Mick Harte Was Here

Phoebe returns to school, where she receives unwelcome attention at being “the sister of the dead kid” (63). She confronts the boy who says this, angrily telling him to call her brother by his name. She is furious when none of her friends, apart from Zoe, seem able to look at her or talk to her. She angrily confronts them; they explain that they didn’t want to make her feel worse.

Mrs. Berryhill, the school principal, tells Phoebe that she is sorry for her loss. Phoebe angrily declares that Mick is dead, not lost. She runs home and gets into Mick’s bed. She falls asleep and has a vivid dream about Mrs. Berryhill looking for something in a forest; Phoebe helps Mrs. Berryhill look, and comes across the Harte family’s old dog Wocket, who died the previous year, as well as Mick. Mick and Phoebe wrestle over a cereal box, and Wocket the dog begins laughing. Phoebe wakes up laughing at Wocket’s ridiculous laugh.

Her mother comes into the room and tentatively sits on Mick’s bed with Phoebe. Phoebe tells her about her dream and reminds her of how annoying Mick could be. Her mother is reluctant to join in the conversation, but eventually they start to laugh at Mick’s antics on a road trip where he talked like Elmer Fudd for three days and called his mother a “Wascally Wabbit.