The fire alarm goes off between the chips and the pudding.
Miss Petal stands up and shouts, “Right, children, nobody panic!” Miss Petal is panicking.
Then Mrs Jones arrives, the way she always arrives — as if she has been waiting just outside for something to go wrong. Mrs Jones taught them when they were nine, and nothing has ever surprised her.
“Good afternoon. Quiet, please. Eyes on me. Thank you.” She waits, and gets it. “I am the Head of Emergencies. Leave your things where they are and walk out to the playing field in a line. It may be a real alarm. It may be a practice. We do not know yet. The fire brigade is coming.”
“Oh no, miss,” says Lola to Miss Petal. “You’d better go and rescue your dictionary.”
Miss Petal looks suddenly and genuinely worried.
“We have to leave our things inside,” she says. “Those are the rules. Mrs Jones will not let me.”
Coco puts down her fork. Suki writes down the time before she stands up, because Suki writes everything down. Pip stands up and leaves his chicken on the table. Chicken is his favourite, so he always saves it until last.
Nine minutes later they are standing on a wet field. Mrs Jones has found umbrellas and raincoats in her car, because Mrs Jones has four children at home and her car has everything in it.
And Pip is thinking about his plate.
“My chicken will be cold,” he says, to nobody at all. ”That was not the plan.
Scene 1 of 5 · 258 words
Spanish translation
Los verbos que más usas son los rotos.
Sonó la alarma. Pip corrió. El pollo se quedó. Alguien se lo comió.#Típico
La alarma de incendios suena entre las patatas fritas y el postre.
Coco suelta el tenedor. Suki lo apunta todo, así que Suki apunta la hora antes de levantarse. Pip se levanta tan rápido que la silla se le cae hacia atrás. Coge su carpeta. Coge sus fotocopias. Coge el yogur de otro.
Deja su bocadillo de pollo encima de la mesa.
Nueve minutos después están de pie en un campo mojado, y Pip entiende lo que ha hecho.
"Lo he dejado", dice, a nadie en concreto.