"Hey, Ham-Hams!" Hamtaro shouted. Everyone barely noticed him, and they quickly glanced at him before turned their heads back in the other direction. "I know what we should do today!"
Bijou jumped out of her seat, and everyone else looked over excitedly. "What, Hamtaro, what?" Bijou shook him.
"I heard Laura and Kana talking about a �graduation ceremony� on their way to school. We should find out what that is!"
"That�s a great idea!" Pashmina said happily.
"Ookwee!" Penelope exclaimed.
"That does sound like a good idea," Boss considered. "But how are we going to get to their school? They�re too far now. We won�t be able to catch up to them."
"Hmmm�" Hamtaro plopped down on the ground to think about this for a moment.
"I know! We can ride on Brandy! I�m sure she�d love to take us to Kana and Laura�s school!" Said Oxnard, nibbling on a sunflower seed.
"Yeah!" Replied Hamtaro, hopping up again. "That�s what we�ll do!"
The Ham-Hams scurried out of the house and went to Hamtaro�s front yard. Hamtaro hopped onto Brandy�s nose and knocked on her head. "Brandy, wake up." He said with a smile. Brandy wearily opened her eyes and sighed as if asking what Hamtaro wanted this time.
"Can you take us to Laura�s school?"
Brandy grinned and nodded anxiously. She stood up and stepped out of her doghouse so that the Ham-Hams could climb aboard. Then she knelt down and lowered her tail to the ground. One by one, the Ham-Hams mounted, Pashmina first, and Hamtaro last, just to make sure everyone got on safely.
"Here you go, Pashmina, front seat." Howdy said to Pashmina lovingly. "And I�ll sit right next to you."
Pashmina sat down and ignored them.
"No! Pashmina, I�ll sit next to you! Not this jerk!" Dexter said affectionately.
Pashmina pushed them both aside and made room for Penelope next to her.
Once everybody was comfortable, Brandy took off running like a bucking bronco.
When they got to the school, everyone was already inside, and Brandy lifted them up to the window so that they could see inside. The window was open, and each of the Hams silently clambered in. They all hid in a kid�s desk to listen to the announcements coming from the speaker above the wall clock: "Good morning, students, this is Ms. Elliot, school librarian speaking. Well, we have finally come to the last day of school. Next year the fifth graders will be attending Junior High School. Aren�t they lucky? I have a few announcements to make. First of all, tonight is the Continuation/Graduation ceremony for all of you fifth graders. Remember, it�s tonight in the auditorium at 7:30 sharp. You�ll all get your certificates plus a small gift from Mr. Vasquez, the Principal. And don�t forget to dress up! That�s all the announcements for today, please rise for the Pledge."
As the children stood up with their right hands on their hearts and recited a funny poem, the Hams gathered together in the corner of the room to talk. "So what are we going to do?" Bijou asked, gazing adoringly at Hamtaro.
"We�re gonna go to the ceremony!" He said enthusiastically, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Ookwee," Penelope said sadly, knowing deep inside that somehow, someway, this wasn�t going to turn out so well.
* * *
The Ham-Hams had made it. They were in the auditorium. It was about 7:30.
The ceremony was going to start any minute. All the girls were dressed up in long red gowns, and the boys were in blue ones. Everyone was wearing a matching hat that had a tassel. Most of the boys and a few of the girls were playing with their tassels. The Hams were sitting on a fold-up chair in the back row, climbing on top of each other to take turns seeing. And then it started.
The school principal, Mr. Vasquez, called up the students one by one and handed them a certificate. When it was finally Laura�s turn, the Hams had managed to all climb up onto the back of the seat in front of it and they could all see. Laura walked up the stage steps to the principal and shook his hand. He then gave her a certificate and something small, shiny, and round. Bijou and Hamtaro gasped with excitement. Then Laura shook hands with all of the other teachers and sat down. After the ceremony, everyone went home with their parents to have a little celebration of their own.
The Hams climbed to the window and hopped out, expecting to be caught by Brandy. They weren�t Brandy must have forgotten to pick them up! How were they going to get home? They didn�t know they way! Besides, it was too far to walk! They landed on their butts with a sickening thud. Fortunately, Pashmina and Bijou caught Penelope just before she hit the ground.
It was raining outside. They were getting totally soaked. They looked all around for Brandy, but they didn�t see her anywhere. Even if she was there, they wouldn�t have seen her, because it was too foggy.
"What do we do now?" Said Bijou miserably.
Whether it was fortunately or unfortunately, Jingle appeared out of nowhere. "When Ham-Hams are lost, and there�s nothing to do, there�s nowhere to go, so new paths must be crossed." He said.
Pashmina folded her arms across her chest. "That doesn�t make any sense!"
"Ookwee!" Penelope agreed angrily.
"We must solve our problems, to make others happy. If we don�t do such things then we�ll go to our Pappy." Jingle said again.
"It still doesn�t make sense," Pashmina commented.
"That�s it!" Said Hamtaro with a grin.
"We�ll find Elder Ham!" Bijou exclaimed, taking the words right out of Hamtaro�s mouth.
And sure enough, Elder Ham appeared out of nowhere just like Jingle had. "Need help, folks?" He asked, waving his arms in the air.
"Yes!" Everyone cheered, jumping up and down. "We need help getting home." Bijou explained. "We do not know the way, and it is too foggy to see anyway."
"That all right, folks! I�ll help�"
Elder Ham was interrupted by a big boom of thunder and a bolt of lightning striking the deep blue sky.
"Wait, everyone! I know what to do!" Yelled Oxnard, grabbing everyone�s attention out of their pockets and yanking them toward him. "Kana hasn�t gone home yet! She�s still in there saying goodbye to her favorite teacher!"
"We can follow her home!" Hamtaro added.
"And she lives right next door to Hamtaro and Laura!" Bijou included.
"Yeah!" Everyone yelled.
* * *
Later that night, Hamtaro sat at Laura�s desk, munching on a chocolate coin she had given him that she had gotten from graduation.
I had such a great time at graduation. Before the ceremony, we had cake and ice cream, and Kana and I got it all over our faces! I had a blast. I sure wish Hamtaro was there! Laura wrote in her journal. But Laura, Hamtaro thought. What you don�t know is that I was there! And I got home just in time, too!
THE END
