Book 1 Charly Did It

Charly Did It

Okay, it's true. I admit it. I did a lot of things when I was younger that maybe I shouldn't have. Like when I put a dead goldfish into Dr. Green's fish tank. I never thought the other kids in the waiting room would scream, " Dead fish! " so loud. And how was I to know that their screaming would get babies crying, moms all jittery, and nurses jumping around like, well, fish out of water.

And, technically, it wasn't my fault that the fish tank got knocked over-spilling fishy water and little fishy castles all over the carpet. Then again, you might have done the same thing if you wanted to find out whether a dead fish floats upside down or right side up. (It actually floats on its side, which I'll tell you to keep you from making the same mistake I did. )

Remember, also, that I did that back when I was nine. Now I am ten and in fourth grade, so I have become mature and responsible. Well, that's what my Dad says he wants me to try to be, especially now with it being a new year. By the way, if you want to be mature, you can say it like Gattie, my Great Aunt Tess: “ ma-toor, " which rhymes with door; not “ ma-chewer, " which rhymes with sewer. That's how she said it the other day when she came over for tea. “ Please, Charlemagne, if you want to be treated like a young lady, you must act ma-toor. "

First off, I don't want to be a young lady for at least another 20 or 30 years. Secondly, I don't like tea, except for the cookies that go with it. The third thing is that I hate that name Charlemagne! I didn't pick it; my parents did. That name is like . . . drinking tea out of little white cups with your pinkie out. Come to think of it, my third thing should have been my first. But I'm stuck with the name Charlemagne, which I guess I might end up using in 20 or 30 years. I did pick my nickname from it: Charly. That name is more like dunking cookies into hot cocoa, which I adore.

But let's get back to being mature, any way you say it. It started this morning when Dad came down to breakfast in a grumpy mood. When I asked him what was the matter, he said, " I got up on the wrong side of the bed. " That's my Dad for you, always saying these sayings that I don't understand. I never even knew there was a right side of a bed. So, I went to Dad's room to investigate.