Like Nobody’s Business!

Written and Illustrated By Mimi

Part of the Coloring Books

with SUMI Series©

It was finally here, the piece of paper that could change Sumi’s life -- an application to be on the show “Kids Across the Country.” Every third grader’s dream was to be on the show, which followed one student from around the country each afternoon at 4 o’clock. Sumi had been waiting for the application to come in the mail for three weeks, ever since the announcement that the program was looking for a student at her school, Glenbrook Elementary.

That afternoon, after the mailman came, she could tell today would be the day the application arrived.

“Did my application come?” she asked her mom.

“I don’t know, let’s see -- Ranch Insurance Co., Save-A-Lot Grocery coupons, The Public Broadcasting Station,” her mom said with a smile, handing the thick envelope to Sumi.

 “It’s here! It’s finally here!” Sumi shrieked.

She quickly tore open the thick manila colored envelope. Inside was the application and mailing instructions. She wanted to fill it out right away, but her mom said, “Not until you finish picking up your room, like you promised last night. ‘Kids Across the Country’ will never choose you if they know you have a messy room.”

“I may have a messy room, Mom,” said Sumi. “But I have super neat handwriting, and when they see that I can write cursive like nobody’s business, they’ll pick me right away!”

“Alright,” said her mom. “But, I still want all your dirty clothes to go in the hamper.”

After dinner, Sumi started to fill out the application. When she got to the part where she had to list her talents, Sumi knew exactly what to write.

The next day at lunch, all anyone would talk about was the talent portion of the application. Tracy said her mom already signed her up for acting classes, Amanda said her mom called for an appointment to get her hair curled and Madison said her mom made her practice piano scales for over an hour last night.

“What did your mom do, Sumi?” asked Amanda.

“Uhh, she didn’t do anything,” said Sumi. “But, I got in my tutu and danced around the house for the talent part.”

“You’re too clumsy to do ballet. There’s no way ‘Kids Across the Country’ will pick you if you’re a clumsy ballerina,” said Tracy.

“Well, I might be a clumsy ballerina,” said Sumi. “But, I’m great at freestyle, I can bounce and twist and slide like nobody’s business!”

          When the bell rang, all the students filed back into class and plopped into their seats. Today was the day Ms. Stinson passed back the spelling test they took the week before. Her tablemates, Sam and Anna both got perfect scores, but when Ms. Stinson gave Sumi back her test, she got three wrong.

Sam snickered and said, “’Kids Across the Country’ isn’t going to pick you, if you can’t spell a simple word like ‘potato’.”

“Three wrong isn’t that bad, and though I may not be that good at spelling, I’m a wiz at math. I can multiply and long divide like nobody’s business!” Sumi said, taking out her silent reading book.

“Whatever,” said Sam, pulling out his book, too.

          That afternoon, Sumi finished filling out her application and her mom helped her address the return envelope. Then, Sumi and her mother walked to the post office and Sumi dropped the completed application in the blue metal mailbox.

          A full week passed before she got a response from the Public Broadcasting Station. The envelope looked the same as the first one, except it was just a little bit thicker. Again, she slowly tore open the envelope -- inside was a piece of paper and another form. “Dear Sumi Jenkins, Congratulations!“ the paper read, “You have been chosen as a semi-finalist for the ‘Kids Across the Country - Glenbrook Elementary School Episode.’ Attached is a supplementary application and an agreement that the shows producers can interview and film you, Sumi Jenkins, in a personal interview at your own home. Please read the agreement thoroughly and have your parents sign the form as well. Thank you for your interest in ‘Kids Across the Country’ and again, congratulations on being chosen as a semi-finalist! Sincerely, John Watkins -- ‘Kids Across the Country’ Producer.”

          “Mom, I won!” exclaimed Sumi.

          “Let me see!” said her Mom.

Sumi’s mom quickly scanned the paper, “You’re a semi-finalist, that’s great Sumi, but you still have to go through an interview to get on the show.”

