Fog Under the Cubby Hook

On the first day of school, Abigail found a small red mitten hanging on her cubby hook. It was not hers. It was not anyone's, the teacher said. It had been in the fog since last winter.

Everyone knew about the fog at Maple Lane School. It rolled in each night and kept whatever was left in it until morning. Last week it kept a kite. Today it kept a mitten.

Abigail wanted one thing. She wanted to find her own cubby, the one with her name on it, before the bell rang. Then she could hang up her new yellow bag and feel like she belonged.

But every hook had a mitten or a boot or a hat on it. The fog had been busy. And the name cards were stuck behind the hats.

"Abigail," she said, and looked at the first hook. It said Omar. She looked at the second. It said Priya.

She tried again. She lifted every hat, one by one. Still no Abigail.

Then she tried something different. She stood very still and listened. From the end of the row came a small sound. Jingle, jingle.

Abigail walked toward it. The sound came from a green boot with a bell on its laces. She tugged the boot, and a name card slid out from behind it.

Abigail.

"That's mine!" she said. "My name was hiding."

She hung up her yellow bag. Then she put the red mitten on the hook beside it, so it would not be lost again.

The bell rang. Abigail stood in her place with the others. The fog slipped out through the open door like a long grey cat. Behind her, on the hook, the little bell on the boot went jingle, jingle, and then it went still.