Fish-face Rubber-Ear
Goblins

A Story by Gwen Holmes

Illustrated by Christopher Essex

"Guess so," said Elroy.

Kerwin towered above the little boy standing alone on the city sidewalk. "The rubber-ear fish-face goblins will eat you up when you sign up for kindergarten," he growled. He leaned from his bicycle and pushed Elroy down onto the sidewalk.

"Goblins?" said Elroy.

"Yeah. Those goblins have fish faces and rubber ears and they're going to get you, kid." Kerwin laughed and pedaled off.

Elroy scrambled to his feet and walked on down the sidewalk.

The rowhouses he passed hugged up tightly against each other. He stopped at one, opened the door and went in--as usual, he would spend the day with his grandmother.

Elroy helped his grandmother bake brownies and soon forgot about the fish-face rubber-ear goblins.

One day, Elroy's mother stayed home from work. "Today's a very special day, Elroy," she said. "We'll go to the elementary school and sign you up for kindergarten."

Because it was a special day, Elroy let his mother hold his hand as they walked along.

"There it is," said Elroy and pointed to a building with paper flowers in every window.

In the lunchroom, parents and children sat at tables together and whispered quietly. Elroy and his mother sat down.

"Welcome to our school," a young woman said to them. "Here are some papers to fill out so this young fellow can come to kindergarten this fall."

Elroy's mother took the papers from the smiling woman. "Tell you what," the woman continued, speaking to Elroy. "You'll need pretty sharp ears and eyes in kindergarten to play all the games and sing all the songs. Are yours pretty good?"

"Guess so," mumbled Elroy.

"Well, let's find out," the woman said, stepping away from the table. "While mother fills out papers, we'll play some games about eyes and ears that will tell us how good they are."

Elroy reluctantly followed her, curious about what kind of games there would be. First he played the eye game. A lady sat on a chair next to his, another stood across the room beside a white screen. On the screen were pictures of little black tables.

The lady seated next to him put a little black wooden table in his hand and said, "Look at the screen, Elroy."

"Here we go, Elroy," said the other lady, standing by the screen. "Turn your table till it looks like this one." She pointed to a black table on the top line of the screen.

"Very good, Elroy," said the lady seated next to him. "Now, I'll hold this paper fish in front of one of your eyes. You turn your table like before." The paper fish was pink and looked like a baby whale.

Suddenly he remembered Kerwin's warning.

"Fish-face!" he shouted and jumped up. "Whoa! Are you a fish-face goblin?"

"Golly, I hope not, Elroy," she said. She laughed a bubbly laugh that bounced her up and down on the chair. Her glasses slid to the end of her nose.

She's too jolly to be a real goblin, he thought, but he was still a little worried as he sat back down.

The game continued. Elroy turned his tiny wood table this way and that, matching tables on the screen. The lady covered first one eye with the paper fish, then the other. When the game ended, she gave him a dinosaur sticker and a coloring book about eye care.

"Now, Elroy, let's play the ear game," said the bubbly lady.

She led him to a quiet room where a square box and a pair of rubber headphones lay on a table.

"Elroy," she said, "sit in that little yellow chair and we'll see if your ears work well today."

He sat down, sitting as straight as a baseball bat. He looked at her sideways as if he were a batter waiting for the next pitch.

"Are you going to give me a shot?" he asked.

"Of course not, Elroy," she answered, with a little laugh. "What a silly question." She picked up the headphones and leaned toward him. "Now, I'll put these rubber ears on you," she said. "These make funny noises, Elroy, very soft noises. Just put your hand up when you hear the noises."

"Rubber ears!" he said, holding out his hand, like a policeman trying to stop traffic. "Whoa! Are you a rubber-ear goblin?"

"I don't think so, Elroy," she laughed a bubbly laugh again and jiggled all over. He watched to see if her glasses slid to the end of her nose - they did. He settled back into the chair.

"Now, just pretend you're a jet pilot on a secret mission," she said and gently placed the earphones on Elroy's ears. "Don't forget to put your hand up when you hear the noises."

The game was interesting. It was fun trying to make out the very quiet noises, trying to hear them as soon as possible and figure out which ear they came from. He enjoyed imagining that the noises were his jet engine sounds, and the sounds of other jets whooshing by. When the game was over, Elroy put on his best "say cheese" smile and asked, "Can I do it again?"

"Sure," said the bubbly lady.

So Elroy put the rubber ears on again and chased goblins and bullies in his speedy jet.

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