The Joke She Told Again
Chapter 1The Paper Cow
During a supervised classroom craft, Chaya folded a paper cow whose legs all pointed in different directions.
"This cow is going to four places at once," she said.
Her tablemates laughed. Chaya laughed too.
Mrs. Adler helped her fold the legs into their proper places. The cow stood beside a little paper barn.
Chaya liked making her friends laugh. She repeated the sentence when Leah came over to see the barn.
Leah smiled.
Chapter 2Once More
The girls began arranging the animals on the display mat.
Chaya moved the cow near the gate.
"Four places at once!" she said again.
Gitty was counting the sheep. Leah was placing a trough.
Nobody laughed this time.
Chaya spoke louder. Perhaps they had not heard.
"It's the cow that goes to four places at once!"
Gitty lost her count and started again.
"Chaya, please wait."
Chaya's face warmed. The same joke had been welcome a few minutes before.
Chapter 3The Table Changes
She looked at her friends' hands. All of them were working on small details.
Her cow's legs were straight now. The funny moment had passed, and the display needed finishing.
Chaya set the cow down quietly.
"Sorry I broke your count," she told Gitty.
"I need the sheep in groups of three," Gitty said.
Chaya wanted to ask whether everyone had stopped liking her jokes. Instead she looked at the sheep waiting beside the mat.
"Can I help with these?"
Chapter 4Three at a Time
Gitty asked her to pass over three sheep at a time without adding them to the mat herself.
Chaya counted a group and handed it across.
Gitty counted it again and placed it behind the fence. Leah finished the trough.
Mrs. Adler came to check the arrangement.
Chaya's cow stood near the gate with all four legs under it.
"That one looks much steadier," the teacher said.
Chaya nodded. She did not launch the old joke again while Mrs. Adler gave the next instructions.
Chapter 5Later at Lunch
At lunch, the craft work was finished. Chaya sat with the same friends.
Leah asked how the cow had looked before Mrs. Adler helped.
Chaya showed its original wide-legged shape with her hands, keeping her elbows away from the food.
"It couldn't choose a direction," she said.
Leah laughed. Gitty smiled and told them about a sheep she'd folded with its ears underneath.
Chaya listened to Gitty's story instead of trying to make her own joke bigger or tell it again.
Chapter 6A Place for the Cow
After lunch the girls looked at the finished farm with Mrs. Adler.
Gitty pointed to the neatly counted sheep.
"Thanks for passing them over."
Chaya moved one loose paper scrap off the table when the teacher asked.
The cow had been funny once, then unhelpful to keep interrupting with. It could still belong on the farm.
Chaya stood beside her friends while they admired the display. She had more ways to be part of the table than making it laugh.
