10 HAPPY ENDING

Happy Ending A few grown-ups muttered. Bean heard someone say something about bedtime. One

dad sat up, but he flopped down again when he saw Bean coming toward him. In a minute or two, the grown-ups got quiet. Ivy and Bean heard some gentle sighs. Ivy poked Bean in the ribs. "See," she whispered. "They're getting happy." Bean was getting happy, too. She couldn't lie down, because she was taking care of the grown-ups, but she could feel the cool night air and she could listen to the leaves move. She could smell the damp dirt under the grass. She and Ivy stood side by side, making sure that nothing surprising happened. "I think they're liking nature," whispered Ivy. "I think so, too," whispered Bean. For just a moment, she felt like the grown-ups were the little ants and she was the giant who understood how big the world really was. A grown-up began to snore softly. Way out on the lawn, the Principal curled up on her side. Ivy checked Ms. Aruba-Tate's glow-in-the-dark

watch. "Two more minutes," she whispered. Ivy and Bean watched the grownups resting. The two minutes passed. "All right, grown-ups," said Ivy gently. "It's time to get up now." Some of the grown-ups moaned a tiny bit. They didn't want to get up. Eventually, they struggled to their feet. Except for three who had fallen asleep. Bean woke them up nicely. It would have been fun to pour water on their faces, but that wouldn't have made them happy. When all of them were on their feet, Bean said, "Okay. That was our science project. You can go now."

But they didn't. They stood looking at her and Ivy. "Wait," said a mom. "How was that about global warming?" Ivy and Bean glanced at each other. Even in the dim light, Bean could see that the grown- ups were confused. "Were you happy?" asked Bean. "What?" said the mom. "Were you happy while you were lying down?" asked Bean. "Well, yes," said the mom. "Sure. It was great." "That's it," said Ivy. "We wanted you all to feel happy in nature." "So you would care about global warming," explained Bean. There was a little pause. Bean and Ivy looked at each other—what was so hard to understand? —and then the mom said, "Oh. I get it."

The other grown-ups smiled. "That's a good one," said a dad. "That's a really good one." The other grown-ups yawned and nodded. They began to drift back to the cafeteria, except for Ivy and Bean's parents. Ivy's mom took Ivy's hand. "I was happy," she said. "Really? You weren't worried about poison oak and bugs?" Ivy asked. "At first, I was, a little bit. But then I did what you said, Bean, and smelled the grass and listened to the trees. I haven't done that in a long time." "And now you care about global warming?" Ivy asked. "Sure I do." Ivy turned to Bean. "It worked!" Bean elbowed Ivy. "Of course it worked. It couldn't help working. It's science." As they walked back to the cafeteria to give

Ms. Aruba-Tate her watch, Bean's dad put his arm around her shoulder. "That was a great science project, sweetie. Much better than my poster idea." Bean gave him a squeeze. "Oh, Dad, don't feel bad. You're a grown-up. You can't help it." Ivy and Bean let the grown-ups walk ahead. "They're all caring about global warming now," said Ivy. "I can tell." "We should give classes," said Bean. "It would have been nice if we had found the one big solution to global warming," said Ivy. "Yeah," said Bean. "But we had lots of good small ideas." "And we're only beginners," said Ivy. "If the two of us work on global warming for ten more years, I bet we find the solution." Once again, Bean pictured herself holding up a test tube full of shimmering pink stuff while white-coated scientists gasped in amazement. "The first thing we need to do,"