Goal Goal Goooooaaaaaal The crowd goes wild Bumpers pumps his fist They win the championship Bumpers kicks the ball into the crowd BAM He rips off his shirt and throws it to the fans I’m not supposed to kick the ball against the garage door because once I broke one of those little windows across the top But that was a year ago and I’m a lot better at kicking now Anyway Mom was out grocery shopping and Dad was in the basement Charlie Bumpers ace striker was safe I danced around and pumped my arms in the air celebrating my victory Matt my older brother stuck his head out the back door Hey genius he called You’re not supposed to kick the ball against the garage I’m not hurting anything I said You’re going to get caught he warned and I won’t defend you Thanks I yelled
What a turkey he said then went back inside You’re the turkey I yelled just as my little sister Mabel stepped out onto the back porch My dad calls her Squirt but I call her the Squid It’s funnier I’m not a turkey she said And your shirt is on the roof I looked up and there it was hanging off the edge I kicked the ball again BAM I’m telling the Squid yelled Just then Mom pulled in the driveway I started dribbling the soccer ball between my feet like I hadn’t done anything wrong Charlie’s kicking the ball against the door the Squid shouted as Mom turned off the motor And he’s not wearing his shirt What a traitor I grabbed the rake leaning by the garage door and snagged my shirt off the roof I put it on just as Mom got out of the car Your
dad and I told you not to kick the ball at the garage door she said frowning Please come help me with the groceries I gave the Squid a dirty look and kicked the ball against the garage one more time but not as hard BAM Charlie Mom shouted He’s kicking the b a l l my sister said The Squid had just learned to read and she’d started spelling everything out like she was a human dictionary I lifted two of the heavy grocery bags out of the trunk and followed Mom up the back steps into the kitchen She’d bought tons of food for thanksgiving dinner
There are lots of good things about Thanksgiving thanksgiving Like no school And my grandparents coming And the stuffing my mom makes And the rolls my grandmother always brings which are the absolute best food on the planet But this year was going to be even better because on Thanksgiving evening a Buck Meson special was showing on TV Buck Meson Detective from Andromeda is my absolute favorite superhero He has his own TV show and he’s got this electron stare that paralyzes bad guys in their place so they can’t move I know he’s not real but he should be That would mean electron stares are real and I would have many uses for them Like paralyzing brothers and sisters When Mom and I had finished unloading the groceries from the car our dog Ginger sniffed at the bags we’d left on the floor looking for something to eat Dad came up from the basement Wow he said looking at all the overflowing bags Is there anything left at the supermarket
