Horrible Harry in Room 2B by Suzy Kline Page A

wanted to show off in front of Song Lee.
    When Harry went to his seat, he took out his writing folder. He wrote two pages about his adventures at sea.

    Miss Mackle asked him to read his story to the class.
    Harry said he met a mermaid, ate a sea turtle, and dug up a treasure.
    Miss Mackle put Harry’s story up on the bulletin board. She said Harry has lots of ideas.
    Harry has never eaten a sea turtle.
    Harry has never seen a mermaid.
    Harry has never been to sea!
    And I know Harry can’t even spell “sea.” He’s horrible at spelling too.
    Harry is not like any other second grader in our room. I know all about him.
    Harry’s my best friend.

Horrible Harry, the Stub People, and Halloween

    T he day before Halloween, Harry planned his invasion.
    â€œIt’s time to bring doom to our room, Doug,” he said.
    I knew what he was talking about. It was time for the invasion of his stub people.
    â€œDo you need help?” I asked.
    â€œYou can be my assistant.”
    We put the first pair of stub people in Song Lee’s desk while she was up at the pencil sharpener. When she returned, she reached in her desk for a piece of paper.
    Harry plugged his ears. “I love it when girls scream,” he said. “Look out for doom!”
    I plugged my ears.
    Song Lee didn’t scream.
    She didn’t even jump out of her seat.
    Harry and I watched Song Lee play with the stub people. She made them dance on the top of her desk!
    Harry scowled. “This is an invasion,” he complained. “My stub people aren’t dancers. They are invaders! They bring doom to our room!”
    I nodded.
    Harry leaned over and whispered.

    â€œNext time, we have to catch the enemy by real surprise.”
    When Harry and I got permission to go to the bathroom, we stopped in the hallway. We slipped some stub people in Sidney’s sweater sleeves.
    Perfect, we thought.
    When it came time to line up for lunch, Harry and I waited.
    Slowly, Sidney put on his sweater.
    And we watched.
    Sidney would jump up and scream any minute now!
    But when Sidney put his arm in the sleeve, the stub people fell through and landed on the floor.
    Sidney never saw them.
    Neither did Ida or Mary. They stepped on them!
    Harry kneeled down and scraped the stub people off the floor. Gently, he wrapped them in his handkerchief.
    We buried them in the garbage during lunch recess. And we gave them a farewell salute.
    â€œThis means war!” Harry exclaimed. “We’ve lost too many men. We have to invade the mainland now.”
    â€œWhat’s the mainland?” I asked.
    â€œYou’ll see,” Harry said.
    Just before the bell rang, Harry put two pairs of stub people on the teacher’s desk.
    â€œThe teacher’s desk?” I said.
    â€œThe teacher’s desk,” Harry repeated. “Prepare for doom in our room!”
    Then he sat up straight and folded his hands on his desk.
    When the bell rang, Miss Mackle walked in. “I can see Harry is ready for class,” she said.
    â€œPlug your ears,” Harry whispered as Miss Mackle walked to her desk. “She’s going to scream and jump right out the window.”
    â€œWhat’s this?” Miss Mackle said when she saw the stub people.
    Harry took his fingers out of his ears.
    I did too.
    â€œHow cute!” Miss Mackle exclaimed as she held one up.
    â€œCute?” Harry said.

    â€œCute?” I said. Harry and I gave each other a look. How could that be? The stub people are the scariest creatures on earth.
    Harry put his head down on his desk, and buried his face in his arms.
    Sometimes it’s real hard for Harry to be horrible.

    â€œCheer up,” I said, “tomorrow’s Halloween. That’s your favorite holiday. You’ll be real scary then.”
    Harry looked up. “Halloween ... ” He grinned.
    Nobody knew what Harry was going to be for Halloween, but everybody knew it would be something