How Hannah Finally Found a Ribbon

It was almost 3:00 and Hannah was just putting the finishing touches on the puppet she was making for the class puppet show. She was quite pleased with her efforts – her puppet looked just like the little girl in the story that they had written – except that she was missing a ribbon in her hair.

“Now, where can I get a pretty ribbon?” Hannah asked herself.

Then she remembered that Julia was wearing a ribbon in her hair.

Hannah found Julia working at the writing centre. Julia looked a bit troubled. She was holding a broken pencil in one hand and was searching through her pencil case with her other hand.

“Oh no,” Julia said. “This is my last pencil and it is broken.”

Hannah asked Julia if she could borrow her fancy ribbon to use for her puppet.

“Sure,” replied Julia, “but would you first find me a new pencil. I only have a few more things to write before we go home.”

Hannah thought about where she could find a pencil for Julia. She remembered that Kristine had brought a new set of pencils to school and so she went to ask her.

Kristine was busy finishing her math work. She looked up when Hannah came to talk to her.

“Kristine,” Hannah said, “would you mind lending a pencil to Julia so that she can finish her work? She will then lend me her pretty ribbon to put on my puppet.”

“Sure,” replied Kristine,” but could you find an eraser for me to use. I made a mistake on my page.”

Hannah thought about where she could find an eraser for Kristine. She remembered that Dylan and Morris liked to build towers with erasers, so they might have an extra eraser. So she went to ask them.

Dylan and Morris were busy putting away the building blocks. It was taking them a long time because they had to put the blocks away one at a time.

Hannah sat down on the floor beside them.

“Do either of you have an extra eraser that I can lend to Kristine so that she will lend a pencil to Julia so that Julia will lend me her pretty ribbon to put on my puppet?” Hannah asked.

Morris giggled and looked at Dylan.

“We do have an extra eraser that you can lend to Kristine so that she will lend a pencil to Julia so that she will lend you the ribbon. But before we get the eraser we have to put these blocks away. Can you help?”

Hannah thought and thought about the problem.

“When I am at home,” she said, “I sometimes use a wagon to carry things from one room to the next. I will see if I can get you a wagon.”

But where was Hannah going to find a wagon?

Hannah began to worry. It was almost time to go home and she still did not have her ribbon. “That’s it!” she said out loud. It is almost time to go home. Alexandra’s mother sometimes brings her wagon to take Alexandra home. Hannah decided to go and ask her if she could lend it to Morris and Dylan to help tidy up the blocks.

It took Hannah a few minutes to find Alexandra. Alexandra was reading by herself in the corner.

When Hannah approached her, Alexandra looked up from her book and said, “This book is excellent. I just wish that I had time to finish it.”

“Sorry to bother you,” whispered Hannah, “but I was wondering if Morris and Dylan could use your wagon to help them tidy up the blocks so that they will lend Kristine an eraser so that she will lend Julia a pencil so that Julia will lend me her pretty ribbon to put on my puppet.”

“Absolutely,” said Alexandra. “But first I will need a bookmark to mark my place.”

That should be easy to get, Hannah thought. Hannah walked over to the art table to see if anyone could make a bookmark for Alexandra. There she found the two Sarahs busy at work.

“Would either of you be able to make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she will lend Morris and Dylan her wagon so that they will lend Kristine an eraser so that she will lend Julia a pencil so that Julia will lend me her ribbon so that I can finish my puppet?”

“Wow. That is a lot of lending. Yes, we can make a bookmark for you but first we need to finish our sand sculpture. Do you think you could get us some sand?”

“Alright. Away I go,” replied Hannah.

Hannah marched into the Blue Room to borrow a bit of sand for Sarah and Sarah. Bryson and Cameron were playing at the sand table. They were using their hands to dig through the sand.

“Oh no,” said Cameron, “I can’t find it.”

“What happened?” asked Hannah. “What are you looking for?”

“We are looking for Cameron’s car,” answered Bryson. “We buried it in the sand and now we cannot find it.”

“Oh,” said Hannah. “I was hoping to take a bit of sand to Sarah and Sarah so that they would make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she would lend Morris and Dylan her wagon so that they would lend Kristine an eraser so that Kristine would lend Julia a pencil so that Julia would lend me her ribbon to put on my puppet.”

