dumb jokes.
She tossed the head from hand to hand. And grinned at me. “You’re dumb, Mark. You’ll believe anything.”
“Just give me back my head!” I cried angrily. I dove across the living room and grabbed for it.
She started to pull it away — but I held on tightly.
“Hey — you scratched it!” I shrieked.
She did. I held the head up close to my face to examine it. Jessica had scratched a long white line on the right earlobe.
“Jessica — please,” Mom begged, crossing her arms and lowering her voice. That’s what Mom does when she’s about to get steamed. “Shape up. We have a guest.”
Jessica crossed her arms and pouted back at Mom.
Mom turned to Carolyn. “How is my sister Benna doing?”
Carolyn pulled off her sunglasses and tucked them into a raincoat pocket. She had silvery gray eyes. She looked older without the dark glasses on. I could see hundreds of tiny wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
“Benna is fine,” she replied. “Working hard. Too hard. Sometimes she disappears into the jungle for days.”
Carolyn sighed and started to unbutton her raincoat. “I’m sure you know Benna’s work is her life,” she continued. “She spends every minute exploring the jungles of Baladora. She wanted to come visit. But she couldn’t leave the island. So she sent me instead.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Carolyn,” Mom said warmly. “I’m sorry we didn’t know you were coming. But any friend of Benna’s is more than welcome.”
She took Carolyn’s raincoat. Carolyn wore khaki pants and a short-sleeved khaki shirt. It looked like a real jungle-exploring suit.
“Come sit down,” Mom told her. “What can I offer you?”
“A cup of coffee would be nice,” Carolyn replied. She started to follow Mom to the kitchen. But she stopped and smiled at me. “Do you like your present?”
I gazed down at the wrinkled, leathery head in my hands. “It’s beautiful!” I declared.
That night before going to bed, I placed the head on my dresser. I brushed its thick black hair straight back. The forehead was dark green and wrinkled like a prune. The glassy black eyes stared straight ahead.
Carolyn told me that the head was over one hundred years old. I leaned against the dresser and stared at it. It was so hard to believe that it had once belonged to a real person.
Yuck.
How had the guy lost his head?
I wondered.
And who decided to shrink it? And who kept it after it was shrunk?
I wished Aunt Benna were here. She would explain everything to me.
Carolyn was sleeping in the guest room down the hall. We had sat in the living room, talking about Aunt Benna all night. Carolyn described the work Aunt Benna was doing on the jungle island. And the amazing things she was finding there on Baladora.
My aunt Benna is a pretty famous scientist. She has been on Baladora for nearly ten years. She studies the animals in the jungle. And the plant life, too.
I loved listening to Carolyn’s stories. It wasas if my
Jungle King
computer game had come to life.
Jessica kept wanting to play with my shrunken head. But I wouldn’t let her. She had already put a scratch on its ear.
“It’s not a toy. It’s a human head,” I told my sister.
“I’ll trade you two of my Koosh balls for it,” Jessica offered.
Was she
crazy?
Why would I trade a valuable treasure like this for two Koosh balls?
Sometimes I worried about Jessica.
At ten o’clock, Mom sent me up to my room. “Carolyn and I have some things to talk about,” she announced. I said good night and made my way upstairs.
I changed into my pajamas and looked at the head on my dresser. Its dark eyes appeared to flash for a second when I turned out the lights.
I climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. Silvery moonlight washed into the room from the bedroom window. In the bright moonlight, I could see the head clearly, staring at me from the dresser top, bathed in shadows.
What a horrible sneer on its face,
I thought with a
She tossed the head from hand to hand. And grinned at me. “You’re dumb, Mark. You’ll believe anything.”
“Just give me back my head!” I cried angrily. I dove across the living room and grabbed for it.
She started to pull it away — but I held on tightly.
“Hey — you scratched it!” I shrieked.
She did. I held the head up close to my face to examine it. Jessica had scratched a long white line on the right earlobe.
“Jessica — please,” Mom begged, crossing her arms and lowering her voice. That’s what Mom does when she’s about to get steamed. “Shape up. We have a guest.”
Jessica crossed her arms and pouted back at Mom.
Mom turned to Carolyn. “How is my sister Benna doing?”
Carolyn pulled off her sunglasses and tucked them into a raincoat pocket. She had silvery gray eyes. She looked older without the dark glasses on. I could see hundreds of tiny wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
“Benna is fine,” she replied. “Working hard. Too hard. Sometimes she disappears into the jungle for days.”
Carolyn sighed and started to unbutton her raincoat. “I’m sure you know Benna’s work is her life,” she continued. “She spends every minute exploring the jungles of Baladora. She wanted to come visit. But she couldn’t leave the island. So she sent me instead.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Carolyn,” Mom said warmly. “I’m sorry we didn’t know you were coming. But any friend of Benna’s is more than welcome.”
She took Carolyn’s raincoat. Carolyn wore khaki pants and a short-sleeved khaki shirt. It looked like a real jungle-exploring suit.
“Come sit down,” Mom told her. “What can I offer you?”
“A cup of coffee would be nice,” Carolyn replied. She started to follow Mom to the kitchen. But she stopped and smiled at me. “Do you like your present?”
I gazed down at the wrinkled, leathery head in my hands. “It’s beautiful!” I declared.
That night before going to bed, I placed the head on my dresser. I brushed its thick black hair straight back. The forehead was dark green and wrinkled like a prune. The glassy black eyes stared straight ahead.
Carolyn told me that the head was over one hundred years old. I leaned against the dresser and stared at it. It was so hard to believe that it had once belonged to a real person.
Yuck.
How had the guy lost his head?
I wondered.
And who decided to shrink it? And who kept it after it was shrunk?
I wished Aunt Benna were here. She would explain everything to me.
Carolyn was sleeping in the guest room down the hall. We had sat in the living room, talking about Aunt Benna all night. Carolyn described the work Aunt Benna was doing on the jungle island. And the amazing things she was finding there on Baladora.
My aunt Benna is a pretty famous scientist. She has been on Baladora for nearly ten years. She studies the animals in the jungle. And the plant life, too.
I loved listening to Carolyn’s stories. It wasas if my
Jungle King
computer game had come to life.
Jessica kept wanting to play with my shrunken head. But I wouldn’t let her. She had already put a scratch on its ear.
“It’s not a toy. It’s a human head,” I told my sister.
“I’ll trade you two of my Koosh balls for it,” Jessica offered.
Was she
crazy?
Why would I trade a valuable treasure like this for two Koosh balls?
Sometimes I worried about Jessica.
At ten o’clock, Mom sent me up to my room. “Carolyn and I have some things to talk about,” she announced. I said good night and made my way upstairs.
I changed into my pajamas and looked at the head on my dresser. Its dark eyes appeared to flash for a second when I turned out the lights.
I climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. Silvery moonlight washed into the room from the bedroom window. In the bright moonlight, I could see the head clearly, staring at me from the dresser top, bathed in shadows.
What a horrible sneer on its face,
I thought with a
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