Will Judges the Cookie Case
One morning, Will sat on the living room rug with Cat curled up beside him. Then Mr. Pib came in, holding the Paper. He looked very serious. "We must talk about this," he said.
Mr. Pib sat on the couch and waved the Paper. "Who gets the toy diggers, and who gets the cookies?" Will frowned. He pointed at the diggers. "Mine," he said, in his biggest voice.
Mr. Pib said it was not that simple. He talked and talked about lines and pages. Will did not like all the talking. He stamped his foot and grabbed the Paper right out of the man's hands.
Will said, "No more talking!" and plopped the Paper on his head like a hat. Cat sniffed it and sneezed. Mr. Pib's lip wobbled. He felt very sorry that his talk had gone so wrong.
Will thought hard. Mr. Pib had been naughty with all that talking. Will pointed at the cushions. "Jail," he said. Mr. Pib sighed, but he nodded. Then Will wondered how to cheer him up.
Will bounced up and down and shook his head like a rocker. He sang a loud, growly song with no real words. Cat flicked her tail to the beat. Mr. Pib tapped his foot, and then he nodded his head too.
Mr. Pib played air guitar with his fingers, and his glasses slid down his nose. Will shouted, "Again!" They rocked until the grumpy was all gone, and Mr. Pib was laughing out loud.
Then Will built the Pillow Jail. He stacked cushions and poked spoons through a blue blanket for bars. It took a long time. Cat helped by sitting on the very best cushion and not moving at all.
Mr. Pib crawled into the Pillow Jail and sat on the little seat. His knees poked up. "Fair is fair," he said, and he did not even mind. Will patted the blanket to say the jail was done.
Will tiptoed to the Kitchen with Cat at his heels. The cookie jar sat high on the counter. Will pushed his little table over and climbed up. Cat watched with wide eyes as he reached the lid.
Will took out the Cookie and looked at it for a long time. He looked at the jail down the hall. He held the Cookie tight. It was the best one, with orange sprinkles. What should he do?
Will ran to the Backyard and came back with his orange toy digger. He rolled it right up to the Pillow Jail. Mr. Pib stared. Cat jumped on the digger like it was a ride.
The little scoop nudged the spoon bars one by one. They popped out and rolled across the floor. Mr. Pib crawled out, laughing and brushing off his knees. "Best jailbreak ever," he said.
Will dug in his sandy patch, and out of the sand came something small and golden. It was a cookie crumb that Cat had hidden there. Will held it up like treasure, and Mr. Pib clapped. Cat purred loudly.
