Calvin the Capybara is a capybara. He lives in seventh-grader Allie Avamindo’s locker, and he enjoys this home very much in Allieslockertopia. Whether it’s the LED lights, magnet friends, endless snack supply, or Emma Watson fan art, Calvin thinks Allie’s locker is the place to be! Magnet friends, carrying motivational slogans, included a pickle and a duck. However, Calvin has a bit of adventure in him from his great uncle Sylevester. So he likes to explore the world! Today, Calvin was feeling hot.

“This locker is too stuffy and too warm!” he announced.

Duckie the Duck fanned herself. “I know! It’s quack-quack-hot!”

Calvin suddenly had an idea. “If Allie’s locker is too hot, let’s go somewhere cold!”

Pickles the Pickle frowned. “But Calvin, where is cold? Antarctica is cold, but how could a capybara and a duck go all the way to Antarctica?”

“We need a sled,” Calvin declared.

“A sled is the perfect idea! We could – quack! – sled all the way to Antarctica!” Duckie agreed.

“But where would you find a sled?” Pickles argued (Pickles was very pessimistic and practical).

“The classroom here at Montrose where random things go …” Calvin began.

“… and pigs fly …” Duckie continued.

“We need Mrs. Avamindo!” Calvin and Duckie exclaimed in unison.

So the two friends jumped straight out of Allie’s locker and ran across the hallway floor, motivated by their mission to cool off. Calvin and Duckie rounded the corner and raced through the senior commons.

“Remember how the seniors thought the can drive was theirs?” Duckie recalled as they passed the cans.

“Ha!” Calvin laughed. “The seventh grade had them beat by a mile! Those seniors never stood a chance. Class of ‘31 rules!”

Duckie smiled as she bolted up the ramp leading to the A&E Gallery. “We’re here, Calvin! Look! A room with a huge snack supply, student selfies – quack – all over the walls, and flying pigs all over the ceiling? This has to be the physics room, it’s the coolest room in the school!”

“Look! There’s Mrs. Avamindo with a blanket and slippers under the desk! Hello, Mrs. Avamindo!” Calvin called out.

“Calvin! Duckie!” Mrs. Avamindo replied, popping out in her coziest gear. “Welcome to the Physics room! What’s up, except of course for that paradigm-shifting new black hole found in 2025?”

Calvin and Duckie shared a confused glance, but they responded without the fancy terms.

Calvin said, “Mrs. Avamindo, we need your help. Duckie and I are too hot in our home of Allieslockertopia, and we need a sled to slide to Antarctica to cool off.”

“Quack!” Duckie agreed.

“Hmmm,” Mrs. Avamindo thought. “A sled? I may have one of those somewhere beneath my secret cranberry stash (don’t tell Allie!),” Calvin licked his lips,“and my styrofoam Mount Everest and my moon rock collection. Just in my junk drawer … aha! Here you go. An extra sled, with super sledding power.”

“Thank you Mrs. Avamindo!” Duckie and Calvin grinned.

The two friends, sled in hand, bolted down the hallways and the lockers, and waved to Pickles as they passed.

“Bye, Pickles! Bye! See you later!” Calvin and Duckie called to him.

“Bye, Calvin and Duckie! Enjoy the snow!” Pickles replied.

Calvin and Duckie burst out of the tunnel door, throwing a snowball at the security camera so Mrs. Derendorf wouldn’t see them. They couldn’t get caught on this secret mission.

“Hop on the sled, Duckie!” Calvin exclaimed. “I’ll hold it steady for you.”

Duckie hesitated. A little quacker like her was afraid of a big sled like that. “I-I don’t know, quack! This is a very, very, very, VERY big sled for such a small duck!”

“Don’t worry, Duckie! It’s okay. And I’ll be right there with you, all the way!” Calvin reassured her.

“Okay,” Duckie reluctantly agreed. “But be – quack – careful! I’m a tiny duck in the big world!”

Calvin carefully lifted a scared Duckie onto the sled. Duckie held on tightly to the plastic rims, shaking with fear. Calvin pushed the sled, running, to gain speed. Duckie shrieked and shrieked and shrieked so loud that the Miracle Field construction workers almost spilled a pile of dirt from fright. Finally, Calvin jumped on, grabbed the ropes to steer them, and they glided across North Street, and soon were out of Medfield going very fast. Duckie continued to scream, and the wind was so strong that it pasted her eyes open so she couldn’t even blink. Calvin smiled, relaxed, and was pleased. He even wished he had a bag of Doritos because Doritos were his favorite snack, and they helped him to chill. It was so cold that he didn’t need to “chill” any more. Snow blew all around them, the bright red of the sled popping in the world of white.

