Orange label means ... Mom and Dad have to look at it and decide if they want to take it back home with us.
If they don't want it, they have to put on a new yellow label or a new green label.
While Mom and Dad looked at all the orange labels, I went upstairs to work on my story for school. For some reason all I could think about was ants, so it's a good thing that an ant is smaller than a peanut butter sandwich. Mr. Frank didn't say the whole story had to be just words, so I drew a comic, because one of my most favorite parts about making stories is the drawing pictures part.
Another Easy Promise
Grandma's new Shady Grove apartment was fantastic, and I said that right after we finished getting the tour. Mom and Dad were smiling too, because the only things anyone could ever say about Shady Grove were great and amazing things. It was nothing like camp. It was fancy! And not fancy like you were scared to touch anything, but more just fancy like you wanted to say, "Wow! This is fancy." And then maybe do a twirl if nobody was watching. We all had breakfast with Grandma and her new packer friend, Mr. Costello, in a covered garden outside. Mr. Costello was very nice but very furry. He had white fur all over his sweater and pants and even a bit sticking out of one eyebrow. I wanted to ask about it but wasn't sure if it was a nice question to ask or a not nice question to ask, so I didn't say anything. Eating outside was like a picnic except there were no ants, which is something Grandma was very happy about for sure.
No Wallet for Me
After lunch we went to look at the arts and crafts room, where Grandma will get to make some projects. I asked the craft teacher lady if Grandma was going to make a beaded bookmark or a wallet but she said they didn't make that kind of thing. Instead Grandma can make paintings, or bowls, or even necklaces with real jewels. The craft lady gave me a cord necklace with an Indian bead head on it. It looked a little bit like something my next-door neighbor Mrs. Luther might wear, but I still liked it. I was only a little bit disappointed about the wallet, but I didn't say anything because mostly I was pretty happy.
What We did the Rest of the Day
We went to the zoo, which was great because it was free and that meant Mom and Dad had extra money for me to spend. I picked out two presents in the gift shop, one for me and one to bring back for Mimi.
STUFFED POLAR BEAR FOR ME
MONKEY WITH PINCH PAWS FOR MIMI
After the zoo visit it was already lunchtime. Grandma wanted us to come back and have lunch with her and Mr. Costello, but Dad wanted to get a hot dog from his favorite Chicago hot dog restaurant. Mom said we should go back and eat at Shady Grove because this was a trip about Grandma and not a trip about eating hot dogs. This was easy for her to say because she doesn't like hot dogs very much anyway. Dad secret-whispered to me that we would get a hot dog before we left, PROMISE. I asked Dad about Mr. Costello and why he was so furry but he said he hadn't noticed. I don't know how not, but sometimes grownups just don't see stuff. When I asked Dad if he knew anything about Captain Furry he said, "Is that one of the characters on that TV cartoon show that your mother doesn't like?" Obviously he didn't know anything at all. Maybe Captain Furry was a secret spy name for Mr. Costello? Maybe Captain Furry was a superhero who sprayed his enemies with fur, and Mr. Costello was an enemy? Maybe Captain Furry was something really amazing and cool?
Insides Out
The new people who bought Grandma's house are going to take all the insides out of the house and throw them in the garbage, even the walls. Right after Grandma told me this she gave me a special photo book she made just for me. It was filled up with pictures of the inside of her house before everything was packed away. That way, Grandma said, I would never forget how it looked. Mom cried when she looked at the book, but it didn't seem sad to me. When Grandma saw Mom crying she started crying too, so I tried to do something cheerful to help them. I put Mimi's present on the end of my nose and pretended it wasn't there. I'm glad they looked and smiled right away, because the little monkey paws were pinching extra hard and making me have to breathe out of my mouth, which was not so easy, because it was filled up with turkey sandwich. After lunch Grandma took me to meet the mysterious Captain Furry.
Captain Furry
Captain Furry is not a spy, not a superhero, and not something really amazing and cool. Captain Furry is a cat. A cat with crazy long hair who lives in the same apartment with Mr. Costello. I am glad I am not allergic to cats, because just looking at Captain Furry could make cat-allergic people sneeze and their eyes puff up like grapefruits—which are fruits I do not like, even with lots of sugar on them. Mr. Costello's living room is full of Captain Furry fur. Mr. Costello is full of Captain Furry fur. Even I was full of Captain Furry fur after only petting Captain Furry for just twenty seconds. You have to really be in love with a cat to live with that much fur in your world.
Captain Furry's best trick is that he jumps from the floor right up into Mr. Costello's arms. Mr. Costello said that Captain Furry has lots of other tricks, like hiding in grocery bags and sleeping on pillows, but really those are just normal cat things and not tricks at all. But I didn't say that because I was trying to be polite.
NOT A TRICK
On our last night in Chicago we all went to a carnival: me, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Mr. Costello, and lots of Captain Furry's fur. The real Captain Furry had to stay home because cats can't go to carnivals. We found out about the carnival because there was a big poster for it right on the bulletin board near Grandma's new arts and crafts room. Posters are a great way to get people's attention about stuff, because they are hard to miss seeing.
