The Thesaurus

The Thesaurus

The Thesaurus

Mrs. Ellis stood in her blue polka-dot skirt lecturing the class about antonyms.Antonyms and synonyms. How about M＆Ms?Angie Jarrett thought and giggled inside.It was going to be a while before anyone could run out to the open field that surrounded Munger Elementary.Luckily, Angie sat pretty close to the window. She could almost feel the fresh air.

It looked like the day had warmed since lunch.Angie knew that the breeze would smell nice from the morning's rain.She also knew that this was the best time to dive into the clover patch on the other side of the playground's only hill.That was where Angie went when she wanted to write about things or just spend time with her imagination.Tiny gold-nosed puppies and great winged buffalo were known to play in the clouds above the hill.No one knew about their games except Angie.

She was watching the leaves on a tree just outside the windowas they tickled each other in the breeze when Mrs. Ellis interrupted."Angie, did you hear me? All of you need to bring a thesaurus to use in class on Friday.If you don't have one at home, you can borrow one from me if you let me know before Thursday.You will each need one for the class. No exceptions, Ms. Jarrett."

The bell rang before Angie could reply.She might have been about to defend herself, but instead, she was reeling with what Mrs. Ellis had just said.She'd been fascinated with the hulking creatures that had roamed the Earth all those long years before.Her stomach began to tighten and excitedly she flew out the door,leaving her jacket behind to spend yet another night on the back of her yellow chair.

The day was indeed warm, but Angie would not have noticed if it had been below freezing.She was busy, trying to understand how she had missed the existence of a living, breathing dinosaur.Let alone one that, according to Mrs. Ellis, might be living in the homes of every student in the class.

No one else seemed terribly surprised.Angie decided that it must be one of those things like snapdragons.Only yesterday, her best friend Gina had explained how snapdragons can talk and can grow in anyone's backyard.Apparently, they were a thing the Jarrett adults didn't think about much.They were fascinating creatures in Angie's opinion.Or maybe they didn't know about the thesaurus either.

The questions began to form in her mind.How many wings does a thesaurus have?Is a thesaurus an herbivore? Are they tiny?Are they huge? Do they have feathers?Do they walk on two feet? There was much to be discovered.

Three blocks from home, Angie changed course.She headed for a wandering path that added an extra ten minutes to her walk.She needed time to wonder. What is a thesaurus like?If it lived at home, it had to be small.She hadn't seen one before, so they had to be at least as small as a parakeet.She hadn't noticed Gina's parakeet until the third sleepover at her house. Thesauruses were probably gray.Just like the dinosaurs in the program on PBS she had seen two weeks ago.This made it seem even more likely that the thesaurus could have wings.

Maybe it was not so small.Any dinosaur that survived the ice age must be pretty amazing.Maybe it was a magical creature. No, that would be silly.Maybe it could camouflage itself, or shrink - the opposite of a blowfish.Perhaps they weren't as common as the teacher thought,and the class would all be asking for a loaner from Mrs. Ellis on Thursday.Angie hoped they weren't small. But in the end, she decided they must be.Twenty-five large thesauruses (or is it thesauri?) would never fit inside the classroom.

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