“See, Duckie? This is fun!” Calvin exclaimed, feeling cooler by the minute. “Heat is a thing of the past. I feel so cooled off.” They zipped across North America, and zapped through Quebec.

“A-A s-scarf w-wasn-t e-e-enough,” Duckie shivered. “I-I’m — q-quack! — s-s-so c-c-cold!”

“Aw, Duckie! You should have worn Allie’s Eskimo coat like I did! I’m feelin’ good!” Calvin cheerily announced as they glided onto Antarctica’s snowy shores.

“N-N-Alliesl-l-lockert-t-topia i-i-is s-s-sound-ding g-g-g-good t-t-to m-m-me,” Duckie shivered, her feathers ruffling from the icy winds.

“Poor Duckie,” Calvin mused. “Look! We’re here! And we’re greeted by polar bears!”

“POLAR BEARS!” Duckie yelped, the predator’s name scaring the cold right out of her.

“These polar bears look friendly,” Calvin argued. “See?

“Calvin! Polar bears are vicious creatures that eat ducks!” Duckie argued, covering her eyes. “And there is another lurking in the mountains!”

“Duckie,” Calvin said soothingly, “You’ve been watching too much of that YouTube Channel Who Ducks Should Fear. They make that stuff up! Just four baby polar bears is nothing scary!”

Duckie wasn’t convinced. She was shivering in her boots (if she had had the sense to bring a pair like Calvin).

“Hi there!” a little polar bear called out in a pink scarf and hat, waving. Calvin waved back. Duckie trembled with fear. “My name is Lulie. My sister Lillie is out there in the mountains, my sister Lanie is right here in the pink and blue, and my brother Luckie is here in just blue. What are your names?”

“My name is Calvin,” Calvin said. He paused to see if Duckie would introduce herself. She didn’t. “This is Duckie.”

“Hi Calvin! Hi Duckie!” Lulie, Lillie, Lanie, and Luckie called back.

“So, what brings you to Antarctica?” Lanie asked sweetly.

Duckie was curious, and uncovered her eyes. Seeing that these bears were indeed friendly, she answered. “We are here because — quack! — Allieslockertopia was too hot. We wanted some place cold.”

“You came to the right place!” Luckie told her. “Antarctica is very cold.”

Lillie bounced down from the mountains and stood by her siblings. “Yep! We are polar bears and we even need hats and scarves!”

“In Allie’s locker, it was very hot. So we went to Mrs. Avamindo  for a sled, and she gave us one. We love Mrs. Avamindo! She is the best. We sledded all the way to Antarctica from Medfield!”

“Wow,” Lulie, Lillie, Lanie, and Luckie breathed.

Duckie shivered. “I-It’s r-really c-c-cold.”

“Oh, Duckie, we should head back and get you all warmed up!” Calvin decided. “Antarctica is no place for a cold little duck; I see that now.”

“Th-th-thank you, C-C-Calvin,” Duckie spluttered.

So Calvin and Duckie walked back to their sled, and the polar bears waved goodbye from their mountains. Calvin helped cold Duckie back onto Mrs. Avamindo ’s sled.

“There you go, Duckie. Now hold on!”

Duckie held on very tightly, and Calvin pushed the sled again and hopped back on. Before Calvin or Duckie knew it, they were back in front of the tunnel door.

“What are you two doing outside of the building?” Mrs. Derendorf’s voice boomed over the doorbell thing. “Get back inside before you freeze to death!” 

Duckie and Calvin happily obeyed, and climbed back into Allie’s locker. Calvin laid on his beach chair (tilted all the way back, of course) sipping one of Allie’s seltzers  and munching on Doritos underneath a tower of textbooks. He was wearing his favorite sunglasses and swim trunks. Duckie floated peacefully in Allie’s water bottle, enjoying a dive from time to time trying to reach the metal bottom. Even pessimistic Pickles was having a good time! Allieslockertopia was happy to have Calvin and Duckie back, and Calvin and Duckie were happy to be back.

“So relaxing,” Calvin breathed.

He was glad to be home.

THE END (of this adventure, anyway

By Nora Daubert ‘31, Staff Writer & Catherine Keane ‘31, Features Editor 

31ndaubert @montroseschool.org & 31ckeane@montroseschool.org