Mr. Costello says he brushes Captain Furry every week but still each time he gets enough fur on the brush to make a whole new mini Captain Furry.
Dad and I went on most of the rides. Mom says she just likes to watch, which makes no sense, because I watched some of the big kids on the big rides and that was like having no fun at all. When I get taller there are two rides I am definitely going to go on for sure. One is called the Zipper and the other is called the Gravo-Force. On the Zipper you get to sit in a cage and spin all over like crazy; upside down, sideways, backwards, everything. On the Gravo-Force you stand up against the wall and get spun around really fast like you are in a washing machine and then suddenly the floor drops away from your feet. But the amazing thing is you don't fall down. You just stay there stuck up on the wall. And then when the ride slows down you just slide down the wall until your feet touch the floor again.
THE SUN BUCKET
My favorite ride that I went on.
I had so much fun I could hardly stand it! It would have been better if Mimi were there, but Dad was good about being my partner, and he didn't start feeling sick until the very last ride, which was the octopus and not even scary Mom said we could have any kind of junk food we wanted for dinner. I had a hot dog, but Dad said it wasn't going to be the same as a hot dog from his favorite place. Dad didn't eat anything because he was feeling green, which means he was feeling like he might throw up.
Grandma and Mr. Costello didn't go on any rides, not even the Ferris wheel, which you can go on even if you are a tiny baby. Mr. Costello likes to organize and write labels, but he does not like high places. Grandma said she didn't mind staying on the ground with him even after Mom and I said she could ride with us. Grandma was being a good friend, because I know for sure that she likes being on the very top of the Ferris wheel a whole lot more than being on the boring ground.
It was one of the best vacation days ever in my whole life. At night we all slept in Grandma's new apartment, except for Mr. Costello and Captain Furry. They slept in their own apartment two floors higher up than us. Grandma said that Mr. Costello was not afraid of his apartment even though it was even higher up than hers. Grandma said it was because it was not tippy and swingy like the Ferris wheel and so that made it okay for him.
Not a Normal Breakfast
For the whole trip I kept all the promises I made to Mom, which was not at all hard to do, and then right before w
e started driving home Dad kept his promise to me. We went to his favorite hot dog restaurant and had hot dogs for breakfast. We were the only ones there, because eight o'clock in the morning is not a usual time to eat a hot dog. It was strange but they still tasted pretty good. I only put ketchup on mine.
WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PUT ON A CHICAGO HOT DOG
The Drive Back Home
I had hardly even thought about them when we were with Grandma, but as soon as we started driving back home all my problem worries rushed back into my head. I started thinking about Mimi and that handstanding Max. Maybe he was teaching her how to do it and now they were going to be handstanding new best friends.
I started thinking about still being called Just Grace, and I started thinking about Mr. Frank and the Big Meanie and her pretend empathy feelings. All the thinking made me wish that Dad would drive faster so we could get home sooner and I could find out if everything was just the same as when we'd left. I tried to draw, because that usually makes me feel better, but the car was too bumpy and I kept drawing squiggly lines by mistake. So instead I just had to play with Mimi's present.
MY BAD DRAWING
Then I must have been asleep because Mom woke me up and said it was time to have some lunch. Grandma made us some sandwiches, but she forgot and put mayonnaise on mine, so I could only eat around the edges of it because mayonnaise is a food that is disgusting.
After lunch Mom and I played license plate bingo. I won all three games because she kept forgetting about playing and wasn't paying attention to the cars. Doing nothing sitting in a car makes you hungry a lot, so we stopped for dinner when it was only four-thirty, which is normally a time for snacks and not normally a time for a whole dinner. Dad said driving across the country is pretty boring. I think being the passenger when you are driving across the country is even more boring.
What I Saw When I Got Home
Nothing. It was dark out and three in the-morning and Mimi's house looked exactly the same as always. It was not turned around, which I was happy about.
What I Wanted To See on My Very Own Front Door
What I Saw in the Morning
Sammy Stringer, Max, and Mimi all talking together on Mimi's front steps. Mimi looked surprised to see me, like maybe she forgot I was coming home, or maybe she didn't see our car parked in front of our house, which is pretty hard to miss because it is red and not silver or tan or black like most cars.
But then Mimi screamed my name and came running over, and it seemed like everything was going to be okay and normal. But I was 100 percent wrong! Max and Sammy followed Mimi's footsteps all the way across the yard until they were standing right next to us, which was not what I was expecting.
When Mimi and I went inside to get Mimi's present, Max and Sammy followed us through the front door, up the stairs, and right into my very own private all-girl bedroom. And the most surprising thing ever was that Mimi didn't even seem to notice. The only good part about it was that Mimi liked her present. Usually Mimi and I just stay in my room forever, but I did not want Sammy Stringer to sit on my bed or to even look at any of my special-to-me things, so I took Mimi back downstairs and into the kitchen before he could touch anything.
