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Because as far as I know, the boat didn't come with any life preservers. Saturday. Even with the added space we got from the boat, the minivan was still pretty full. I snuck my pillow on board at the last second, because I decided I was entitled to at least ONE luxury item. I figured Rodrick would want to sit in the back of the van, because whenever we go anywhere as a family, he likes to stretch out and take a nap. Every once in a while we'll forget Rodrick is even back there.

This Easter, we made it halfway through church before Mom realized Rodrick never made it out of the van. Back when we had a station wagon, me and Rodrick used to sit in the way back TOGETHER, in a seat that faced the rear window. But we got in big trouble when we played a practical joke on Mom and Dad that ended up getting us pulled over by the police. When we got in the van today, Rodrick offered me the backseat.

I accepted before he could change his mind, but I should've known his offer was too good to be true. Before we pulled out of the driveway, Mom said we were taking a "special guest" along for the ride. For a second I was worried we were picking someone ELSE up, because with all our stuff in the van they'd have to sit on the ROOF. But Mom opened her purse and pulled out a piece of paper with a drawing on it.

The drawing was Flat Stanley, a character from a book I read in second grade. Flat Stanley is a boy who gets squashed by a bulletin board that falls off his bedroom wall in the middle of the night. And when they pull the bulletin board off him, he's as thin as a piece of paper.

I thought it was pretty cool that Flat Stanley could fold himself up and get mailed to his grandma's, or have his brother fly him like a kite. But I'll tell you this: If Flat Stanley had a brother like RODRICK, I guarantee he wouldn't survive a whole day.

I really liked the book, but it kind of freaked me out, too. One thing it did was give me a deathly fear of bulletin boards. In second grade, everyone in my class had to color in a cutout of Flat Stanley and mail him to a friend or relative who lived far away. Then that person was supposed to take a picture of Flat Stanley in front of something interesting and mail him back with the photo.