Free Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street & When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street by Angela Johnson Page B

your mom's garden shed the night before I left. (I don't think the groundhog liked me being there too much. I figure he thought he'd lost his hiding place.) And anyway, he about scared me to death. If he had, I wouldn't have had to come to Camp FunWa. What's with that name, anyhow? And how does my mom know how to find me anywhere I hide?
    Well, like I said, we barely got here.
    My mom jumps to conclusions—that's why she thought I'd gotten lost at the gas station.
    But if you talk to her, she'll tell you a different story. I won't tell you not to believe her, but just don't take her too serious, 'cause she's always getting upset about stuff that isn't that important.
    I wasn't
hiding
when she found me in the bushes behind the gas station between some old cars. See, there was this strange thing I saw when I was coming out of the gas station bathroom. I was pretty lucky to even get out of the bathroom, 'cause the lock broke when I was in there and I had to climb through the vent in the bottom of the door.
    Nobody heard me yelling. I guess that's because I couldn't get the sink turned off. Charlie, I thought I was gonna drown in the Speedy Gas bathroom.
    Water was everywhere.
    I got blamed for that, too.
    Anyway, I followed what I thought was an alien to the back of the gas station. It turned out to be a cat. He was all spotted and kind of nice to share his hiding place with me. Anyway, I was petting him and lost track of time. It's true!
    Mom and the gas station man didn't believe me. Neither did the police. I guess I had been gone for an hour or so.
    Anyway, here I am. At Camp FunWa.
    Charlie, there's a huge lake that surrounds the camp. It's almost like we're on an island. Mom said something about liking the idea that we almost can't get out of camp without taking a boat. There is a way out without a boat. You just have to find it, but they keep us so busy that who has time to find the way out of Camp FunNoi? That's what most of the campers call it.
    I'm glad you went with me to buy all the good junk food to bring here (even if the counselors found my hiding place in the lining of my suitcase and took it away from me). The green bean casserole we had last night was real bad. I mean, on a good day I love green beans, but I don't think those green beans ever had a good day.
    One of the older kids said the only food they ever serve here is green beans, cheese, and mystery meat.
    I do like all the guys in my cabin, though. So far, we all get along. I think I even made a new friend. His name is Sam, and he can blow even bigger bubbles than Lump can. Don't tell Lump, though.
    I think I'm going to be okay here because of Sam. That is, if we don't get separated from each other. One of the counselors keeps saying he doesn't think we're very good influences on each other.
    Well, I'm used to people saying that about me and most of my friends. Me, you, and Lump wouldn't be friends at all if we listened to that kind of talk. Sam is a lot of fan, and it's not just that he blows milk through his nose when he starts laughing or that he got his head stuck in the fence that leads to the herb gardenthat us campers planted the second day after we got here.
    We're friends because he laughs with me at all the stuff that goes wrong.
    Sometimes it's not so good that he laughs real loud, though. He probably could have laughed quieter when we got locked in the food pantry in the camp kitchen. We were just looking for a few cookies. I knew they had them in there, 'cause we saw a few of the counselors munching on them when we were supposed to be resting.
    Can you believe it—they were peanut butter!
    Charlie, you know how I love peanut butter cookies. There just wasn't any way I could pass them up. I hadn't seen a cookie in a couple of days. We got fruit for lunch. I think it was supposed to be good for us, so I thought I needed cookies. Sam thought we needed cookies, too.
    So, after everybody had gone to their cabins to rest and the counselors were