MIMI CHOO-CHOO
When Max saw the fridge, he said he was thirsty and asked for a drink. Of course I know how to be a good hostess so I gave everyone a big cup of orange juice with ice. Mimi asked me lots of questions about my vacation, but it wasn't as fun to talk about it when Sammy and Max were right there listening. Sammy saw my new bead-head necklace and said, "Hey, what's that? Is it from Mrs. Luther?"
I know it's not good to lie, but I couldn't help it, and plus this was a special bad occasion so I said, "No! It's a magic necklace. My grandma gave it to me." And then I said, "If I hold the bead head in my hands, close my eyes, and make a wish, then my wish will come true. Watch." And then I closed my eyes and made a pretend wish that he would leave.
"What'd ya wish for?" asked Max. "Yeah, I don't see anything different," said Sammy. "It's like birthday wishes," I said. "You have to keep the wish a secret!" It was unbelievable how they could not see even one little bit how annoying they were being to me. "Well, I believe you," said Mimi, and then she said, "Do you want to come over after lunch and watch Unlikely Heroes?" "Sure," I said, and that made me feel happy again. But then both Max and Sammy said "Sure" too, and I was not feeling so happy again after all. "Great!" said Mimi. "See you later." And then they walked out the door all together. And Sammy was gone just like I wished he would be, except that Max and Mimi were gone too. The Mimi-being-gone part was not what I wanted at all.
Wish Necklace
When something happens that is strange or unusual but not magic it is called a coincidence. A coincidence is having no money and really wanting ice cream, and then finding fifty cents on the sidewalk, which is the perfect amount to buy a soft cone from the ice cream truck, which just happens to drive by in the next minute. Actually, that would really be two coincidences put together, which would be even more unusual and amazing.
1 Finding the fifty on the sidewalk.
2 The truck driving by right then.
These kinds of things do not happen very often, so when they do, most people who are good at paying attention, notice them. Wishing on the bead head and having the wish maybe come true was probably a coincidence, but I made another wish to test it out, just in case it really was filled with magical power. I closed my eyes and, holding the bead head the exact same as before, I wished for a swimming pool right in my very own backyard. This would be an excellent wish to come true, since swimming is one of my five most favorite things to do for exercise. I hardly ever get to swim because the only swimming pool I can go to is three miles away from my house and that is way too far for me to ride on my bike. That's what Mom says, and she gets to be the boss of me about stuff like that until I'm all grown up.
When I opened my eyes the yard was still filled with only grass and weeds, just like always. No swimming for me. But I kept the bead-head necklace on, because even pretend magic could maybe be better than no magic at all.
Help Wanted
What I really, really needed was to be wearing my Supergirl underwear so I could have an amazing idea about how to make Sammy and Max disappear from Mimi, but Mom hadn't finished the laundry yet from our vacation, so I couldn't. And even though I thought about it real hard, all the time through lunch, my brain couldn't think up anything good. I tried to draw a comic to make myself feel better, but that didn't work either.
After lunch I walked over to Mimi's house because being with Mimi, Max, and Sammy was still better than being all alone without Mimi. Plus I didn't want to miss Unlikely Heroes. Maybe if Max and Sammy didn't talk while we were watching I could pretend they weren't even there.
What Mimi Said
Max and Sammy left after we watched three whole episodes of Unlikely Heroes. Mimi and I had seen them all before, but that's okay because they were still good. They were new for Max and Sammy, which made them not true Unlikely Heroes fans, because if you watched the show every week you would for sure have seen those episodes already.
I was secretly wondering about Max being an Unlikely Heroes fan when Mimi said, "Can you believe Max only ever saw Unlikely Heroes one time before he moved here?" It was probably another one of those coincidences, but I was holding the bead head right when she answered my thought question.
I wanted to ask Mimi why Max and Sammy were following her around so much, but this was not an easy question to ask. I touched the bead head, hoping that it would make her give me the right answer again. She said, "That Sammy Stringer really isn't so bad once you get to know him. I don't even think he picks his nose anymore, because I would notice something like that and I haven't seen him do it." This was not the right answer.
Then she said, "Max is teaching us and we can almost do walking handstands like him." This was not the right answer either, and especially not something I wanted to hear, because I can't even do a
standing-still handstand, or a cartwheel, or anything where the arms of the body are supposed to hold up the whole rest of the body.
Mimi asked me to stay for dinner, but then I couldn't and had to go home because her eyes puffed up and she started sneezing over and over again. It looked like she was allergic to me, but her mom pointed at my shirt and said it was probably just the cat fur.
Wish
When I went home I had one big wish, but the necklace was for sure not going to be able to help.
I wished I hadn't gone away on vacation, but then at the last minute I changed it because then I wouldn't have seen Grandma in her new apartment. And when I'm talking to her on the phone or thinking about her I like to be able to know exactly where she is. It makes her seem not so far away.
Still Just Grace Page 3