9 The Big Surprise Ending

9 The Big Surprise Ending WHAT?! An intruder? This was serious. We all rushed to line up in single file. Andrea was the line leader. Ryan was the door holder. Mr. Cooper looked worried as we hurried down the hall and walked a million hundred miles to the all-porpoise room. Nobody was talking or making jokes. All the classes

from kindergarten to fifth grade filed into the room. "What's going on?" I heard Mr. Cooper ask Officer Spence. "I was watching the security cameras," replied Officer Spence, "and I spotted a suspicious-looking person wearing a mask lurking around the playground." While we took our seats, Officer Spence went over and locked the doors of the all-porpoise room. Then he locked the windows and closed the shades. Finally, he turned off the lights. It was completely dark in the all- porpoise room. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face. "Okay, everyone stay low and stay quiet," said Officer Spence. "Stay away from windows and doors. Teachers, please silence your cell phones."

"I'm scared," whimpered Emily. For once in her life, Emily had a good reason to be scared. We were all scared. "Everything is going to be all right," said Officer Spence. "Stay calm. I will protect you." We all got quiet. Mrs. Stoker looked like she might be tempted to crack a

joke, but she stopped herself. After a million hundred minutes, I heard some footsteps in the hallway outside the all- porpoise room. "Who's that?" somebody whispered. "Shhhhhhhh!" The footsteps were getting closer. And closer. And closer. And closer. And closer. And closer. And closer. Okay, we get it. And closer. And closer. And closer. And closer. Knock it off already. And closer. And closer.

And closer. And then, there was a knock at the door. "Don't answer it!" somebody whispered. There was another knock at the door. A louder knock. "They're gonna break down the door!" somebody whispered. "Speaking of doors," said Mrs. Stoker, "the other day, a policeman knocked on my door and told me my dogs were chasing people on bikes. That's crazy! My dogs don't know how to ride bikes." "Shhhhh!" shushed Officer Spence. "Mrs. Stoker should really stop cracking jokes," whispered Andrea. "This is a serious situation." "Let me in!" somebody shouted from the other side of the door.

Then there was banging on the door. "Open up!" the person shouted from the other side of the door. Mrs. Stoker looked like she was going to crack another joke, but Officer Spence put one finger in front of his lips. "Shhhhh!" he whispered. "Don't make a sound!" We were all on pins and needles. Well, not really. That would have hurt. We were just sitting there in the dark. But it was intense. Well, not exactly. We weren't in tents. We were sitting on seats. It sounded like the person on the other side of the door was trying to pick the lock with a screwdriver or something. Officer Spence rushed over to the door. And then suddenly, the door swung