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That night the farmer and his wife turned on the TV and saw the intervieith the little girl who rode a flying carpet

"If anybody finds irl (it was Gooney Bird) said, "please call the TV station"

So Mr Henry Schinhofen, the farmer, called

"I have that cat here in e and white cat, no tail

"But I gotta tell you," he said, "I don't think you'll be able to take it away It won't leave my cow"

"Won't leave your cow?" the TV lady said She sounded puzzled

"Nope," said the farmer "Wouldn't even leave for tuna fish We had to take the tuna fish and put it right beside the cow"

"Why?"

"Happens souess you'd call it soht consumed by the cow"

"And is the cow consumed by the cat?" the TV lady asked

"Nope The cow doesn't care one way or another But she doesn't step on the cat She's a careful cow"

The TV people called Gooney Bird and her parents They told them where Catman was, and that Catman was consumed by a cow

So the Greene family drove their car back to the meadow and visited Catman Catman was nice to them, but they could tell that he was not consumed by the Greene family He was consuoodbye Then they hugged and kissed the far "Farmer in the Dell" and danced in a circle, on their tiptoes They all lived happily ever after

The End

"I love happy endings," Keiko said with a sigh

"Me too," Mrs Pidgeon said "Thank you, Gooney Bird Let's get out our arithroaned

"I know," Mrs Pidgeon said, laughing "It's much more fun to listen to Gooney Bird's stories But we can look forward to tomorrow She'll have another one toone back to her desk and taken out her arithmetic book She looked up in surprise "No, actually I won't," she said "That was raders, almost every one of them, called, "No!" in very loud, sad voices It sounded like a huge chorus singing a song called "Noooooo!"

Mrs Pidgeon looked horrified "But, Gooney Bird!" she said "We still have a lot of unanswered questions!"

"Like what?" asked Gooney Bird

"Well, let eon frowned

"The false teeth!" Nicholas called

"Yes," Mrs Pidgeon said "Why did your father have to pack forty-three sets of false teeth? That's a story you haven't told yet"

Gooney Bird looked surprised "That's not a story," she said "That siht there on your desk, Mrs Pidgeon"

Mrs Pidgeon reached for her dictionary

"Look up this word," Gooney Bird said She pronounced the word very carefully "Prosthodontist"

"My goodness!" Mrs Pidgeon read the definition "It's a special kind of dentist He makes false teeth!"

"Exactly," Gooney Bird said "That's what my father is No story there"

"But ant more stories, Gooney Bird!" Barry Tucker up with one knee on his desk chair

Gooney Bird sighed impatiently "I need to do ood at subtraction yet But all right Sit down, Barry Close the dictionary, Mrs Pidgeon I will tell you how to get stories"

7

Gooney Bird looked around the classroom She slid the strap of her cowhide purse from her shoulder and set the purse on the floor below the terrariu expression, she unbuttoned her orange fur jacket and hung it on the back of the chair by her desk Then she returned to the front of the roo a blue plaid skirt, a white blouse, black tights, and brown lace-up shoes There were bright blue hair ribbons in her neatly brushed red hair She looked ordinary She looked dignified She looked wise

"Out there, invisible, are a lot of stories not yet told," Gooney Bird told the class

"Absolutely true ones?" Beanie asked in a small voice

"Yes Absolutely true ones"

"What are they?" asked Beanie

"Do you remember that my first story was called 'How

Gooney Bird Got Her Name'?" Gooney Bird asked

"Yes," Beanie replied

"Well, another is called 'How Beanie Got Her Na, "there was a thing called an ultrasound that showed me curled up inside my mom? And I looked just like a bean! My mom said lima bean, and my daddy said no, jelly bean, and so--"

"That's a fine story beginning," Gooney Bird said "An absolutely true one You should tell that one on Friday, Beanie"

"What other invisible stories are out there?" Mrs Pidgeon asked

"Do you remember thatcarpet?"

"Oh eon said "I had to look up China in the atlas"

"Out there, invisible, and waiting," Gooney Bird said, "is a story called--let me think" She closed her eyes