shovel. ‘It is sunny! Shame on you both for sitting in this shed while I gotta do all the work out there in the sun.’
‘I love you, Dad,’ said my dad to Gra. I gotta tell you—he only said that because he knows Gra can’t hear him. He never ever says these things otherwise. Mom says it around ten times a minute, especially when she’s botched up big time. She goes ‘Baby, I am so sorry I ironed a hole in your uniform, but you know I love you, right?’ But not Dad.
‘Eh?’ said Gra.
‘I love you, Dad, I was telling my son,’ shouted Dad.
‘If you love the sun, you go out and do the gardening,’ grumbled Gra.
I remembered the pictures of the formidable Grazor and suddenly felt a huge sense of awe for my granddad. Respect! I remembered stories of the Grazor holding up a car with one hand, punching five baddies together . . . how’d he do it? Were they just stories? Or did he have some superpower that—OMIGOSH—I had inherited?
I was so excited for a moment that I forgot I was mad at my family for keeping this awesome secret from me all along. I danced around, quite forgetting also that BigaByte had followed me in. I heard a crunching then and we turned to look at the sack of secrets I’d found. BigaByte had started chewing up the cape! No, no, no! That’s my legacy, you dumb dog! I’ll feed you Gra’s turnips—just leave those alone!
I tried to pull the cape out from BigaByte’s unwillingjaws, and suddenly Gra’s eyes lit up. He reached out and passed his old wrinkled hand over the fading purple suit, and I thought his eyes teared up for a second. Then he chuckled, ‘This will make a good scarecrow for my turnips!’
Did he really not remember? Or was he good at pretending not to?
Dad said, ‘I think you both need some time together.’ He pulled BigaByte out by his collar.
‘Gra,’ I said, ‘I want you to tell me how you did it.’
Gra roughed up my hair and smiled at me. He hadn’t understood a word. This was going to be tough work.
‘Gra, tell me about being the Grazor!’ I tried shouting louder.
‘About my razor? Ah, it’s as blunt as a bad joke! And you have a long time, young man, before you need to start shaving.’
I smiled at him. This was impossible. I held up the brown cardboard file—maybe the pictures would jog his memory. I opened the file and showed him the newspaper picture of the Grazor getting a prize from the mayor.
‘This is you!’ I pointed out. ‘You got it for saving the city.’
‘Shaving?’ Gra squinted at the picture. ‘Why do you go on about shaving and razors? You’re too young.’
He went closer. And stared at the photograph for a long time. Something passed across his eyes, and he suddenlystraightened up. ‘Put it back where you found it. There’s a time for everything. And this is the time for gardening.’
‘But you will tell me your secret?’ I asked softly, hopefully, placing the file back in its sack, along with the Grazor superhero suit.
‘Cigarette? Young man, does your mother know you want to shave and smoke?’
I put my hand out, and he held on to it, and we both walked back out into the sunshine.
‘You know it’s pretty cool to know my roots,’ I gave Gra’s hand a squeeze.
‘Okay, let’s start with the turnip roots, shall we?’
So I spent the rest of the day helping my awesome retired superhero granddad with his gardening.
19. Find friends with loud voices to protest for you
‘Psssst,’ said my front doorstep, ‘let me in.’
a) I’d quite given up on the fact that my superpowers included Super Hearing, where things like doorsteps spoke to me.
b) I did not want to upset my mom by allowing doorsteps in, when she’d put them outside.
c) I knew by now, like you know by now, who it was.
‘Hey Blank,’ I said, opening the door and noticing a pair of Bermuda shorts hopping around outside. Blank was disappearing only in parts again, a sure sign that he was excited. ‘Wassup?’
‘You want the good
‘I love you, Dad,’ said my dad to Gra. I gotta tell you—he only said that because he knows Gra can’t hear him. He never ever says these things otherwise. Mom says it around ten times a minute, especially when she’s botched up big time. She goes ‘Baby, I am so sorry I ironed a hole in your uniform, but you know I love you, right?’ But not Dad.
‘Eh?’ said Gra.
‘I love you, Dad, I was telling my son,’ shouted Dad.
‘If you love the sun, you go out and do the gardening,’ grumbled Gra.
I remembered the pictures of the formidable Grazor and suddenly felt a huge sense of awe for my granddad. Respect! I remembered stories of the Grazor holding up a car with one hand, punching five baddies together . . . how’d he do it? Were they just stories? Or did he have some superpower that—OMIGOSH—I had inherited?
I was so excited for a moment that I forgot I was mad at my family for keeping this awesome secret from me all along. I danced around, quite forgetting also that BigaByte had followed me in. I heard a crunching then and we turned to look at the sack of secrets I’d found. BigaByte had started chewing up the cape! No, no, no! That’s my legacy, you dumb dog! I’ll feed you Gra’s turnips—just leave those alone!
I tried to pull the cape out from BigaByte’s unwillingjaws, and suddenly Gra’s eyes lit up. He reached out and passed his old wrinkled hand over the fading purple suit, and I thought his eyes teared up for a second. Then he chuckled, ‘This will make a good scarecrow for my turnips!’
Did he really not remember? Or was he good at pretending not to?
Dad said, ‘I think you both need some time together.’ He pulled BigaByte out by his collar.
‘Gra,’ I said, ‘I want you to tell me how you did it.’
Gra roughed up my hair and smiled at me. He hadn’t understood a word. This was going to be tough work.
‘Gra, tell me about being the Grazor!’ I tried shouting louder.
‘About my razor? Ah, it’s as blunt as a bad joke! And you have a long time, young man, before you need to start shaving.’
I smiled at him. This was impossible. I held up the brown cardboard file—maybe the pictures would jog his memory. I opened the file and showed him the newspaper picture of the Grazor getting a prize from the mayor.
‘This is you!’ I pointed out. ‘You got it for saving the city.’
‘Shaving?’ Gra squinted at the picture. ‘Why do you go on about shaving and razors? You’re too young.’
He went closer. And stared at the photograph for a long time. Something passed across his eyes, and he suddenlystraightened up. ‘Put it back where you found it. There’s a time for everything. And this is the time for gardening.’
‘But you will tell me your secret?’ I asked softly, hopefully, placing the file back in its sack, along with the Grazor superhero suit.
‘Cigarette? Young man, does your mother know you want to shave and smoke?’
I put my hand out, and he held on to it, and we both walked back out into the sunshine.
‘You know it’s pretty cool to know my roots,’ I gave Gra’s hand a squeeze.
‘Okay, let’s start with the turnip roots, shall we?’
So I spent the rest of the day helping my awesome retired superhero granddad with his gardening.
19. Find friends with loud voices to protest for you
‘Psssst,’ said my front doorstep, ‘let me in.’
a) I’d quite given up on the fact that my superpowers included Super Hearing, where things like doorsteps spoke to me.
b) I did not want to upset my mom by allowing doorsteps in, when she’d put them outside.
c) I knew by now, like you know by now, who it was.
‘Hey Blank,’ I said, opening the door and noticing a pair of Bermuda shorts hopping around outside. Blank was disappearing only in parts again, a sure sign that he was excited. ‘Wassup?’
‘You want the good
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