“We can give you some sand,” replied Bryson and Cameron together. “But first, can you help us find the missing car?”

Hannah considered this for a moment. “Yes,” she replied. “I will be back in a minute with something that will help.”

Hannah remembered that Ely brought a spoon in his lunch. Maybe the boys would be able to dig through the sand with the spoon and find the car.

Hannah found Ely near the cubby area. He was looking for his extra pair of shoes.

“Oh no,” he said to Hannah. “I took my extra shoes home last week. I broke my shoelace and my shoe keeps falling off.”

Hannah explained to Ely that she was looking for a spoon for Cameron and Bryson so that they would give her some sand to give to the Sarahs so that they would make a bookmark for Alexandra so that Alexandra would lend Dylan and Morris her wagon so that Dylan and Morris would lend Kristine an eraser so that Kristine would lend Julia a pencil so that Julia would lend her a ribbon for her puppet.

“I would love to help,” replied Ely, “but I cannot go anywhere until I fix my shoe. Perhaps if you could find me a new shoelace I could go and get my lunchbox and lend you a spoon.”

Hannah had no idea where she could find a new shoelace for Ely, but she did know where she could find a good piece of string. Hannah remembered that Elise had a piece of string tied around her finger to remind Elise of something. So off Hannah went in search of Elise.

Hannah found Elise painting a picture of her new baby sister.

“Your picture is beautiful,” said Hannah. “It is as pretty as your little sister.”

“Thank you,” said Elise, “but it is missing something. Olivia has a sparkle in her eye when she smiles. I need a sparkle to make it perfect.”

“If I can find a sparkle for you, would you mind giving me your piece of string so that I can lend it to Ely so that he will lend Cameron and Bryson his spoon so that they will give Sarah and Sarah some sand so that they will make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she will lend Dylan and Morris her wagon so that they will lend Kristine an eraser so that Kristine will lend Julia a pencil so that Julia will lend me a ribbon for my puppet?”

“I don’t know,” answered Elise with a laugh. “I might need the piece of string just to remember all the stuff that you just said!”

Just yesterday Nathan had brought some really cool art supplies for show and share. Hannah wondered if he still had them at school.

Hannah found Nathan working at the computer. He had just finished looking up something on the encyclopaedia and wanted to print it out on the printer. When he saw Hannah come into the room, he asked Hannah if she could help him to use the printer.

“I do not know how to print,” said Hannah. “But I know somebody who does.”

Hannah took a deep breath and continued, “I was wondering if you still had your art supplies at school. If you do, would you mind lending a sparkle to Elise so that she can finish her painting and then she will lend me a piece of string that I can give to Ely so that he will lend Cameron and Bryson a spoon so that they will give a bit of sand to Sarah and Sarah so that they will make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she will lend her wagon to Dylan and Morris so that they will lend an eraser to Kristine so that Kristine will lend a pencil to Julia so that Julia will lend me a piece of ribbon for my puppet?”

“Yes,” Nathan answered.

So Hannah went to look for David who she knew could help Nathan. Hannah found David waiting for snack in the Yellow Room.

“David,” Hannah began, “would you mind helping Nathan print out his information so that he will lend a sparkle to Elise so that she will lend a piece of string to Ely so that he will lend a spoon to Cameron and Bryson so that they will give some sand to Sarah and Sarah so that they will make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she will lend her wagon to Morris and Dylan so that they will lend an eraser to Kristine so that Kristine will lend a pencil to Julia so that Julia will lend me a pretty ribbon for my puppet?”

David laughed and said, “Hannah, I could help Nathan so that he will lend a sparkle to Elise so that she will lend a piece of string to Ely so that he will lend a spoon to Cameron and Bryson so that they will give some sand to Sarah and Sarah so that they will make a bookmark for Alexandra so that she will lend her wagon to Morris and Dylan so that they will lend an eraser to Kristine so that Kristine will lend a pencil to Julia so that Julia will lend you a pretty ribbon for your puppet. I could do all of that. Or I could just give you the pretty ribbon that I always keep in my pocket.”