Read Online Whales on Stilts! by M.T. Anderson - Free Book Online Page A

and Katie stopped at the police station.
    I don’t think I need to tell you how this conversation went.
    Have you ever told the police that your house has been pillaged by whales? And then mentioned that tomorrow whales will invade the town?
    In Lily and Katie’s experience, the police responded by saying things like:
    â€œWhat do you mean exactly by ‘invasion’?”
    â€œThe whales,” explained Katie, “are going to invade.”
    â€œCan I tell you a story, girls?” The police officer leaned back and rested his heels on his computer keyboard. He said patiently, “In the nineteen-sixties there was something called the British Invasion. But no British people really
invaded
us. It was called an
invasion,
but all that happened was a lot of British bands sold a lot of records in the United States.”
    â€œSo you’re saying,” said Katie, “that really these whales are just going to release a lot of hit singles.”
    â€œDon’t get fresh,” said the police officer. “I’m saying that just because there was something called the British Invasion doesn’t mean you should be afraid of British people. See what I mean? The British have never
invaded
America.”
    Lily mumbled, “What about during the War of 1812?”
    â€œWhat about it?”
    â€œThey burned down Washington, D.C.”
    â€œYeah.” The policeman bit an apple. He chewed. “Do you girls ever do a sport?”
    Let’s end this painful interview and move on to something else.

Lily couldn’t sleep that night. She felt like little gyroscopes were spinning around in her wrists and ankles. She pulled back the covers and sat on the edge of her bed. Her room was dark. She could hear her father and mother talking quietly in the other room. No words, just muttering.
    After a while Lily got up and padded down the stairs. She took the phone out of its cradle and went out on the porch. It was an early spring evening but not too cold. She sat on the wicker love seat and called her grandmother in Decentville.
    â€œIt’s me,” said Lily when her grandmother answered.
    â€œHello, beauty,” said her grandmother. “It’s eleven. That’s when I watch my surfing videos.”
    â€œGrandma,” said Lily, “there’s something awful that’s going to happen.”
    â€œWhat is it, darling?” said her grandma. “I’m going to go into the living room and sit down.” Lily could hear a door slam on the other end of the phone. With a puff her grandmother plopped down on the sofa. “It’s an invasion of some kind, isn’t it?”
    â€œWhales,” said Lily.
    â€œOh, honey,” said her grandmother. “At least the waiting is over.”
    Lily told her about what had happened so far. (If you’re interested, you can go back to the beginning of the book and read all the way through to this point again.)
    When Lily was done with her story, she said, “What am I going to do?”
    â€œWhy don’t you fight them with your magic sword?”
    â€œI don’t have a magic sword.”
    â€œIn the world of make-pretend, you can have anything you want, darling.”
    Lily felt tears gather in her throat. “Grandma, this isn’t pretend.”
    Her grandmother didn’t argue. “I wish games could go on forever,” she said soothingly. “I remember, Lily...” She laughed.
    Lily loved the sound of her grandmother’s chuckle. She held the phone closer to her ear.
    Her grandmother said, “The games we played when I was little lasted for days. We would be running around in the fields down by Tinker’s Point like crazy people. We would hide in the grass. We jumped off the rocks, and I’m afraid we bumped up our knees sometimes.”
    Lily smiled.
    â€œI remember the fireflies always being out,” said her grandmother, “but probably that was only once