Lesson 21:Perri Plays Possum

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

y Antonia Burton
illustrated by Ashley Wolff
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2
Very early one fine fall morning, Perri asked her
mom if she could go for a walk all by herself. Perri
wanted to look at the beautiful colored leaves in the
forest. She wanted to watch the geese flying south.
She wanted to lie in the high, soft grass that covered
her favorite meadow.
“You can go,” Perri’s mother said, surprised that
her daughter wanted to be out and about during
the day. “But just don’t wander close to town. It’s
dangerous for young possums.”
Perri promised that she’d be careful.
As Perri reached the other side of the meadow,
she heard a puzzling sound—a roaring sound she had
never heard before.

Perri peered through the weeds to get a look—
and she couldn’t believe her eyes!
“These must be cars and buildings,” she said to
herself. “Mother is always saying that I should be
careful around these.”
But it all seemed so interesting—Perri wanted
a closer look. She felt like a scout discovering a
new territory.
But before Perri could dart across the street, she
heard an even more dangerous sound.
3

4
Perri turned to see a huge, snarling dog with
enormous teeth! It looked at Perri as if she were a
bucket of fried chicken.
Perri tried to run, but the dog blocked her path.
She tried to run in another direction, but the dog was
too fast.
The dog’s glassy eyes narrowed to a terrifying
squint. He growled violently.
Shaking to the tips of her tiny possum toes, Perri
tried to remember what her mother had told her to do
when danger came.
Play dumb? No.
Play tag? No.
Play piano? No.
Then she remembered.
PLAY DEAD!
Perri closed her eyes and dropped to the ground.
She lay as still as a rock.
The dog gave her a sniff, and walked all the
way around her. He gave her another sniff and began
to relax.

It was working! The dog thought she was dead
and had lost interest.
As quickly as he had come, the dog turned and
disappeared. Perri just lay still, afraid to move.
But playing possum for too long has its
drawbacks.
Just as Perri was about to get to her feet, she
heard another loud rumbling sound, then a screech
and a slam.
She opened her eye the tiniest bit and saw a tall,
skinny man in blue coveralls coming toward her.
5

6
The man poked Perri with his toe.
“Poor possum must have been hit by a car,” he
said. “Guess I ought to get the poor dead creature off
the side of the road.”
Before Perri could do anything, the man bent over
and scooped her up with his thick, gloved hands.
The man walked toward a big truck and tossed
Perri into a can in the back.
The smell in the can was horrible. The can was
filled with soggy, stinking garbage! Brown, gooey
liquid oozed from a bag at the bottom of the can. Perri
knew she had to get out of there—and fast!

Perri looked out from the can as the truck began
to move. She whizzed past houses, stores, people, and
even a few dogs. Perri felt trapped. She didn’t dare
jump from the moving vehicle.
A few minutes later, the truck stopped and the
man got out. As the man walked away from the truck,
Perri inched up to the rim of the can and looked out.
Now was her chance! She jumped out of the can
and down from the truck. Then she ran as fast as she
could.
Unaware of her surroundings, Perri jumped into
a big box of sand near where the truck had stopped.
She didn’t notice the child playing in the sand until it
was too late.
“Mama!” a small voice squealed. “Look! A little
doggy!”
Perri froze in her tracks, dropped on her side, and
closed her eyes.
“That’s not a doggy,” said a woman’s voice.
“That’s a poor little injured possum. Get away from it,
Tanner! Let Mama take care of it.”
7

8
Before long, Perri felt a big piece of cardboard
slide under her. The woman raised her on the
cardboard and then slid her into a little box and
covered the box tightly. Perri could see a little out
of the box because there were tiny holes poked all
around it.

“We’ll just take this poor creature home until
Daddy can take it to the animal shelter,” said the
woman to her little girl.
Perri bounced along inside the box as the
woman carried her home. Tanner poked at the box
with a stick.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” Perri thought.
“That kid will put out my eye!”
Soon the bouncing stopped, and Perri heard
the woman speak.
“We’ll just put the box here in the garage until
your father comes home from the police station,”
she said.
Perri felt the box plop down on hard ground
and heard the woman and Tanner walk away.
She tried to poke the top of the box off with her
head. It wouldn’t budge. Frustrated and scared,
she lay in the box and wondered what to do next.
9

10
“Hi, little doggy,” Perri heard Tanner’s voice
whispering through the holes in the box. The little
girl pulled the box lid off.
“No need to play dead now,” Perri thought.
“This kid knows I’m very much alive.”
With all the fierceness in her, Perri hissed at the
little girl, showing her pointy possum teeth. The
little girl screamed as Perri jumped out of the box
and raced out the garage door.
“Mama!” Perri heard. “The doggie got out!”

Perri ran as fast as she could across one
beautiful patch of grass after another. Each one was
covered with colorful leaves and had a big house
and a garage behind it.
Perri raced to the nearest hiding place she
could find—an open basement window. She
jumped through the window and landed in a soft,
warm pile. It felt as cozy as her underground den
back home. She listened for the sound of danger,
but everything was quiet, warm, and still.
Soon Perri fell asleep.
11

12
Perri woke up just in time to feel the cozy soft
pile pulled from around her. Once again, Perri lay
completely still.
“Oh, look!” said a woman. “Mrs. Hartwig left
some lovely old clothes for the rummage sale—and
look at this beautiful fur hat!”
The woman lifted Perri into the air—and put the
possum on her head!
“The ladies at the rummage sale will be so
envious,” said the woman as she picked up the pile of
clothes and headed out.
As the woman strolled down the street, Perri
kept still. All around her, she saw people staring and
pointing. Soon a small crowd of people surrounded
the woman.
“Why in the world must you people stare at my
hat?” the woman demanded.
“It isn’t a hat!” a little boy said. “That’s a
possum—and I think it’s alive.”
The woman screeched. Perri leapt from the
woman’s head, dodged through a narrow opening
in the crowd, and skittered down the street. No more
playing dead today!

14
Perri rocketed past the rummage sale. She zipped
past Tanner’s garage. She zoomed past the park
where she’d escaped from the garbage truck.
She didn’t slow down until she arrived back in
her own familiar meadow.
Familiar scents filled her possum snout. Perri
trotted down the forest path, hardly noticing the
colorful leaves.
Soon Perri was home.
“Mama!” she squealed, and she buried herself in
her mother’s warm, cuddly fur.
Playing dead was an adventure.
But being alive was much better!

Responding
TARGET SKILL Story Structure Perri’s
problems began when she started to play
dead. Copy the story map below. Complete
the story map to show the story structure.
Characters
Perri possum
Settings
A town
Plot
?
Problem
?
?
Solution
?
Write About It
Text to Text Think of another animal
character you have read about. Write two
paragraphs that tell about an adventure that
character might have with Perri possum.
15

TARGET VOCABULARY
glassy
liquid
narrow
puzzling
scout
soggy
surrounded
unaware
underground
violently
EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY
drawbacks
envious
inched
territory
vehicle
wander
TARGET SKILL Story Structure Name the
setting, character, and plot in a story.
TARGET STRATEGY Monitor/Clarify As you
read, find a way to clear up what doesn’t make
sense to you.
GENRE A fantasy is a story that could not
happen in real life.
16

Level: M
DRA: 28
Genre:
Fantasy
Strategy:
Monitor/Clarify
Skill:
Story Structure
Word Count: 1,276
3.5.21
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-01742-6
ISBN-10: 0-547-01742-1
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