The Japanese Ninja Surprise by Jeff Brown Page A

the envelope in big block letters, and then held it up to show Arthur:
     
    MASTER ODA NOBU
JAPAN
     
    Stanley bowed deeply to his brother.
    “I salute you, Arthur-san. Now fold me up!”

2
Fan Mail
    Stanley Lambchop was no stranger to traveling in an envelope. Since becoming flat, he had been airmailed to visit a friend in California and had even been posted to Egypt.
    But Japan wasn’t California, or even Egypt. Japan was very, very far away.
    Arthur had packed a good supply of rolled-up fruit snacks, of course—so Stanley didn’t go hungry. But the trip was long and boring, and folded up as he was, he was almost always uncomfortable. Finally, he felt the airplane bump to a landing—and the next voices he heard were Japanese! After many more long, uncomfortable hours of travel, being flipped and rolled, sorted and stacked, Stanley felt himself come to a rest.
    In his eagerness to be released, Stanley began to stretch. He rocked from side to side and bounced up and down. That didn’t get him out of the envelope, but it did get him some attention: Stanley heard footsteps, and then voices, coming closer. He could tellby the tone of the voices that the people were at first surprised by, and then suspicious of, the jumping envelope.
    He was about to call out when someone shouted—and suddenly, the envelope was jerked up from where it lay.
    With a sharp rip , light poured in from above his head. Without even thinking, Stanley flexed his cramped muscles and sprang from the envelope. He had only a moment to adjust his eyes to the scene before him when he realized he was surrounded by… ninjas !
    “Uh-oh,” Stanley thought, realizing he was still dressed in his own ninja uniform. “This isn’t good!” But beforehe could say a word—or even think what he would say—the ninjas attacked!

    One flew through the air, his heel aimed straight at Stanley’s head. Stanley quickly turned sideways, and because he was only half an inch thick, the ninja flew right past him and crashed into a wall! Another ninja threw a swift karate chop at Stanley, but Stanley folded himself in two, right at his waist, and the ninja’s powerful hand sliced through empty air.
    Now all the ninjas were on the attack! Stanley leaped and hovered and bent himself this way and that—and somehow managed to avoid every blow. Then something whistled by his ear,and Stanley heard a loud thunk ! A shiny ninja throwing star was embedded in the far wall. He looked back to see who had thrown it at him and saw…

    Oda Nobu!
    “Wait!” Stanley shouted. “Oda Nobu! I am not a ninja! I am just a fan! I’ve seen every one of your movies…several times!”
    But the ninjas kept coming. Stanley bobbed and weaved and rolled and folded. “It’s only me!” he tried again. “Stanley Lambchop, from America!”
    Oda Nobu shouted a sharp command in Japanese, and the ninjas immediately stopped their attack. He stepped forward, his eyes very wide. “You…are the… Flat Stanley ?” he gasped.
    Stanley nodded.
    Oda Nobu turned to the ninjas. He spoke sternly to them, the words rushing out like karate chops. Stanley understood only the last two: “Flat Stanley!”
    The ninjas turned together to look at Stanley. They wore the same expression of awe as Oda Nobu, wide-eyed, theirmouths hanging open. And then all at once, they were laughing and bowing and shaking his hand.

    “But,” Stanley said to Oda Nobu, “how do you know who I am?”
    Oda Nobu put his arm around Stanley’s shoulder. “Everyone in the whole world knows of Flat Stanley!”

3
The Ninja Way
    Stanley was shown to a beautiful room in Oda Nobu’s beautiful home. The walls, and even the doors, were made of delicate rice paper stretched across wooden frames. The only piece of furniture was a bed—a mat on a low platform, nearly on the floor.
    A handsome kimono, embroidered with scarlet dragons, lay across thebed. Stanley slipped his arms into the sleeves and wrapped the kimono around himself. And