Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 The first Saturday morning after the first full week of school is probably the best Saturday morning of the entire year. While your brain is adjusting to school time, your body is still on summer time, and after a few days of getting up early, nothing could be sweeter than sleeping in! "Michael? Michael?!?!" Jane called out. Loudly. Having a four-year-old sister can put a damper on your first-Saturday plans. "Whaaaaat?" Michael groaned. He rolled over and opened his eyes just enough to see the clock on his nightstand. "Leave me alone. It's only eight o'clock." Jane danced into his room. "Guess what?! I'm going to a birthday party!" she chirped. "That's nice," Michael responded groggily. "Have fun." "It's for Kennedy, and there's gonna be a pi.ata and a cake and a bouncy castle." "MOOOOOM! Jane won't let me sleep!" "C'mon, sweetie!" Mrs. Gomez called from the living room. "We've got to go. Let your brother sleep."

Jane didn't budge. "Guess what present I got her?" "MOOOOOM!" Michael yelled out again. "A Puny Puppy, with a windup bark. It's SO cute." Michael pulled his pillow over his head. Jane finally got the hint and exited the room. No sooner had Michael closed his eyes than he heard another familiar voice. "So! What's the plan?" Merle asked as he and Pearl bounced back into Michael's room through the open window, carrying armloads of acorns. Michael, realizing he wasn't going to be doing any more sleeping on this first Saturday morning, rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. "You guys like soccer?" he asked. "Can't say I've heard of it," Pearl responded. Merle shook his head.

"Come with me." Michael got out of bed and grabbed his soccer ball from the closet. If anything was going to drag him out of bed on a first Saturday when he should be sleeping, it might as well be soccer. He walked down the hallway, past the closed door of Jane's room. "Good morning, Mr. Nemesis!" Merle called through the door. "Meowwwrrr," Mr. Nemesis replied grumpily. Once in the living room, Michael began juggling the ball with his bare feet. He wasn't allowed to play soccer in the house, but with his dad at work and his mom and Jane on their way to a birthday party, he figured he could get away with it. Plus, he was still in his pajamas, so playing outside was not an option. "Soccer is a game where you can't touch the ball with your hands, so you have to be really good with your feet." Michael juggled the ball, getting 10 clean hits before it fell to the ground. "Nice!" Merle commented. "But what if you have four paws?" "Just use your bottom ones," Michael answered. Merle gave it a try. He got off a couple of hits before the ball sailed off his right paw and struck the side of the sofa.

"Good try," Michael said. "Watch this!" He began juggling again, bouncing the ball high in the air. Pearl glanced around the room, noting all the items that could potentially be damaged by a flying soccer ball. "Wouldn't it be better to do this outside?" she asked. "You sound like my mom!" Michael laughed as he passed 15 hits. Feeling more confident, he bounced the ball higher. "My record is 50!" "But don't you think you might—?" Before Pearl could finish her thought, the ball bounced off the side of Michael's left foot and struck the top of his mom's prized ceramic elephant table. The table teetered over and fell onto the hard wood floor, followed by the lamp sitting on top of it.

The wooden lamp was unharmed, its shade bent slightly. But the elephant table was in about 100 pieces. "Oh no!" Michael gasped. "Is that bad?" Merle asked. "It's worse than bad," Michael said. And just like that, Michael had two large problems to deal with: his dad finding out about the squirrels and his mom finding out about her busted elephant. So much for a relaxing first Saturday.