns, and there was even a dinosaur balloon. Many floats threw beads and candy off of them, which the racers eagerly grabbed, getting all kinds of goodies. The Disney princesses even made an appearance on a float that looked like a castle, and all the female racers were really excited to see that, meeting the princesses and taking pictures with them. It was a really great time had by all!
At the feast later that day, a long table was filled with everything that is eaten at a Thanksgiving feast, like turkey, dressing, ham, vegetables, rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and three kinds of salad. Desserts were also on the table, especially Ralph's famous "burnt pie" in cherry, apple, blueberry, and peach.
"Everyone, before we eat, we would like to hear what everyone's thankful for." Felix says with a smile. "And who better to start than my kids. Go right ahead, you guys!"
"Well, if you want to know what we're thankful for, I would say that we're thankful that we're a family." Taffyta says with a smile.
"And we're thankful for our friends." Crumbelina says.
"And we're also thankful for school. Without it, we wouldn't be learning about things other than racing." Rancis says. "Learning is fun!"
"And we are also thankful for all of you. You have all helped us so much. Teaching us to play soccer, fly kites, and showing us that there's more to life than racing." Jubileena says.
The crowd of Nicelanders start clapping, and soon Ralph, Felix, and Tamora follow suit. Then after all the Nicelanders, Ralph, Felix, Tamora, and the Q-Bert characters say what they're thankful for, everyone sits down to eat.
It was a great Thanksgiving, the first Thanksgiving that the Sugar Rushers have had since their game got unplugged. They were also thankful for days like these, where everyone gathered together. It made their lives worth living, being surrounded by the people who loved them most.