The Five Minutes Before the Show

Chapter 1A Goose and a Hat

Suri and Henna had written a little paper-puppet play for their younger cousins.

The goose lost a hat. The rabbit found it inside a cabbage basket. The goose insisted it was a very leafy hat.

Mommy watched one rehearsal from her chair, her hair covered by a blue scarf.

"Five minutes," Suri said when they finished.

Mommy told them the cousins could watch in the sitting room before the family's planned departure.

Suri promised the whole visit would fit into the short time Mommy had allowed.

When the cousins arrived, the puppets were in Suri's box. The paper background lay flat under her bed.

The low screen had to be set in the adult-approved place, away from the walking path. Mommy handled its supports.

Henna looked for the cabbage basket. Suri found the goose but not its hat.

The cousins waited on the rug.

Suri kept saying, "The play only takes five minutes."

The play had not begun.

Mommy checked the time.

"There is not room for the full play now. We still need to put the materials away before leaving."

"But we timed it!" Suri said.

"What did you time?"

Suri looked at the scattered pieces.

The rehearsal had begun with the puppets ready and the screen already standing. It ended with the goose waving, not with the sitting room clear.

Five minutes had described the performance, not everything their promise required.

Suri wanted to start quickly and hope the rest would fit.

Henna picked up the rabbit.

"Could we show the hat part at the table instead?"

Mommy approved a short seated scene with no screen. She said when it needed to end.

Suri apologized to the cousins for making them wait. She explained that the whole play would need another approved time.

The cousins watched the goose discover its leafy hat.

They laughed even without the background.

When Mommy gave the stopping reminder, the girls ended the scene.

Suri placed each puppet in the box. Henna put the background away. Mommy handled the unused screen.

The sitting room was clear for departure.

Suri did not call cleanup an unfair extra. It had always been part of using the room.

Later, the girls asked about showing the full play on another visit.

Before naming a duration, they included getting the approved materials ready and putting them away afterward.

At the next approved rehearsal, the girls kept the hat in a paper pocket inside the puppet box.

They timed the whole home routine with Mommy's ordinary clock and supervision, including her help with the screen.

The full job took longer than the goose's five-minute adventure.

Suri told Mommy the longer time before asking for a new slot.

The goose still lost its hat. The girls' plan no longer lost everything before and after the show.