That’s right Tell us again what you’re going to do said Doug snapping his gum Your father wants to be an opera singer in New York City And your mother wants to move to Banff Alberta and bake cheesecakes I don’t even know where Banff is Danny complained his voice rising It’s out west in the Rocky Mountains his mother said It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world You can see bears You can slide on a glacier So we get to live in New York and also in Banff Doug said I guess that’s cool That’s right said Danny’s father You’re going to live with Mom during the school year And you’ll spend the summer and holidays with me In Banff you can go skiing every day I don’t know how to ski Danny said It’s a great opportunity to learn And New York has theater and music and anything else you could want You are two very lucky boys Your friends are going to envy you Won’t they Sheila I’ll say We figured that you would understand Doug
You’re the creative one like your dad and me Danny we knew it would be a little harder for you You’re the level headed one in the family It’s not your fault that you’re not creative like the rest of us But you have my painting up on the fridge Danny said The sunset that I did at school Sunsets are cliché Doug muttered strumming his ukulele again To a common-sense person like you his mother went on this might seem very impractical But dreams are not practical Danny Vincent van Gogh wasn’t practical Bob Dylan wasn’t practical His parents leaned forward as if that would help him understand Danny said nothing He was trying to take in what he had
heard He and Doug wouldn’t live with both his parents at the same time They were going to move away to Banff And also New York Danny looked around the room again For the first time he understood why all the moving boxes were there What about our house he said What about my room The house is going up for sale tomorrow his father said We’ve got your room packed up already But you’ll have a new room You’ll have two new rooms But I like my room I don’t want to live in two places And what about Thwack Thwack was their dog Danny had named him when he was little because Thwack would get so excited that he would run straight into a wall Thwack Come to think of it he said Where is Thwack Danny’s mother looked at Danny’s father He’s at his wonderful new home On a farm Danny stood up You gave away my dog Now he wasn’t just your dog his father said At least I don’t have to walk him anymore Doug sniffed How can you say that Danny cried Thwack was part of our family He turned to his parents Would you give
me away Now you’re being a little ridiculous his father said But it’s understandable his mother smiled In Banff we can get a new pet Something small and easy to take care of Maybe a hamster I don’t want a hamster Danny shouted I want Thwack I want my room and my park and my school I want my two parents sitting at the dinner table not just one of them You didn’t ask me You didn’t consult with me Well thanks very much but I say no What said his father No no no Hey Dannio said his brother It’s not that big a deal Danny sprang from the chair He had never felt so angry in his life Who did they think they were What about parental responsibility What about kids coming first He wanted to run around and smash all the lamps in the house He wanted to throw his mother’s cake dishes across the kitchen and toss his father’s opera CDs out the window as if they were Frisbees But what he did was run
