09 Saltwater Taffy

Saltwater Taffy On Saturday morning, Judy peered out the window. The rain had stopped! GMD #5 was off to a good start. Her mood pillow grinned at her. She picked up a coil of sun-yellow yarn and soon her fingers were flying. Dad went to get the paint for Judy's room. In the time he was gone, she finger knitted five whole balls of yarn. Plum perfect! Finally, Dad came home with the paint. "They were all out of Peanut Butter and Jelly," said Dad. Judy felt a twinge. Like a prickle, only worse.

Bad-mood words like "No way!" and "So not fair!" shot through Judy's head, but she could not be in a bad mood for two more days. What a pickle. She took a deep breath. "That's okay," she said calmly. "Peanut Butter and Jelly is for babies." "Hey! I love Peanut Butter and Jelly," said Stink. I rest my case, thought Judy, silently and to herself. "Aren't you going to say, 'I rest my case' or something?" Stink asked. "Or something." "I got Saltwater Taffy instead," said Dad. "Saltwater Taffy's good," said Judy. Dad snapped off the lid and Judy stirred the paint.

She could hardly wait to dive in and slap some purple paint around. "Saltwater Taffy?" Stink perked up. "Did you know that some guy had a candy shop by the Atlantic Ocean like over a hundred years ago? One day, there was a big storm, the ocean flooded his shop, and the salt water got all over the candy. And that's how it got invented and how come it's called saltwater taffy." "I did not know that," said Judy. "You, little bother, I mean brother, are like a volcano— always spitting up interesting facts." "Why are you being so nice?" asked Stink. "Mom! Judy's acting weird again." "C'mon you two," said Dad. "Let's get this party started." "Stink's painting too?" Judy grumped, but

then she caught herself. "Um, thanks for helping, Stinker. While we're getting ready, why don't you tell us how paint was invented?" Before you could say "Saltwater Taffy" three times fast, Judy was dipping a roller in the paint tray. While Dad taped the edges, Judy slathered purple paint on the wall.

"Poiple!" she shouted with glee. Best-mood-ever!" purple! Purple was on-top-of-spaghetti royal. Stink rolled paint on the wall. "Stink! You're splattering me," said Judy. She held out her shirt. "Human Spin Art." "That's why we wore old T-shirts," said Dad, "and put down cardboard on the floor." "Just don't get any paint on Hedda-Get-Betta, my Nancy Drew books, my finger knitting, or—" "Look," said Stink. "Mouse has one purple ear." "You mean purr-ple." Judy cracked herself up. "She's going to have two purple ears, purple whiskers, and a purple tail if she doesn't watch out. Scat, cat!" She shooed Mouse out of the room.

Stink cracked up. "You said scat." In two shakes of a cat's tail, Judy and Stink had covered the wall in purple. Dad stood on a ladder to get all the edges. "How do you like your royal purple palace?" he asked. Judy stepped back to admire their masterpiece. "Rare," she said. "Now, we wait for this to dry. We may need a second coat," said Dad. "You mean we have to do it all over again?" Judy asked. Oops. Bad-mood words. "You mean we get to do this all over again?" She turned on a smile. "We'll see. In the meantime, I'm going to rinse these rollers and brushes out." Judy picked up her finger knitting. Stink sat cross-legged next to her. He stared at the wall.