8. The Amazing Apple

Chapter 8 The Amazing Apple I took a swing at that humongous apple and missed by a mile. Then Wyatt saw it too. "It's the hugest apple on the planet!" Wyatt cried. "It's my apple!" I said. "Not if I'm the one who picks it!" he said.

We both swung our sticks at that gigantic apple. And we both missed. We swung again. Crack! Our sticks hit with a loud whack. "Boys," Ms. Diz warned, "careful with the sticks!" "It's just one apple, you know," Emma said. "There are hundreds of apples on this tree." "It's a super apple!" I corrected. "It's Gigantor, the Killer Apple from Outer Space!" Wyatt added. "Wow," Gus said. "It looks like a basketball!" I swung and missed again. "Guys," Emma said, "our basket is only half full. Everybody else has a ton of apples."

"But they don't have the Awesome, Amazing Super Apple!" Wyatt said. He swung again and missed. I had an idea. "Gus," I said. "Come here. It's time for a ladder." "We don't have a ladder," Gus pointed out. "I'll be the ladder," I said. I got down on my hands and knees. "Oh." Gus grinned. "I get it." Gus climbed up on my back. He used his stick for balance. "Ow," I said. "Ow, ow, ow. Hurry, Gus. Your ladder can't take much more of this." Whack! Whack! Whack!

Gus kept missing. "Keep still. It's hard to balance when your ladder keeps breathing," he complained. "Hey, it's cheating if you have to step on a friend," Wyatt said. "I don't mind," I said.

Even though Gus was turning out to be way heavier than I'd expected. "Emma," Wyatt said. "Come here. I need to step on you." "Excuse me? Emma said. She laughed. "No way, Wyatt." Wyatt turned to Gus. "Gus," he said. "We need to work together. Stay on Roscoe. I'll climb on your shoulders and whack that apple down." "How about I climb on you?" Gus asked. "How about nobody else climbs on me?" I asked. "I'm taller than you," Wyatt said to Gus. Gus nodded. "Can't argue with that." "Yes you can," said Emma. "And are you three aware that this is dumb?"

"I agree with Emma," I said with a groan. "And my back agrees too." Just then somebody yelled a cover-your-ears kind of yell. "OUCH! I'm hit! Call 9-1-1!" Emma went to find out what was going on. "It's just Coco," Emma said when she came back. "An apple fell on her head." Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. All the teachers and parents were busy with Coco. "The coast is clear," said Wyatt. "Stand still, Gus." Gus stayed on me. Wyatt climbed on him. "UGH," I said. One kid is heavy.