6. The E Game

6 The E Game I sat in a chair next to Mrs. Weller's desk. She asked me lots of questions. First, she asked me how I liked my summer vacation. Then she asked me how I liked first grade. And how I liked Mr. Scary. That is called stall talk, I believe. Finally, Mrs. Weller stood up. "Have you noticed the eye charts I have hanging on my wall, Junie B.?" she asked. She pointed at them.

"Eye charts are posters that help us test our eyesight," she explained. "I have two different kinds. See? One has alphabet letters on it. And the one right next to it is filled with funny E's. That one is called an E chart." I looked at that funny thing. "Whoa," I said. "Those are the craziest E's I ever saw. They are backwards and forwards and upside down."

"You're right," said Mrs. Weller. "The E's are all mixed up, aren't they? And today you and I are going to play a game with those mixed-up E's. It's called the E game." After that, Mrs. Weller got a little paper cup. And she showed me how to hold it over one of my eyes. "We're going to be testing each of your eyes separately," she said. "While one eye is hiding under the cup, the other eye will play the game. Okay?" I shrugged my shoulders. 'Cause what choice did I have? Mrs. Weller showed me where to stand to play the game. Then she went back to the E chart. "All right," she said. "Now each time I point to one of the E's, I want you to tell me the direction it's facing. Are you ready, Junie B.?"

I shrugged again. Then I hid one eye behind the cup. And Mrs. Weller pointed at the first E. I pointed my finger up. "That one is facing up at the ceiling," I told her. "Good," she said. "Excellent." I felt a little better inside. Mrs. Weller pointed to the next E. I turned my finger down at the floor. "That one is facing down," I said. Mrs. Weller smiled and nodded. I stood up taller. 'Cause this wasn't as hard as I thought.

After that, the nurse kept on pointing at more E's. And I kept on telling her which way they were facing. "Right… left… down… left… up…" I stopped and grinned. "Hey, what do you know? I'm a breeze at this game. Right, Mrs. Weller? Right? Right?" I said. Mrs. Weller winked at me. "We're almost done," she said. "Only a few more E's to go." She pointed to a new row. There was a fuzzy smudgie next to her finger. "Whoops," I said. "What happened there? Did someone spill something on your chart?" Mrs. Weller did a little frown. She kept pointing at the smudgie. "Can you tell me anything about this mark at all, Junie B.?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "It's a smearball." Mrs. Weller moved her finger over a little bit. "What about this mark here? Can you tell me anything about this one?" I stared and stared at that thing. "Hmm. That one's a toughie," I said. Finally, Mrs. Weller came over to me. "That's fine," she said. "You did just fine, Junie B." After that, we played the same game with my other eye. And guess what? I saw three more smudgies and a smeary. After I was done, I sat down in the chair again. Mrs. Weller said I need glasses. I do not like Mrs. Weller.