“Here comes Bert,” said Big Bird. “I bet he will play catch with me.”
“Hi, Bert!” said Big Bird. “Let’s play catch.”
Bert kept on walking.
“Not today,” said Bert. “Ernie is waiting for me.”
Big Bird looked surprised.
“Oh,” he said.
Just then Grover ran out of his house.
He had a shiny new truck.
“Hi, Grover!” said Big Bird. “That’s a nice truck. Let’s play with it.”
Grover kept on running.
“I am sorry, Big Bird, but I am giving it to Ernie,” said Grover.
Big Bird looked sad.
“Oh,” he said.
Then Big Bird saw Cookie Monster.
He had a big box of cookies.
“Hi, Cookie! Want to play?”
Cookie shook his head.
“Me bring Ernie cookies,” said Cookie.
Big Bird looked mad.
“Nuts!” he said.
“No nuts!” said Cookie Monster. “Cookies!”
Big Bird sat on the steps.
He felt terrible.
“Nobody cares about me!” he cried. “Just Ernie, Ernie, Ernie!”
Just then Betty Lou came by.
“Why are you so mad?” she asked Big Bird.
“Nobody will play with me. Everybody wants to play with Ernie,” he said.
“Oh, Big Bird, didn’t you know? Ernie is sick!” said Betty Lou.
Big Bird looked surprised.
“Oh!” he said. “Well, I am sorry that Ernie is sick, but I bet he is having fun.”
Betty Lou took Big Bird’s hand.
“You are silly. It is not fun to be sick,” she said. “Come on. Let’s visit him.”
“Okay,” said Big Bird.
Ernie was in bed.
Bert was trying to feed Ernie some soup.
“How do you feel?” asked Big Bird.
“Terrible,” said Ernie. “I have a bad…a-A-ACHOO!”
“You have a bad cold,” said Betty Lou.
“I know,” said Ernie.
He blew his nose.
“Gee, Ernie,” said Big Bird. “Bert made you some good soup. Grover gave you a new truck. Even Cookie was nice to you. You are so lucky to be sick.”
Ernie blew his nose again.
“Lucky?” said Ernie. “I feel AWFUL! I feel too sick to eat and too sick to play. Being sick is no fun!”
But Big Bird was not so sure.
Later that day he sat in his nest and said to himself, “Everybody cares about you when you are sick.”
And then he got an idea.
“I will PRETEND to be sick!”
Just then Little Bird came by to visit his friend.
“Oh, I am SO sick!” said Big Bird.
“That is too bad,” said Little Bird. “I will try to make you feel better.
Big Bird smiled.
And Little Bird got busy.
He filled a hot-water bottle.
He swept out Big Bird’s nest.
He told Big Bird a bedtime story.
Then he said, “Go to sleep. I will stay with you.”
Big Bird sighed happily.
The next morning Ernie came to Big Bird’s nest.
“Wake up, Big Bird!” he called. “I am all better. Want to play?”
Big Bird slowly opened his eyes.
“I am sorry, Ernie,” said Little Bird. “But Big Bird can’t go out today. He is sick.”
Big Bird jumped out of his nest.
“I am not sick!” he said.
“But you were SO sick last night,” said Little Bird.
“Well, I am not…a-A-ACHOO!…sick now,” sneezed Big Bird.
“You sound sick. How do you feel?” asked Ernie.
“Sort of hot and cold and funny in the tummy,” said Big Bird.
“Get into your nest,” said Ernie. “I will get Doctor Getwell.”
Soon Big Bird felt really sick.
He was glad to see Doctor Getwell.
The doctor felt Big Bird’s tummy.
He listened to Big Bird’s heart.
He looked in Big Bird’s mouth.
“You have a cold,” he said.
“I know,” said Big Bird.
The doctor told him to drink lots of juice and get lots of rest.
“Get well,” said Doctor Getwell.
Lots of Big Bird’s friends came to visit him.
Bert made him a bowl of soup.
Grover gave him a Yo-Yo.
Cookie gave him cookies.
“Gee, thanks,” said Big Bird. “But I feel too sick to eat and too sick to play.”
Big Bird slept a lot that day.
That night, he said to Little Bird, “Ernie was right. Being sick is no fun. I feel terrible.”
Big Bird sneezed.
“You will feel better soon,” said Little Bird.
And Little Bird was right.
In a few days Big Bird felt fine.
He ran to the park.
“I am all better! Isn’t that great?” he said to his friends.
“It sure is, because it is no fun to be sick,” they said.
“Boy, you can say that again!” said Big Bird.
And they all said it again!
