10

Tuesday I spent the afternoon playing video games and catching up on the Sunday comics. I turned to the back page, and there was an ad where "Li'l Cutie" usually is. Wanna be on the funny pages? We're looking for a talented cartoonist to write and draw a one-panel comic to replace "Li'l Cutie." Can you tickle our funny bone? Cartoons featuring animals or pets will not be considered.

Man, I've been waiting forever for an opportunity like this. I had a comic in my school paper once, but this is a chance to hit the BIG time. The ad said they weren't accepting any animal comic strips, and I think I know why. There's this comic about a dog called "Precious Poochie," and it's been running for about fifty years. The guy who wrote it died a long time ago, but they're still recycling his old comics. I don't know if they're funny or not because, to be honest with you, most of them don't even make sense to a person my age.

Anyway, the newspaper has tried to get rid of that comic a bunch of times, but whenever they try to cancel it all the "Precious Poochie" fans come out of the woodwork and make a big stink. I guess people think of this cartoon dog as their own pet or something. The last time they tried to cancel "Precious Poochie," four busloads of senior citizens from Leisure Towers showed up at the newspaper offices downtown and didn't leave until they got their way.

Saturday Mom was acting extra-cheery this morning, and I could tell she had something up her sleeve. At 10:00 she said we all needed to get in the station wagon, and when I asked her where we were going, she said it was a "surprise."

I noticed Mom had packed sunscreen and bathing suits and stuff in the back of the station wagon, so I thought we must be headed for the beach. But when I asked her if I was right, Mom said the place we were going was better than the beach. Wherever we were going, it was taking a long time to get there. And it wasn't that fun being stuck in the backseat with Rodrick and Manny. Manny was sitting in between me and Rodrick on the hump. At one point Rodrick decided to tell Manny the hump was the worst seat in the car because it was

the smallest and least comfortable. Well, that totally set Manny off. Eventually, Mom and Dad got sick of Manny's crying. Mom said I had to take a turn on the hump because I'm the second youngest and it was "only fair." So every time Dad ran over a pothole, my head hit the roof of the car. At about 2:00 I was getting really hungry, so I asked