“I know,” said Sumi. “But, I know I’m gonna win!”

“Maybe you will...,” said her mom, with a smile.

          That weekend, producers came to Sumi’s house. They arrived in a big black van with the ‘Kids Across the Country’ logo on the side. Mr. Watkins talked to Sumi’s mom as two camera guys set up the equipment. The video camera had a wide curved lens and was focused on the living room couch, where Sumi was sitting. Mr. Watkins turned to Sumi and smiled. “Are you ready for the interview?” he said, clasping his hands in front of him.

          “Uhh, I guess...,” said Sumi.

          “You have to be sure,” said Mr. Watkins. “Are you sure?”

          “Yeah, I’m sure,” said Sumi, attempting a measly smile.

“Alright then, let’s rock and roll,” Mr. Watkins said, sitting down on the couch next to Sumi. “So, Sumi,” he said, “What’s your favorite thing about living in Glenbrook?”

          Sumi didn’t know what to say, she sat there in silence for a while, but figured she should just say something, so she said. “Well, it has...it has really nice... really nice parks.”

“Parks, huh? What’s so great about the parks?” asked Mr. Watkins.

“Umm, they’re very nice...and green...and I really like to dance freestyle...and sometimes when I’m in the park, I’ll dance freestyle,” said Sumi, she cringed. She knew that wasn’t a good answer, but she didn’t know what to say. “I mean, I like to dance freestyle and I really like the parks in Glenbrook because sometimes my dance class will perform in them.”

“Oh, you’re in a dance class,” said Mr. Watkins. “Did you include that in your application?”

“I’m positive I did,” said Sumi. “It’s once a week and it’s all whatever we want to do -- all we have to do is move, and sometimes we’re allowed to bring in our own music from home to dance to...”

“That’s great! Can you perform for us now?” Mr. Watkins asked.

“Okay,” said Sumi. She got up and went to the center of the room. “Mom, can you turn on some music?” asked Sumi.

Her mom turned on some funky music with a very fast beat. Sumi took a deep breath and started to jiggle. She bopped her head and moved her right foot, then the left, and soon her whole body was warbling and jiving to the music.

When the music stopped, Sumi took a bow and Mr. Watkins clapped. “That was great, Sumi,” he said. “I think that our interview can be over now.”

“Alright,” said Sumi. She went over to stand next to her mom.

“Well, thank you for having us over, and we’ll be in touch,” said Mr. Watkins. “We should know who the finalist is in about two weeks.”

Those were the longest two weeks of Sumi’s life; she would come home each day hoping for a letter or even a phone call. One afternoon, a letter did come -- it was thinner than all the others. Inside, the paper read, “Dear Sumi Jenkins, We regret to inform you that you have not been chosen to be featured on ‘Kids Across the Country - Glenbrook Elementary School Episode.’ We hope you will remain a fan of the show. Sincerely, John Watkins -- ‘Kids Across the Country’ Producer.”

Sumi was crushed. Her mom, who had read the letter over her shoulder, wrapped her arms around her and whispered in her ear, “It’s alright, Sweetie.”

“It’s not alright. Why didn’t I get it?” asked Sumi.

“You never know with these types of things, it isn’t your fault,” said her mom.

“No, I know why they didn’t chose me,” sobbed Sumi. “It’s because I have a messy room and I can’t dance like a ballerina and I don’t get 100 percent on spelling tests and I said I liked parks!”

“That may be true,” said her mother. “But, you also have beautiful handwriting, are an unbelievable freestylist and a mini mathematician. Plus, I love parks, too.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Sumi, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I love you,” said Sumi’s mom. “And you’re always the star of my show, okay?”

“I love you, too,” said Sumi. She and her mother sat together like that for a while. But by 4 o’clock, instead of flipping on the television to watch her old favorite show, she skipped out of her mother’s arms and into her room, where she practiced her dance moves like nobody’s business!