5. A Lucky Mistake

5 A Lucky Mistake Everybody was in the backyard. It was looking like my party was going to be the biggest disaster since the Titanic hit that iceberg. Everybody was standing around chitchatting. Darth Vader was still in the bathroom. There wasn't anything to eat. The pizza guy wouldn't

be there for an hour. Suddenly, there was a knocking sound on our backyard gate. "Who could that be?" asked my mom. "All the guests have arrived." "Maybe the pizza guy is here early," said my dad. But it wasn't the pizza guy. My mom and I opened the gate, and a guy was standing there. He had a painted white face, frizzy red hair, a red nose, giant shoes, and a silly costume with red polka dots all over it. He was carrying a big sack. It was a clown! Clowns are so creepy. I fell back in horror. "I'm Buffo the Clown," the clown said. "You must be the birthday boy."

"We didn't order a clown," my mom told him. "Mr. Marty sent me an email," Buffo the Clown replied. "It said to be here at eleven o'clock. It's eleven o'clock." "There must be some mistake," my mom said. Mr. Marty came running over.

"Buffo!" Mini-Marty said excitedly. "So good to see you. I'm so sorry. I must have emailed you by accident. But what a lucky mistake! I'm so glad you're here. Darth Vader is supposed to be entertaining the kids, but he's in the bathroom." "This is perfect!" my mom said excitedly. "You saved the party, Buffo!" Suddenly, I wasn't having a Star Wars party anymore. I was having a Buffo the Clown party. Oh, well. That had to be better than a bunch of people standing around making chitchat for hours. "Wait a minute," said Buffo. "Am I gonna get paid for this gig?" "Of course," replied Mini-Marty. "Don't worry about it." "Then let the Buffo the Clown show

begin!" announced Buffo. He ran into the middle of the backyard, honking a horn that was attached to his belt. "Hey, kids!" shouted Buffo. "Do you wanna hear a joke?" "Yeah!" we all shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" said Buffo. Entertainers are always saying they can't hear you even after you just shouted at them. They must need hearing aids. "YEAH!" we all shouted louder. "What's black and white and red all over?" asked Buffo. "A newspaper!" somebody shouted. "No!" said Buffo. "An embarrassed nun!" somebody shouted. "No!"

"A sunburned zebra!" somebody shouted. "No!" said Buffo. "It's a polar bear eating a penguin!" "Oh, snap!" said Ryan. Everybody laughed except Andrea, who said that the joke was violent and inappropriate for children.* I didn't think Buffo's joke was all that funny, but jokes always sound funnier when they're