Panda

• Poppy Coull, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2016

“Guess what, Molly!” said Mindy, finishing her first page of handwriting. “I have a pet elephant!”
“Yeah…Right!” said Molly.
“Molly, I really do!” Mindy said seriously, “I have named it Panda…”
“Mindy, look, STOP MESSING AROUND!!!”
Mrs. October had her ears on Maximum Listening! “Mindy, Molly, what’s going on?”
Molly was cross, “Mindy is telling me she has a pet...”
“Well maybe she does have a pet…”
“No, Mindy said she has a pet elephant!!!”
“Now Mindy, why are you telling silly stories when Molly is trying to do her work?!” as she said this, Mrs. October’s eyebrows rose and her voice became sterner.
“But...” started Mindy,
Then the home time bell rang. Mrs. October yelled out to the class, “Goodbye everyone! See you tomorrow!”
Which was followed by a non-enthusiastic, almost synchronized “Good-bye-Miss-es-Oct-o-ber.See-you-to-mo-row.”
Then Mindy had an idea … ???
The next day when the playtime bell rang, Mindy ran outside and untied the knot that was holding Panda to the fence! Lilly said “O.M.G!!!! Is that your elephant Mindy?”
“Yes.” Said Mindy, trying her hardest to be modest.
And Lilly fainted.
Panda started walking around.
Molly, Pip, Amy and Sarah crowded around. They said things like:
“A pet elephant?”
“You were telling the truth!”
“Why did you call it Panda?”
Mindy had an answer to all those questions, “I know, I was planning on getting a cat. YES, Molly, I was telling the truth. I like to think of random names and…”
What no one had noticed was Panda-squashing the playground!
“Mindy Turquoise!!” shouted Mr. Mop (the principal) “You will be paying for that!”
Mindy was relaxed, “He doesn’t mean it.”
“I mean it!”
“I stand corrected.”
When Mindy got home, she came up with an idea: “Panda! Let’s make a mini circus!”
The next day at school, Mindy reserved the Multi-purpose room for her circus.
“Ten dollars a ticket! Come and see the Mini Circus!”
Mindy had heaps of kids in a queue for the Mini Circus, all with ten dollars.
The circus started…
First up, was Panda giving rides to the grade prep, one, and twos.
Then was Mindy, doing Acrobatics.
Finally, was Panda and Mindy, doing Synchronised Eating!
Everyone loved it, and Mindy got $6,000 from the tickets!
The next day, Mr. Mop wanted to have a chat with Mindy.
“Mindy, you better be saving up because that playground cost one-thousand dollars!!!”
Mindy enjoyed saying, “Well, Mr. Mop, you can mop up your worries! Because I have $6,000!”
On Monday, the start of a new school week, Mindy asked Mr. Mop, “Is the playground finished yet?”
“Yes, Mindy. It is!!”
At playtime, Mindy was excited about the playground. She just needed to turn the corner of the building…she turned it very slowly…
‘O.M.G!!’ thought Mindy, ‘I had enough money to do this!!!??’
Mindy played on the playground for ages! Then she bumped into Molly.
“Are you still my friend, after the whole, pet elephant thing?”
“Of course!”
The end