Something is too loud.
Brooklyn sits at the coffee table with papers and pencils.
Stephanie stands there and tries to look like a teacher.
Nala turns in her fluffy bed and closes her eyes.
“Okay,” Stephanie says. “Time for reading and math.”
Brooklyn bounces on her toes. “Give me the hardest!”
Nala lets out a long sigh and tries to sleep.
Stephanie points to a sentence. “Read this.”
Brooklyn reads it fast, then says, “You said that word wrong.”
Stephanie blinks. “I… did?”
Brooklyn nods. “Yes. Teachers should know.”
Stephanie’s cheeks get red. “Brooklyn, I’m the teacher.”
Brooklyn crosses her arms. “Then say it right.”
Their voices get bigger.
Nala opens one eye.
Brooklyn claps once. “I know! Whisper School!”
She puts a finger to her lips. “Shhh. Nala is sleeping.”
Stephanie leans close and whispers right into Brooklyn’s ear.
Brooklyn squirms. “Stop! Your whisper is in my ear!”
Stephanie whispers, “I’m trying!”
Brooklyn giggles, then whisper-shouts. “Not like that!”
Nala’s ears twitch.
Brooklyn points to a strip of tape on the floor. “Balance Beam Reading!”
“Answer while you do a pose,” Brooklyn says. “Quiet and strong.”
Brooklyn holds a one-foot stand and reads a word.
Stephanie tries a pose too. She wobbles and bumps a stack of books.
THUMP.
Nala sits up and stares at them.
Stephanie picks up two couch pillows. “My turn. Tennis Quiz!”
She rolls up a sock. “This is the ball.”
Brooklyn grins. “If I answer right, I score!”
“Seven plus five!” Stephanie calls.
“Twelve!” Brooklyn yells, and WHAP—pillow hits the couch.
“Spell ‘because’!” Stephanie says.
WHAP WHAP. The pillows smack again.
Nala scoots her bed away.
Brooklyn looks around. “We need a SCHOOL COURSE!”
She drags couch cushions into a line. She sets a laundry basket on the floor.
Stephanie says, “Brooklyn, we are not building a stadium.”
Brooklyn says, “Yes we are. Learning stadium!”
Brooklyn starts. “Hop and count by twos!”
Then, “Crawl and read the words!”
Stephanie tries to keep up and bumps the table.
Pencils roll and click all over the floor.
A car door shuts outside.
Nala jumps up and barks at the front door. “WOOF! WOOF!”
Brooklyn freezes in a pose.
Stephanie stops too.
The room gets quiet.
Brooklyn looks at Nala’s bed in the hall.
Nala’s eyes look tired.
Brooklyn whispers, “We are being too loud.”
Stephanie rubs her head. “I wanted this to go well.”
“I don’t like arguing with you,” she says.
Brooklyn nods. “New plan. A real plan.”
Brooklyn grabs paper and markers. “I will make a quiet plan!”
She writes:
1) Stretch first
2) Timer: five minutes
3) One talking ball
4) Hand sign for “I disagree”
Stephanie holds a real tennis ball. “I talk when I have the ball.”
Brooklyn waits, then takes the ball. “My turn.”
They set Nala’s bed back in the corner with a soft blanket beside it.
The timer starts.
Brooklyn finishes a page and does a silent “ta-da” pose on the tape line.
Stephanie smiles. “Coach Brooklyn… that worked.”
Brooklyn holds the tennis ball and whispers, “Teamwork point.”
Nala curls up and closes her eyes.
This time, she stays asleep.
Brooklyn whispers, “Tomorrow we do Quiet Olympics.”
She looks at the door. “But outside.”
The end