Read Online Anastasia at This Address by Lois Lowry - Free Book Online Page A

interrupted her. "What did the Chinese lady sing to her baby?" he asked gleefully.
    Mrs. Krupnik grinned. "'Wok-a-bye Baby'?" she asked.
    Myron Krupnik and Anastasia both groaned. "You guys are
terrible,
" Anastasia said to her mother and brother. "You'd never hear Dad or me telling—"
    Her father held his hand up. "Listen! I've got one!" he said with a gleam in his eye. "What kind of music did the Chinese lady like best?"
    They all looked at him. No one said anything.
    "Wok-and-roll," Myron Krupnik said apologetically. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself."
    "Here is what we've decided about hair," Anastasia announced at dinner. "And Kirsten approved."
    "Decided about hair?" her father asked, looking mystified.
    "For the
wedding,
Dad," Anastasia explained patiently. "For the junior bridesmaids' hair styles."
    Myron Krupnik shook his head. "Oh," he said, and went back to his lasagna.
    "We're all going to wear it up on top of our heads, Mom," Anastasia explained. "Sonya thought hers wasn't long enough. But we tested it out on everybody over at her house Saturday, and it looked just fine. So it will be up on top of our heads, with a small blue ribbon tied around it."
    "Sounds lovely," Mrs. Krupnik said.
    "Lovely," Sam said solemnly.
    "At first we thought pink ribbons, to match the bouquets. But Sonya just can't bear wearing pink, with her red hair. So we decided on blue."
    "Nice. I'm sure it will be just wonderful."
    "And the ribbon will have a little streamer down the back so that when we walk down the aisle—"
    "
Wok
down the aisle," Sam interrupted.
    "Right. When we wok down the aisle, we'll look interesting from the back."
    "How shall I wear
my
hair, I wonder. Is it long enough for a ponytail?" Anastasia's father asked. "I certainly want to look interesting from the back." He pulled his shaggy hair away from his bald spot and held it bunched in his hand at the back of his neck.
    "
Myron,
" Mrs. Krupnik said in a meaningful voice.
    "And guess what! There's a
rehearsal
the day before the wedding, just as if we were going to be in a play. And after the rehearsal, there's a rehearsal
dinner
just for the families and the members of the wedding party. So that includes me!"
    "Sounds great, sweetie. Myron, want any more lasagna? Or are you ready for dessert?"
    "I'll have some more, thanks. My
first
plate was just a rehearsal dinner. Now for the real thing." He handed his empty plate to his wife.
    Anastasia got up to answer the telephone, which was ringing in the kitchen.
    "Do you know of any diet that makes you thin in a week and a half?" Sonya asked over the phone. "I just realized that there's only a week and a half till the wedding, and I forgot to go on a diet."
    "Can't you ask your father? He's a doctor," Anastasia reminded her.
    Sonya groaned. "He'd just make a big speech about the danger of crash diets. He'd make me read brochures about anorexia. I was thinking of maybe calling Oprah Winfrey, though.
She'd
know, don't you think?"
    "Yeah, probably she would. But, Sonya—"
    "What?"
    "If you went on some diet now and lost of lot of weight before the wedding, your
dress
wouldn't fit!"
    Sonya was silent for a minute. "I hadn't thought of that," she said.
    "And your dress looks terrific the way it is.
You
look terrific in it. You don't need to lose weight."
    "You're sure?"
    "Positive," Anastasia assured her. "When you walk down the aisle—"
    "Wok," Sonya corrected. She sounded, for a moment, like Sam. It was weird, the way they were all automatically incorporating wok into their conversation, Anastasia thought. She laughed.
    "Sorry. I meant
wok
down the aisle, of course. You'll look fabulous. Forget the diet idea."
    "Okay. I'll go on a diet
after
the wedding. At the reception I'll start."
    "Just a week and a half left," Anastasia reminded her happily.
    "A wok and a half," Sonya replied, giggling, and hung up.
    "By the way, Dad," Anastasia said when she went back to the table, "I know you're sick of hearing about the wedding, but