Free Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes

closed and some are open? What are the boundaries that define an ecosystem or a community?”
    She approached the edge of the taped line. Her toes wiggled up and down as if she were itching to jump.
    â€œIt’s your job,” she instructed the class, “to stop me from going in.”
    She rocked on her heels and swung back her arms.
    â€œBut ma’am, you’re the teacher,” Melissa protested. “That’s not fair.”
    Miss Loupe was swinging her arms forward….
    â€œDon’t!” Bo yelled. “It’s covered with dog poop!”
    â€œOhhh,” Miss Loupe said as she arrested her jump and wrinkled her nose. “Is it?” She peered into the depths of the Taped Space. “You think dog poop is dangerous?”
    â€œAnd sharks,” added Bo.
    â€œAh. I guess I’ll have to put on my shark-proof diving suit, then.” She zipped an imaginary one over her clothes.
    â€œLand mines,” Trey called out. “Lots of them!”
    â€œThank you, Trey. I’ll take my explosives detector.” She hoisted an imaginary backpack over her shoulder.
    â€œIt’s sacred ground!” Martina yelled. “No one is allowed to set foot in there!”
    â€œGuess I’d better not use my feet, then,” Miss Loupe said. She sat down beside the Taped Space and prepared to roll over the line.
    The protests flew from the class like sparks from a sputtering fuse.
    â€œIt’s electrified!”
    â€œYou’ll be put in jail!”
    â€œIt’s against school rules! Page fifteen of the Handbook!”
    â€œNachos will miss you if you never come back!”
    In the middle of the game, Mrs. Heard stuck her head in the doorway.
    â€œMiss Loupe? I heard noise and I …”
    Miss Loupe scrambled up off the floor. She tucked in her shirt.
    â€œCome in,” she said. “We were just discussing boundaries and changes to ecosystems.”
    Mrs. Heard looked puzzled. She tilted her head toward the Ugly, Ugly Couch.
    â€œI’m sorry, but that needs to be gone before the School Commission comes.” As she approached it, she sneezed three times. “There’s not a cat in here, is there?” She pulled a tissue from her suit pocket and pressed it to her nose. “And I need your report for the Commission as soon as possible.”
    After Mrs. Heard left, Room 208 protested.
    â€œShe can’t take away the couch! We need it!”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with having a couch in here?”
    Bo said, “Mrs. Heard is a crazy, old —”
    Miss Loupe jumped into the Taped Space with both feet. The class was instantly silenced.
    â€œâ€˜Be kind,’” she said, “‘for everyone you know is fighting a great battle.’”
    â€œWho said that?” Allison asked. “Some famous general?”
    â€œPhilo of Alexandria, an ancient Greek philosopher,” Miss Loupe said.
    â€œWhat battle?” said Trey, looking up from the drawing he had begun of Mrs. Heard dueling with a gigantic fanged cat.
    â€œThat’s the thing,” Miss Loupe said. “Everyone’s fighting a different one.” She looked over at the picture on her desk. “Of course, Marc would say he’s in a battle. But so would Miss Candy.”
    â€œMiss Candy?” Zac said. “How?”
    â€œWell, why do you think she’s building a castle in her library when nobody’s asked her to?” Miss Loupe said. “You don’t build a castle if you’re not fighting something.”
    â€œBut Mrs. Heard is in charge of everything,” Allison objected. “What’s she fighting?”
    â€œSomething practically invisible,” Miss Loupe said. “An idea. A long-established idea about how much money an old school next to an Air Force base should get.”
    â€œWhat about you, ma’am?” Melissa said. “Are you in a battle?”
    â€œOf course, Melissa, of