It was spelling test day. No one had studied. No one had done any homework the night before because the new episode of Star Saloon was on TV. But they couldn’t exactly tell Ms. Peters that. She wouldn’t understand. 

They decided to make up funny excuses instead. Maybe if they made Ms. Peters laugh, she wouldn’t mind so much that they hadn’t studied.  Of course there was the usual “dog ate my homework” excuse. But that had been done before.

“A herd of angry bees carried my spelling notebook away to their queen,” said Jeremy.

“My spelling paper was shredded in the blender,” said Mabel. “It got stirred into the spaghetti sauce.”

“I was abducted by aliens. I practiced the spelling words, but only in alien language,” said Teddy.

“My spelling notebook fell down the back of the sofa” said Annie. That was the truth. “I had to go on an excavation mission to get it back. I shrunk myself and climbed into the pit. But I couldn’t find the notebook in the middle of all the pennies and goldfish crackers.” That was not the truth. Except the part about the pennies and crackers. 

“Wow,” said Ms. Peters. “There are some creative excuses in here today. You all get partial credit for making me laugh.”

The kids looked at each other. They had done it! Then Ms. Peters continued.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Star Saloon, would it? The best episode of all time!” 

Now it was the kids’ turn to laugh. Ms. Peters knew everything. And she was a Star Saloon fan too! 

“The test will be tomorrow instead,” said Ms. Peters. “But don’t forget to study tonight. No excuses!”