Free The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald Page B

Stink.
     
    “Where is it?” Judy asked.
     
    “In my head.”
     
    “You better write it down, Stinkerbell.”
     
    “I’ll remember.”
     
    “How are you going to remember? If you don’t write it down, how will I know what to get you? How will Mom and Dad know? And Grandma Lou? And Webster and Sophie of the Elves and any real elves?”
     
    “Fine. I’ll write it down.” Stink tore a blank page from his tablet. He scribbled something in two seconds, then put his pencil down.
     
    “Done!” said Stink.
     
    “Done?” asked Judy. “How can you be done already? I’ve been working on my list for three hundred sixty-something days!”
     
    Judy picked up the piece of paper. Stink had printed just one puny word. That one word was
snow.
     

     
    “That’s it? Just one thing? Snow? That’s not even a present.”
     
    “That’s all I want.”
     
    “Not even snow boots or a snow hat or snow pants or snowshoes or a snowboard?”
     
    “Nope.”
     
    “Not even an inflatable igloo with fake snowballs?”
     
    “Nope.”
     
    “Not even a snow-globe kit or a snow-cone machine?”
     
    “Actually, a snow-cone machine would be nice. But no. All I really want is snow.”
     
    “Stink, that is so way boring!”
     
    “Boring? Are you cuckoo? What about snowmen and snow forts and snow angels and snowball fights? What about sledding? And what about snow days off from school?”
     
    “Have you looked outside lately? Hel-lo! The mailman was wearing shorts the other day. And I saw a robin yesterday.”
     
    “What a grinch,” said Stink.
     
    “Stink, I told you it hardly ever even snows in Virginia. What are the chances it’ll snow
this
year? For real?”
     
    “It better snow,” said Stink, “or I’m moving to Vermont.”
     

     

 

     
    “Last day of school before Christmas!” Judy shouted when she got home from school. Judy and Stink dumped their backpacks on the couch.
     
    “So, what did you do for your last day?” asked Mom.
     
    “Ate candy canes,” said Stink.
     
    “We had an
Aloha
Christmas party,” said Judy. “Like in Hawaii.”
     
    “Sophie of the Elves was my Secret Santa,” said Stink.
     
    “We drank pink flamingo punch and played Pin the Monkey on the Palm Tree.”
     
    “And I got a snow globe all the way from Vermont!” said Stink.
     
    “Mr. Todd wore sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt and gave everybody a
lei
to wear tonight,” said Judy, pointing to her flower necklace. “Don’t forget that tonight is the Tenth Annual Holly Jolly Holiday Happening at school.”
     
    “We made a field guide to snowflakes,” said Stink, digging into his backpack and pulling out a chart with shapes. “Even though no two are the same, a lot of snowflakes have the same shapes. Stellar dendrites are like trees, but lots of other snowflakes have shapes like pencils, prisms, plates, and puffballs.”
     
    “We learned that
Mele Kalikimaka
means Merry Christmas in Hawaii.”
     
    “We heard this story about a famous guy who figured out how to take pictures of thousands of snowflakes.”
     
    “Was his name Jack Frost?” asked Judy.
     
    “Snowflake Bentley,” said Stink. “He’s in the encyclopedia. Two times. Under
S
and under
B,
too.”
     
    “In Hawaii, my name would be I-U-K-I.”
     
    “I Yucky!” said Stink. “That’s the perfect name for you.”
     
    “Ho, ho, ho, Stink. You say it
Ee-oo-kee.
Your name’s K-I-M-O, pronounced
Kee-mo.
I asked Mr. Todd.”
     
    “Sounds like Kimo and Iuki both had an exciting day,” said Mom. “Are you both ready for the holiday program tonight?”
     
    “YES!” said Judy. “My class is singing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas in Hawaii’! Rare!”
     
    “How about you, Stink? Did your class practice the skit for ‘The Night Before Christmas’?”
     
    “Don’t remind me,” said Stink. “I have to be a mouse again. Sophie of the Elves gets to be a sugarplum. Webster gets to be Prancer or Vixen — I forget which. But no,