Free What the Moon Said by Gayle Rosengren

harder and harder to lift the closer she got to home.
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    Mickey ran up to meet her with a wagging tail, but Esther could only pat his head. She could not get any words out. If she tried, she was sure she would burst into tears. And if she walked into the farmhouse crying, it would just make everything worse.
    If only Esther could see the blackboard like everyone else. Pa and Ma were going to be so ashamed of her! Ma would never hug Esther or tell her that she loved her now. Esther had ruined everything by cheating.
    She stopped at the foot of the porch steps and took the envelope out of her reader.
Mr. and Mrs. Vogel

was written in Miss Larson’s beautiful penmanship across the front. Esther bit her lip. She knew she had to give the letter to Ma and Pa. But she didn’t have to give it to them right away, did she? She could wait until Sunday night. That way she could still have the joy of showing Ma and Pa her blue ribbon. And she would have the weekend for storing up memories of when they were proud of her.
    She swallowed. It was cowardly, she supposed. But it was the only way she could bring herself to go inside. She shoved the envelope back into her book.
    Ma was knitting in the parlor when Esther walked in. Esther pulled out her blue ribbon and waved it in the air. “Look what I’ve got!” she said.
    Ma stopped her knitting and looked. She nodded and smiled. “Very good,” she said. Then she started knitting again.
    Tears stung Esther’s eyes. That was all Ma had to say? Didn’t she know what a good speller someone had to be to win a blue ribbon? Well, Violet would know. Her excitement would tell Ma how special the award was.
    â€œLook, Vi,” Esther said, thrusting the ribbon in front of her sister. “Isn’t it splendid?”
    But Violet was hunched over the sewing machine. She barely glanced at the ribbon. “Just a minute, Es . . . Ma? How do I refill the bobbin?”
    Ma stood up and limped slowly across the room. “I will show you,” she said.
    The two had their heads together, murmuring over the machine. They seemed to have forgotten Esther was even there.
    She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “I’m going to my room,” she said. And when neither Ma nor Violet said anything, she climbed the stairs.
    In her bedroom, Esther yanked her birthday ribbon out of her hair. She’d worn it for luck. Well, luck she’d had, but more bad than good. Esther buried the ribbon in her dresser drawer and slammed the drawer shut.
    She thought of the wish she’d planned to make on her birthday—if Violet had not burned the cake. “I wish Ma would love me and hug me like Mrs. Rubinstein hugs Shirley,” she would have wished with all her might. But she hadn’t gotten to make a wish. And once Ma saw the note about Esther cheating, no wishes on earth would be powerful enough to help Esther win her love. But she still had the weekend. If school ribbons couldn’t impress Ma, she would just have to think of something else.
    Esther paced back and forth next to the bed. Maybe she should ask for sewing lessons. Since Violet had been staying home, Ma had taught her how to use her machine. Just the night before, Ma had told Pa what a fine seamstress Violet was becoming. She had smiled at Violet with real pride.
    Esther ran back downstairs. “Ma, will you teach me to sew, like Violet?” she asked. “Please.”
    Ma shook her head. “You are too little,” she explained. “Your feet will not reach the treadle yet. When you are older, then I will teach.”
    Esther trudged back upstairs. It might be years before she was big enough to sew, but all she had was two days.
    Esther plunked herself onto the bed. “I have to think of something,” Esther said to Margaret, taking the doll on her lap. “But what?”
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    That night, Esther showed Pa