look We are definitely not allowed to feed the cat at the table Boys we’ve been thinking about the summer I waited for the big announcement about where we were heading this time You could hear a pin drop Or was that Miro chewing on his olive My father looked at my mother He always does that when he can’t quite say something difficult like the time our last cat died the one we had before Miro My mother took over We’ve decided we’re going to spend the summer in the city this year she said There are plenty of things to do in Montreal We’ll be tourists but in our own city It’s called a stay-cation my father chimed in You’re on vacation but you stay home Get it I got it all right We weren’t going anywhere after all How come my brother asked What’s going on We just thought we’d change things this year my mother said But I could tell there was something she wasn’t saying Actually we haven’t had very much work lately my father explained So when we got some job offers for the
summer we thought we’d better accept Which means we have to stay home my mother finished I looked at Max and he looked at me I didn’t know what he was thinking but I knew what I thought Every year we went on some crazy trip to some off-the beaten-track place I always complained but I always ended up having great adventures That wasn’t going to happen this summer I felt sort of empty like when you wait all week for the championship ballgame and then it rains What do you think boys I shrugged I didn’t know what to say And anyway did I have a choice Can we eat now Max asked Typical My brother’s brain is in his stomach When dinner was over I went onto the front porch I looked at the empty street and the red brick houses across the way Was this supposed to be a change No way I lived here every day of the year I knew every detail by heart I knew Mr Plouffe the neighbor across the street would come out
the next minute to water his lawn And he did This wasn’t going to be a vacation at all A vacation is when you go somewhere special and see new things and do stuff you’ve never done before A vacation means going not staying Max came outside A stay-cation I said I wonder where Dad got that one I’d rather go on a go-cation Then he laughed his head off Come on Charlie Let’s go see who’s in the alley And he ran off toward the backyard with Miro hot on his heels I sat down on the steps and stared into space I could hear my father singing as he did the dishes one of those old songs from when he was a kid Hot town summer in the city His voice could take paint off a wall but at least he sounded happy Was I the only one who felt empty As empty as the neighborhood would be when everyone else went away on vacation There wouldn’t be anyone around but Max and me Charlie Max yelled from the backyard Do you want
to play catch I sighed A whole summer with just my little brother About as much fun as running a race with a stone in your shoe But there was one good part This summer would be the first time I could decide what I wanted to do I could find a summer job Or go camping in the wilderness and see wild animals or get shipwrecked or solve a mystery Or meet people from faraway countries Maybe even save someone’s life There was only one problem I didn’t see how I could do all those things in my boring old neighborhood
