MONDAY
Monday
it was not so bad. When Larry got home from school, he
saw that his extra pair of shoes had walked out of the closet.
The two shoes were laying on the floor of his room, far away from
one another. One was upside down. The other lay tipped over on
one side with a sock spilling out of it onto the floor.
Larry left the shoes where
they were. They didn't look quite messy enough to put away.
He went straight to his desk and started to do his homework.
Once, he thought that out of the
corner of one eye he could see the tipped-over shoe right itself
and take another step. Oh, so quickly, he turned his head toward
the shoe. It lay still on its right side.
Hadn't it been on its left, though?
TUESDAY
When Larry got
home and opened the door to his room on Tuesday, he saw that three
of his sweaters had swung off their closet hangers and leapt onto
the unmade bed! They lay there in separate heaps. They looked
like they'd had a contest to see who could jump the farthest.
The shoes were still on the floor
from the day before. Some papers seemed to have c-l-i-m-b-e-d
down from his deskthen onto his chairthen had made their
way onto the floor, too. They lay there merrily sunning themselves
in the golden rays that streamed in from the window.
Larry thought this was all very
strange. He had a lot of homework, though, so he did not waste
any time paying attention to his wayward things.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday
after school, Larry turned the knob on his room's door and opened
it to find even more mayhem. His jacket lay on a windowsill. The
three sweaters were still on the bed, though now they were all
draped around one another in a single heap. Larry couldn't tell
if they'd been wrestling or having a group hug.
The shoes and papers still lay
on the floor. Thank heaven neither shoe had done any more walking
since two days ago.
Now there was also money on
the floor. Two quarters, two dimes, a nickel, and five pennies
had all danced their way out of the pocket of yesterday's
pantsone leg of which stuck out from behind Larry's dresser.
"You guys are lucky,"
Larry said addressing his disordered possessions. "I've got
a History test to study for. Otherwise, I'd clean you up!"
And he set about his work.
THURSDAY
Thursday
after school, Larry thought he heard noises inside his room as
he neared the door. He yanked it open to try to surprise whoever
or whatever having a party in there..
The room
lay completely still. But what a mess!
He didn't even want to go in. But he had nowhere else to do his
homework, check his e-mail, or play computer games. So finally,
he did.
An orange peel and a dirty bowl
on the computer table were the first things Larry saw. They caught
his attention because the orange peel was sitting partly in the
bowl, partly hanging off the table, like a little slinky.
Beside the bowl at the very edge
of the table sat a small puddle of melted ice cream. Strangely,
Larry found another puddle the same size on the floor, just below.
"Do those two know one another?" he wondered.
The shoes, sweaters,
pants, and money were all still in their earlier places. And now,
as Larry's eyes wandered the room, he noticed two more
pairs of pants, one covering his bookcase and the other crunched
into a corner of the room.
Underwear had draped themselves
across both his pillows. A winter coat hugged his chair from behind.
Socks were all over the floor and bed as if they'd been shot out
of a cannon.
Larry shook his head in amazement.
He had to clear a place on his chair, to even sit down. It was
really hard to concentrate with all that stuff all over.
FRIDAY
"The
week's finally over!" Larry breathed a sigh of relief as
school let out on Friday. All day, though, he'd felt nervous about
what he might find at home.
When he got to his room, he slowly
turned the doorknob and carefully opened the door.
He wasn't even sure why--maybe just to delay going in.
Larry shrieked. Sweaters and shirts
were pouring out of his closet, swinging like monkeys from their
hangers, even as he watched! Pants were walking out of
the closet all by themselves.
His sock and underwear and t-shirt
drawers were open. A procession of clothes jumped like paratroopers
from each one.
The waste basket by his desk had
turned over. The balled-up pieces of thrown-away paper were having
a paper fight among themselves.
Books were jumping off the bookshelves.
Coins were flipping themselves off Larry's dresser, loudly calling
out "Heads!" or "Tails" as they landed.
That was all in addition to the
shoes. They were not only walking now, but tap-dancing, brazenly,
all over the room
"Mom!"
shouted Larry. "Help me!"
Larry's mother opened
the door and stuck her head in. Larry, lying in pajamas in his
bed, opened his eyes.
"It's Saturday morning, Larry,"
his mom's cheerful voice chimed like bells. "Time to clean
your room!"
Deeply relieved, Larry got up and
feverishly went to work.
Children's Stories
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