Every kid in second grade at Maple Street Elementary thought Ms. Gray was probably the meanest teacher in the world. She had too many rules, she never smiled, her clothes were always brown or gray, like her name, and when one of the kids broke one of her rules, she gave them the look. The look could send a tingle down the toughest kid's spine.

During quiet reading time one day, Jenny was whispering to her friend Sarah. Suddenly a shadow fell over her desk and she looked up to see mean Ms. Gray standing over her. Ms. Gray tapped her foot, crossed her arms, gave her the look and said, "No more talking." Jenny sat up straight and said, "Yes, Ms. Gray," and went back to her work.

Jenny and Sarah tried not to talk to each other. But before long, Ms. Gray caught them whispering again. "That's it, girls," she said. "Jenny, trade seats with Tommy."

Jenny couldn't believe her bad luck. As if moving away from Sarah wasn't bad enough, Ms. Gray was making her move to the very front of the class. Jenny sadly gathered her things and made her way to her new desk.

After school, Jenny walked home with Sarah. "I wonder why Ms. Gray is always so grumpy," Sarah said.

"Me too," said Jenny. "Wouldn't it be great if teachers were more like kids?"

"Yeah!" said Sarah laughing. "Then school would be a lot more fun."

"I'm just glad it's Friday," Jenny said. "My family is going to the fair tonight. I'll be able to have some fun there."

That night, Jenny's family went to the fair, just as they had planned. Jenny had a lot of fun riding the rides. She went on the bumper cars twice and the Ferris wheel three times. At the midway, she played ring toss and a boat racing game. Her father won a small teddy bear for her when he played darts. She was having so much fun that she forgot all about mean old Ms. Gray.

But then she saw a game that she had never seen before. It was a wish-granting machine. Jenny knew that it couldn't actually grant wishes, but she thought it would be fun to try it. And she could keep the ticket as a souvenir.

"Can I have a quarter, Daddy?" Jenny asked her father.

"Sure, Jenny," he said as he reached into his pocket.

"Thanks, Daddy!" Jenny took the quarter and ran to the wish-granting machine. The directions on the machine said:

Insert your quarter into the slot
Speak clearly into the machine
If your wish is granted, or if it is not
On your ticket, the answer will be

Jenny put her quarter into the coin slot. "I wish my teachers were more like kids," she said. The machine spit out a ticket. Jenny took it and looked closely at it. It read:

I hope you truly wanted your wish to come true
For it will be granted in one day or two.

Jenny smiled and put the ticket into her pocket. If only it was true, she thought.

Monday morning came too soon for Jenny. But she hurried to get ready for school, kissed her mom goodbye and walked to the corner to meet Sarah. As the two girls walked to school that morning, Jenny showed Sarah the ticket she had gotten from the wish-granting machine. They continued on their way, laughing and talking about what it would be like if it were true.

When they arrived at Maple Street Elementary, they could not believe their eyes. There were teachers running and playing on the playground. Jenny had never seen anything like it, but they lined up by the door as usual. When the bell rang, the teachers skipped over to where the students were lined up and led them into the school. "Follow the leader!" Ms. Gray yelled. They were surprised to see Ms. Gray with a ponytail in her hair, and wearing blue jeans and a bright pink T-shirt. She led them in a twisting, turning trail into the school and down the hall.

School was very strange that day. Ms. Gray was very cheerful. Probably too cheerful. She couldn't open her mouth without giggling, and she drew silly faces all over the chalkboard during math. Before long, the students were all acting silly too. Ms. Gray didn't even mind. In fact, she joined right in! They didn't get much work done in class that day.

When they went to gym class, their teacher, Mr. Sweaty, played freeze-tag with the students, but it wasn't much fun because wouldn't follow the rules. And when they played basketball, Mr. Sweaty wouldn't stop hanging on the basketball hoop.

At lunchtime, everyone was happy because the lunch ladies were giving out extra food. But then one of the lunch ladies started a food fight. Soon food was flying through the cafeteria! Jenny laughed until somebody threw cherry gelatin at her and it stained her favorite white shirt. For the first time in her life, Jenny was glad when lunchtime was over.

During recess, Jenny and Sarah thought that they could finally have some fun. But the teachers weren't sharing the playground equipment. They hogged the monkey bars and swings, climbed up the slide and down the steps, blocking the way so that no students could slide down. So Jenny, Sarah, and the other students stood in the grass, watching with amazement.

After recess, it was time for music class. They were supposed to be practicing for the spring concert, but when the students started singing, their teacher, Mrs. Drummer, picked up the tuba and marched around the room playing it. Boom, boom, boom… "Come on, everybody!" she shouted. The students looked at each other, and then they each picked up a maraca or a tambourine, and followed their teacher. She led the parade of students through the halls of the school, out the door, and around the playground, before finally coming back to the music room.

By then it was time to go home. Jenny and Sarah walked home together, as they always did. "What was wrong with all the teachers today?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," answered Jenny. "I thought it would be fun if the teachers acted like kids, but what if they stay like that forever?"

Jenny thought she knew what was wrong with the teachers. Later that evening, she begged her Dad to take her back to the fair. When they got there, she quickly found the wish-granting machine and made another wish. This time she wished that her teachers would be back to normal the next day.

The next morning, when Jenny and Sarah got to school, everything seemed to be normal. Except for one thing. Ms. Gray was wearing a lovely flower-print dress. And as Jenny took her seat in the front row, Ms. Gray smiled and winked at her.

Jenny smiled. Everything's going to be just fine, she thought.

The End

Rebecca Gomez is a freelance writer and aspiring children's author and illustrator. She lives in Nebraska with her husband and three children.

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