19-A SCOOTER WORTH ITS WERGHT IN GOLD

A SCOOTER WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD I kept on walking under the burning sun. After a little while, I saw another vendor. This one was renting out scooters. "Ahem, how much for a scooter?" I asked cautiously. "Don't worry, we take credit cards," the mouse replied. I IMMEDIATELY STARTED WORRYING.

This little vacation was costing me a fortune! I was going to have to eat only mac and cheese when I got back home. Yep, no more fancy dinners for me after this trip. I was going BROKE! Just as I thought, the scooter was worth its weight in gold. At last, I reached the beach. I looked like a TRAIN WRECK. My tongue was hanging out of my mouth from the heat. My snout was SUNBURNED. And my left paw was longer than my right paw. Oh, but that's another story. I was welcomed by a lifeguard as big as a house. He was wearing an itty-bitty yellow bathing suit and an extra-tight tank top that read Rathole Hotel Beach. On his bulging right bicep, he had a tattoo of a beautiful female mouse. He had

a THICK GOLD CHAIN around his neck, and his hair GLEAMED in the sun. What an athlete! What a muscle mouse! What a show-off! He held out his paw. "Call me CRUSHER," he said, squeezing my paw in his. I yelped. When he released me, I checked for BROKEN BONES. Crusher didn't seem to notice my pain. He pulled out a pad with a list of names on it. "You must be GERATTIMO STILTON," he said. "I've been expecting you." "Geronimo, not Gerattimo," I corrected him wearily.

He stared at the pad again. "Are you sure your name is Geronimo?" he mumbled. "It says Gerattimo here." I was so tired I could barely squeak. "My name is Geronimo, Geronimo Stilton," I whispered. He scratched his tail. "If you say so..." he muttered. I could tell he didn't believe me.