Free Box of Shocks by Chris McMahen Page B

now. While I was slaving away on my homework, that kid got to ramble around town, having a great time doing whatever he wanted!
    Plus, he isn’t carrying anything! No homework, no nothing. The real bonus is that his parents aren’t home to bug him about his homework or about coming home late.
    Only in my dreams!
    I watch him climb the back steps to the side door, fight with the door handle and finally get it to open. When the kid disappears inside the house, I check my watch, quickly flip open my notebook and write:
    5:55 PM Kid returns home. Still no parents.
    I slap the notebook shut and race for the stairs.
    â€œOliver? Did you wash your hands?” Mom calls from the dining room.
    I do a quick about-face and head for the bathroom. As I listen to the water run into the sink, I imagine how amazing it would be to come home to an empty house. No one to make sure I do my homework or wash my hands. I could eat anything I wanted for supper. I could do whatever I wanted when I wanted. The kid across the street probably doesn’t even know that he has it so good. But I still can’t stand him.

    Before I can get back to spying on my old house, I have to finish eating all three courses of Mom’s supper, listen to millions of questions about my day at school and do forty-five minutes of piano practice.
    When I finally get back up to my room and look out the window, I see the driveway is empty. His parents still aren’t home.
    The house is dark except for a single light. I’m glad to see the light’s not on in my old bedroom, but in the living room. I bet the kid is watching tv or playing video games. While I’m stuck answering my parents’ questions, that kid is watching something great like Celebrity Demolition Derby ! While I’m practicing piano—which is nothing but pure torture—he’s probably playing Alien Invasion VII . It’s so unfair!
    A bit later, I hear the old car chug up the road, roll into the driveway, wheeze, cough and die. I watch the parents climb out of the car, trudge up the stairs and try to open the side door. The door’s stuck, so the man gives it a kick to get it open.
    I check my clock radio, open my notebook and jot down:
    8:17 PM Parents arrive back home.
    When I look up from my notebook, the light is off.
    8:20 PM House in total darkness.
    I keep watching, just in case. But after fifteen minutes, there’s still no sign of life.
    They must have gone to bed. At least it’s too dark for the kid to snoop around my closet.

    I keep watch on the house across the street whenever I can. After only four days of spying, I can already see a pattern. Around three thirty in the afternoon, the parents leave the house in their old car. Around six, the kid comes home. He does something in the living room with that one light on until the parents come home. A few minutes later, the light’s turned off and the house stays dark even though it’s only eight fifteen. And I thought I had an early bedtime.
    I don’t have much time to watch in the mornings, but I do notice that the parents’ car is always there when I leave for school. We always pass the kid on the way to school.
    One thing that worries me is how much time the kid spends in the house on his own. Before his parents come home each night, he has all the time in the world to get bored and snoop around the house. Maybe he’ll end up finding the loose panel in the back of my closet. And if he finds the loose panel, he’ll find my hiding spot. And if he finds my hiding spot, he’ll find my Box of Shocks.
    My Box of Shocks isn’t safe at all! Every day I get more nervous about the kid finding it. It’s driving me nuts. I have to make my move soon…before it’s too late.
    I know that every day during the week, the house is empty from three thirty until around six. Two and a half hours. That should give me plenty of time to sneak into the house and rescue my