Dead Dizzy Lizzy for Class Pet

Here's a short story I wrote for and shared with my fourth grade daughter's class. There's a dead lizard in it, so I figured it could go in my horror blog.

(Dead) Dizzy Lizzy for Class Pet

Mrs. W’s fourth grade students wanted to keep a dead lizard for a class pet.

They had this lizard, see. Her name was Dizzy Lizzy and she lived in an aquarium on the shelf which the sun hits nicely in the afternoon. She had purple streaks along her cheeks, a yellow line on her back, and little teeth that seemed to smile when someone gave her a cricket. She got her name because whenever she got excited running after crickets, she twirled round and round until people watching got dizzy.

But she died.

Maybe she was lonely. Maybe she ate too many crickets one day. Maybe she got too cold the week it rained all day, every day and no one hardly saw the sun.

They were going to take her out of the aquarium to bury her in the school yard, but S. – who always says hi to stray cats and gives her dogs treats under the dinner table when she thinks her parents aren’t looking – said, “Please, can we still keep her as the class pet?”

At first, her classmates looked at her funny. Her best friend N. even giggled about it. But soon, everyone was nodding – what a great idea! – and turned to look expectantly at Mrs. Walker.

Mrs. W. said, “I don’t know. Let’s ask Mr. B.”

Mr. B was the school principal. Mr. B usually walked around doing important things with an important look on his face. And sometimes the kids didn’t want to bother him about questions like “Can we keep a dead lizard as a class pet?” because he seemed too busy to bother. Today was a hard day to bother him because it was photo day and he had spent all morning with the photographer after a student jammed a camera with a piece of chewed gum.

But they were already standing as a class in his doorway. Mr. B looked up from his desk and of course asked what he could do for them.

Someone pushed S. forward. She finally said, after three unsuccessful tries, “Please, can we keep Dizzy Lizzy in our classroom?”

Mr. B’s smile froze on his face. “Are we talking about a student?”

Fortunately, Mrs. W explained. But Mr. B still looked puzzled. “A dead lizard?” he asked.

Everyone nodded.

Mr. B leaned back and thought about it. Then thought about it some more. Finally, he plucked a book from his shelf and opened it up. He said, “I am sorry, but according to school rules, ‘Only live pets are allowed.’”

All the kids walked back so slowly and sadly that by the time they reached the classroom, they missed recess. They all crowded around the aquarium to say goodbye to their dear Dizzy Lizzy. But when they got there, the aquarium was empty. A nearby window was open, Mrs. W’s water bottle was tipped over on its side and there was a gum wrapper on the floor.

Whatever could have happened?!