2. The Secret About Twitter

2/The Secret About Twitter Me and that Grace rode the bus home together. I did not speak to that girl. 'Cause she kept on being happy about Slicky. And so what kind of crummy attitude is that? I walked in my house real glum. Grandma Helen Miller was babysitting my baby brother named Ollie. "Uh-oh. It looks like someone had a bad day at school," she said. I raised my hand very weakish. "Me, Grandma. It was me. I am the one who had the bad day." After that, I gave her a paper from my

teacher. It was the rules about Pet Day. Grandma Miller put Ollie in his swing. Then me and her sat on the couch. And I waited while she read the paper. "Oh dear," she said. "You can't take Tickle, can you?" I shook my head real gloomy. "Not even in a cage," I said. I did a sad sigh. "Where's the justice here, Helen?" I asked. Grandma smiled very understanding. Then she gave me a hug. And she said don't call her Helen. "I don't know what to tell you, sweetie," she said. "Unless you get another pet before Pet Day, I guess you're just going to have to accept this." My eyes started to cry a teeny bit.

"But Mother and Daddy won't buy me another pet, Grandma. 'Cause I already asked for a bunny and a goat and a bat and a rat. But they keep on saying no, no, no, no." Grandma read the rules again. "Wait a second here," she said. "Why didn't I see this before? It says you can bring a bird." I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah? So?" "So you can take my canary!" she said. "I'll let you take Twitter!" I looked and looked at that woman. Then I patted her hand very nice. And I whispered a secret in her ear. "Yeah, only here's the problem. I hate that dumb bird," I said. Grandma Miller looked surprised.

"You hate him? You hate Twitter?" she asked. I showed her my finger. "He pecked me, Grandma. He pecked my

finger, remember that? And I didn't even do anything to that guy." Grandma Miller made squinty eyes at me. "You put a potato on his head," she said. "I would have pecked you, too." I smiled kind of nervous. "It was a hat," I said real soft. After that, me and Grandma Miller sat there kind of stiffish. And we didn't talk for lots of minutes. Finally, I tapped on her. "Do you have any other pets at your house?" I asked. "Any pets I'm not aware of?" Grandma Miller laughed a little bit. "Not unless we catch that crazy old raccoon that keeps breaking into our garbage can every night," she said. Then she laughed some more.

And guess what? I laughed, too! 'Cause that woman is a genius, I tell you!