I watched from the sidelines as Luke raced out of school excitedly. It was nearly the weekend, and he was looking forward to splashing in the Scream Street swimming pool with Resus and Cleo. “Isn’t it exciting? A whole Summer weekend with a pool trip to look forward to!” cried Luke. “Yeah, you bet!” I said, “I hope there’s room for all of us.” “The pool is located not too far near Eefa’s Emporium, it’ll be easy enough to get there.” As we walked home, we bragged about who could do the best underwater somersaults, or who could jump in first, or who could show off pool muscle first - Luke or Resus. I joked that Resus would be probably too weak to show some muscle, but Luke would be.
When we got home, Luke emptied out his schoolbag. Something white and floaty fell out. It wasn’t a ghost, it was Luke’s homework. I picked it up and read what Dr Skulley wrote. “Dear Luke, your homework must be due by Monday morning. NO EXCUSES!” The ‘NO EXCUSES’ thing was written in big capital letters using a red marker, which almost bled through the page like baked bean stains. “Aaawwww, how I hate homework,” growled Luke through gritted teeth. “Me too. I never get any homework, I’m only six,” I said. “Tell you what: I’ll do all the homework for you!” “Thank you, I could do with a break.” And Luke gave me a little kiss on the cheek. I giggled cheekily.
During the afternoon I worked on the first five maths questions. They were all very easy. But when it was time for Luke to go to bed, I put down my pencil and squeezed into bed with him. Snuggling up next to him, I whispered into his ear: “You’re going to be so surprised when you see what I’ve done.” Morning came, and Luke slumped over to his desk. He got quite a surprise! The first five answers of his maths homework have been filled in for him! “Who…who did this?!” cried Luke excitedly. “Sybil! You did this! I can tell by your handwriting!” “Leave everything to me. Someday I’ll open a homework avoiding service, so that I can do all the homework for you. But the next few answers need another one while we go to the pool.” I thought for a moment, and then an idea flew into my head almost instantly. “I’ll phone Roger Rabbit and see if he can do all the homework for you.”
So I telephoned Roger Rabbit. “Helloooo, Roger Rabbit speaking,” said the voice on the phone. It was Roger alright. “Hi, I was wondering if you could do Luke’s homework while we go to the pool.” I said. “Sure, you know how much I love doing homework! I used to copy off other people at school! I got into so much trouble.” “But won’t you get us both into trouble?” I asked, a little puzzled. “No way! Leave it all to Roger!” I put down the phone and waited for a long time with Luke in my room. Occasionally the silence of his room was broken by the occasional crow squawking. Suddenly, we heard a clown car horn make a rude noise, and outside, Roger Rabbit drove up to Luke’s front gate in his red and white clown car. He got out and noticed the ‘Beware Werewolf’ sign on the front of the gate. “Ooh! Better be careful!” he said, and tiptoed quietly into Luke’s house.
Luke and I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Then finally, Roger burst in. “I’m here, baby!” he called. “Roger Rabbit!” we both shouted. “You came! At last!” I cried. “Yep, it’s me, Roger Rabbit, here to do your homework! Where is your homework, by the way?” “It’s on Luke’s desk,” I said, pointing to the five pages of homework laid out on the table. “My hands really ache when I do my homework. Werewolves get terrible arthritis when it comes to doing homework.” “Nah, you’re just a little hubbub who ain’t old.” cracked Roger, “By the way, you kids have fun at the pool while I get the homework done!” “Yay!” we both cried, and we grabbed our swim stuff and raced outside. This left Roger thinking and alone in Luke’s room. “5 x 9…hmmm, 5 x 9…” A literal lightbulb appeared above his head, and in his cartoony ways, Roger had to turn it off. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Bananas! That’s it, bananas!” he said, and proceeded to write down the word ‘Bananas’ in place of the answer.
Meanwhile, Luke and I were racing like hell to get to the pool, but the moment we got there, it was shut! “Oh no!” I cried, “Why would those poor people shut the pool on the weekend?” “Because it’s the time when everyone gets a day off,” said Luke. He sighed. “It must be one of those days.” “One of those days when people couldn’t bother to make a crowded swimming pool. We prefer the days when we have water all to ourselves.” I shrugged. “Like when there was a drought?” “We weren’t selfish!” I yelled.
At Luke’s house, Roger was nearly finished doing all the homework in double quick time. He only got one answer wrong, and that was the banana answer, but all the other questions, he did correctly. When Luke and I returned, I checked on what Roger did. Everything was correct, except for the first question he did. “Silly Roger,” I giggled, “It’s 45!” “Oooooh,” realised Roger, and proceeded to cross out ‘banana’ and write 45. “There you go, Luke, nothing to worry about. It all takes a little help, and viola, your homework is done.” “Don’t mention it, it’s my job to help others. I’m a cartoon!” And Roger opened the window and leapt out back into his car, driving off. “Bye Roger!” Luke and I called. At that moment, Mrs Watson came in. She seemed surprisingly happy. “Dr Skulley says not to worry about your homework at all,” she said. “Great!” cried Luke. “You can do it after the holidays.” Luke’s mum said. Luke and I hugged each other, jumping up and down. “We were doing homework for nothing!” I cried. “And to think, we were both simply getting help!” laughed Luke.
The Monday following, we were hanging out at the pool with Resus and Cleo. “No way,” said Cleo, “You got a cartoon rabbit to do your homework? How come?” “Sybil phoned him up. He got one answer wrong, but he still managed to be a kind old bunny.” Luke told Cleo. “But then his mum told him that he can do his homework after the holidays!” I said. Resus and Cleo chattered happily in belief. “All that homework for nothing!” laughed Resus, “And to think we were all given homework during the Summer holidays.” “Not if I have something to say about it!” cried Luke, and he splashed Resus. Resus splashed him back, then Cleo splashed him. I splashed both of them. Soon we were all splashing each other, happy that homework was forgotten about at last.
THE END.
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