Annie Pitts, Artichoke

Annie Pitts, Artichoke — page 3 — ANNIE PITTS ARTICHOKE Everyone except Matthew that is I would tell him after he did When the dog wandered off I stared at my reflection in the glass I tilted my head and practiced smiling I practiced smiling every chance I got because someday I was going to be a movie star and I would have to smile a lot for the camera I would also have to cry a lot I made a frown in the glass and tried to think of something sad I thought about the time my hamster died I was about to cry really but then I saw Matthew's reflection behind mine He was making silly faces It's so hard to be a serious actress when someone is making silly faces behind you Matthew's reflection suddenly disappeared disappeared because something large came between us It was Miss Goshengepfeffer Earth to Annie Pitts she said

Annie Pitts, Artichoke — page 4 — Miss G AND ME I turned around and said Sorry Miss G Miss Goshengepfeffer was nice enough to let us call her Miss G but she was not nice enough to let us daydream in class It was the beginning of the school year and I was still in my summer mode It was hard to pay attention Miss G returned to the front of the room As I was saying she said looking my way the play will be for your parents and for the rest of the school too We'll write it together and everyone will have a part Play Did I Annie Pitts future star hear that magic word play My best friend Sara and I used to put on plays in her backyard We charged kids a quarter to see them which was really a bargain I mean an arcade game costs a quarter and it can be over in less than a minute Our plays went on for hours Since Sara moved away this past

Annie Pitts, Artichoke — page 5 — ANNIE PITTS ARTICHOKE summer I hadn't had a chance to do any serious acting so I suddenly paid very close attention to what Miss G was saying We can start working on the play at the end of our new science unit she said But first I'd like to tell you about the class trip that's coming up I wanted to hear more about the play but everyone else wanted to hear about the trip Last year her third graders went to a baseball game I heard that Miss G ate ten hot dogs I believed it because Miss G is well you know Thomas raised his hand Are we going to a baseball game Miss G said No we're not going to a baseball game but we are going some place interesting And you've probably been there before I went on a trip to Disney World this summer Thomas said

Annie Pitts, Artichoke — page 6 — Miss G AND ME Disney World I'd love to go to Disney World Maybe I could try out for a part in a Disney movie if we went there I was daydreaming again thinking about which stage name I preferred Tiffany or Brooke while Miss G was writing some thing on the board SUPERMARKET Supermarket What has that got to do with Disney World I wondered And then I realized we weren't going to Disney World No Fantasyland No chance to be a movie star We were going food shopping shopping That was not my idea of a class trip I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't think so Thomas asked Why are we taking a trip to the supermarket I've been there plenty of times I found that hard to believe because Thomas's family had a housekeeper who did all the shopping for them I couldn't imagine Thomas or even Thomas's mother in the supermarket trying to

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