Kit's Big Plan Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 10: /oi/ mixed

Kit finds a pic by her toy and her books. 'Mum!' she yells with joy. 'Look at that hair! So short and so cute!' Kit holds the pic up by her face. Same grin. But Kit's hair is long and floppy. Mum's is short and neat. 'I want hair like that,' says Kit. And Kit has a plan.

Kit picks up her snips from the art box. The red snips with pointy tips. Kit has never cut hair before. But she can snip paper. She can snip string. How hard can this be? Snip, snip, snip! Dark bits drop down like paper. Kit grins. Too easy!

Kit picks up her little blue mirror and holds it up high. 'Time to see the new me,' Kit says, full of joy. She flips her hair like a star. She looks. She blinks. She looks once more.

'Ah!' Kit's hair sticks out in clumps. Big clumps. Wee clumps. One bit is cut so short it is just a tuft. The other side flops like a wet leaf. Kit wants to glue it back. She wants to hide. She wants to avoid the mirror. 'It is fine,' she says in a wee voice. 'I can fix this. I can.'

In the kitchen, Kit finds a bowl of long food. Long, slick, oily food. 'This looks like hair,' says Kit. 'No one will see!' She tips the bowl on her scalp. The long food coils down her nose. She grabs the mirror and peeks. Oh no. They will all see. And now Kit is wet and oily.

'Long food flops too much,' Kit says. 'I need a stiff thing.' She finds green beans and puts them on her scalp like long hair. Then her family comes in. Dad grins. Sister points. Mum bites her lip, but it is no use. Then out it comes: ha, ha, ha! 'It is not funny!' Kit yells. But a bean slips off her nose, and yes, it is a wee bit funny.

'Third time is best,' says Kit. She grabs green leaves and piles them on her scalp like a big green hat. She pats them down and lifts her mirror. Dad goes ha, ha, ha and holds his belly. Sister giggles into a red ball. Even Mum enjoys it. 'Stop the ha ha!' Kit wails. 'This is cool!' But the leaves flop, and her scalp gets more and more itchy.

That is it. No more long food. No more beans. No more leaves. No more of this. Kit curls up by the big red couch, as wee as can be. She will avoid them all. If no one sees her hair, then her hair is not there. That is the plan. 'Kit?' Mum calls. 'Come out now.' 'No,' says Kit. 'I live here now.'

Mum scoops Kit up and takes her to the couch. Dad sits on the arm. Sister joins them, snug and close. 'I made a mess,' says Kit. 'I do not look like the pic at all.' Then Mum pulls a thing from her pocket. A red band with a wee bow. She slips it on Kit's hair and holds up the mirror. Kit looks. She blinks. She looks once more. 'Oh,' she says. That girl in the mirror looks... cute!

Kit grins so hard her cheeks hurt. Short hair. Red band. Cute bow. She does not look like Mum's old pic. She looks like Kit. And Kit looks just right. What joy! But next time Kit wants to trim her hair? Mum can hold the snips. And the long food goes back in the bowl.