A Flying Birthday Cake? Read Free

think about other people’s feelings, too.”
    Marvin stopped walking. “You’re right,” he said. He turned around and headed back to the school.
    He found Joe standing by the flagpole.
    Actually, it looked like Joe was kissing the flagpole.
    Maybe Casey Happleton wasn’t crazy.
    “What are you doing?” Marvin asked.
    Joe turned and looked at Marvin. “I was pressing my face against the flagpole.”

    “Why?” asked Marvin.
    “I like the way the cool metal feels when it squashes my nose.”
    “You weren’t kissing the flagpole?” asked Marvin.
    “No,” said Joe.
    Casey Happleton was crazy!
    “I decided not to help Stuart and Nick bathe Fluffy,” said Marvin. “Do you want to come over to my house?”
    Joe smiled and said, “Sure!”

7
Jell-O
    “Fluffy wouldn’t bite me,” Joe said as they walked to Marvin’s house. “I’ve been all over the—well, I’ve been lots of places. And I’ve never met a dog who didn’t like me. People don’t always like me. But their dogs always do.”
    “Do you have to move around a lot?” asked Marvin.
    Joe nodded.
    “I guess it’s hard to make new friends all the time.”
    “I don’t know what I do wrong,” Joesaid. “I try to be like the other kids. But somehow they always know I’m different.”
    Marvin didn’t know what to say.
    “It’s not all bad,” Joe said. “It’s fun to get to see all kinds of strange and interesting places.”
    Marvin never thought that his hometown was strange or interesting.
    They came to Marvin’s house. There was a fence around his house. The fence was white, except for one red post next to the gate.
    “Red post,” said Joe. “That’s your last name!”
    “That’s right!” Marvin said, a little surprised that Joe had figured it out. Usually, he had to explain it to his friends. “My dad paints the post once a year.”
    “Cool,” said Joe.
    “My mom says she’s glad she didn’t marry someone whose last name was Purplehouse,” said Marvin.
    “Why?” asked Joe.
    “I don’t know,” said Marvin. “I think it would be cool to live in a purple house.”
    “Me, too,” said Joe. “Back where I come from, the houses are a lot more colorful than they are here—stripes and polka dots.”
    “Polka-dot houses?” asked Marvin.
    “Sure,” said Joe. “Usually, each dot is a different color.”
    “Boy, I’d like to go to Chicago sometime,” said Marvin.
    They went inside Marvin’s dull gray house.
    “Hi, Marvin!” Linzy shouted from the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, eating something out of a bowl.
    Marvin set his backpack on the counter. “That’s my sister, Linzy,” he said. “She’s five.”
    Joe walked to the table. “How do you do, Linzy?” he said. “My name is Joe Normal.” He held out his hand.
    Linzy giggled and shook his hand.
    “What’s that red stuff?” asked Joe.
    “Jell-O,” said Linzy.
    Joe stared at it. “What is it?”
    “Strawberry,” said Linzy.
    Joe couldn’t take his eyes off of it. “Is it a solid or a liquid?”
    “It’s Jell-O,” said Linzy.
    “He’s from Chicago,” Marvin explained. “I guess they don’t eat much Jell-O there.”
    “Can I touch it?” asked Joe.
    “Sure,” said Linzy.
    Joe poked his finger into Linzy’s Jell-O.“What holds it together?” he asked.
    Linzy thought it over. “It’s sticky,” she explained. “It sticks to itself.”
    “You want some?” said Marvin.
    “I don’t know,” said Joe.
    “It’s good. You’ll like it,” said Linzy.
    Marvin opened the refrigerator. He removed a large flat dish filled with strawberry Jell-O. Then he got a small bowl from the cabinet and served some Jell-O to Joe.
    Joe sat down next to Linzy. He stared at his Jell-O. He scooped some up on his spoon and watched it jiggle. “It’s weird,” he said. “I can cut through it with my spoon, like water. But it doesn’t fall apart.”
    “That’s because it’s sticky,” said Linzy.
    Joe put some in his mouth. He swished it