The
Naughty Good
Girl
written by Mabel Kaplan 2009
To Kate
May this birthday
be filled with many
happy surprises.
Naughty Good Girl
by one who knows
Mabel Kaplan 2009
Printed under the MabelLabel
for Naughty-Good Girls the world over
Cassie was tired of lying in a hospital bed. She wanted to go home. She wanted to play outside, ride her bike and cuddle her baby sister.
“When can I go home?” she asked the nurse.
The nurse plumped the pillow under Cassie’s head. “When you’re a good girl,’ she said.
1
And with a quick pat to straighten the quilt cover, the nurse hurried to the next bed.
Cassie turned her face to the wall.
What did 'being good' mean, anyway, she wondered?
2
Sometimes
it seemed to be about
eating green vegetables or
not crying when she hurt.
At other times
it was about going
to the toilet at the right time
or not interrupting
while big people
listened to the news.
3
One thing Cassie knew
- if she wasn't good she was sent straight back to hospital!
So Cassie tried to be good - very good.
But no matter
how hard she tried
to stay good, she was never good enough.
4
The week after Christmas when the rest of the family returned to the farm after their holiday at the seaside - and just before her seventh birthday, Cassie landed back in Ward 2 the Children's Hospital.
Her tummy ached and her hands felt sweaty. She tried to figure what bad thing she had done.
5
She'd been gentle to her baby sister... she'd kept her T-shirt on so she would not get sun-burnt ... she'd tried hard to stand up straight when she did her walking exercises. She had even eaten spinach at her auntie's house without making a fuss.
It was no use. Cassie sighed! She must be bad somewhere deep inside.
6
The days grew into weeks and the weeks into months and Cassie stayed imprisoned in her hospital bed. Large Jackson splints were strapped with sticky elastoplast onto both legs from above her knees to down under her toes. The tops of the splints were made from a hard material. They rubbed the soft skin on backs of her legs and made them very sore.
7
Creams, padding, methylated spirits were tried - but nothing worked.
The doctors and nurses came up with a clever plan. Cassie must not sit up until her sores got better.
Cassie really wanted to be good but this was too much. While she lay down she couldn’t read a book , she couldn’t draw and she couldn’t even feed herself. Cassie was fed up.
8
One night Cassie waited until the other children slept and the ward was quiet. The nurses had all gone to the reception desk where they joked and drank coffee. Cassie sat up. Slowly and carefully she peeled and peeled back all the plaster from her legs. “Ouch!” The hairs on her legs stung as they pulled from her skin along with the plaster.
9
Finished at last, she rolled out of the high hospital bed onto the floor. Tummy down, she slithered under the beds of sleeping children . . . until she reached the end of the ward.
There stood the pan room where all the clean bedpans sat waiting to be chosen for the next child who wanted to go to the toilet.
Cassie slid inside the pan room and quietly closed the door.
10
"Now no-one will know where I am."
She wriggled under the bottom shelf and waited.
Silence!
It was very dark and soon the darkness turned to coldness.
Cassie shivered.
"I wonder if anyone knows where I am?"
She waited.
No sound! But the dark grew darker and the cold more cold.
11
With the door closed there was no way to tell when morning might come.
"I wish someone would find me." She shivered as she spoke.
Just then, the door opened and a stream of light spread across the shelves.
A voice from very high up said: "Cassie, are you in here?"
"Yes." Cassie answered. Her voice sounded very small.
12
"What are you doing in here?"
“I'm hiding."
"Why are you hiding?"
"I've done something very naughty."
"Have you?" said the voice. "What have you done?"
"I've taken all my plasters off."
"Ooooh!" said the voice. "Would you like me to carry you back to bed?"
Cassie crawled out from under the shelf.
13
A pair of strong, warm arms picked her up . . . and as they moved out into the light, Cassie looked up into the face of the matron. Matron's eyes were smiling.
Cassie was puzzled. Had she been good or had she been bad?
As she snuggled into those inviting arms, the knots in her tummy began to unravel and her hands stopped sweating.
14
Cassie lay back on her bed and looked into the matron's face.
"Well," said Matron, as she held Cassie's hand. "I guess we had better call the house doctor and get you all put back together again."
“Will I ... will I have to stay here forever, now?”
Cassie’s lips quivered.
“Stay here forever!” Matron looked surprised. “Why would you want to do that?”
15
I’ve been naughty,” Cassie whispered.
“I can only go home when I’m good.”
“Oh dear,” said Matron. “So that’s the way it works, is it?”
Matron stooped and gave Cassie the biggest hug she’d had since Mum had gone back to the farm.
“My dear little girl,” she said. “Sometimes you’re good and sometimes you’re naughty. That’s true of everyone - children and grown-ups.
16
"But what I know is, that in the time that you’ve been here , you’ve made us laugh and made the ward a happier place.”
The house doctor touched Cassie's nose with his stethoscope. “Children,” he said, “stay here only while they need treatment. So whether you’re good or whether you’re bad, you will be going home next week.”
17
Cassie could hardly believe it. Next week she would be home on the farm - with Mum and Dad and her baby sister.
Cassie took a deep breath. “But just to be one the safe side, she told her golliwog, “I’ll try to be good for at least just a little while.”
