Read Online Zinnia's Zaniness by Lauren Baratz-Logsted - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
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this other shadow would also stop. Whenever I tried to turn around, though, to catch the person in the act, I couldn't see anybody behind me. Whoever this shadow person is, he or she must be very fast and good at hiding. Anyway, my shadow and this other shadow followed me all the way here."
We all craned our necks to peer around Petal.
"Well," Pete said gently, "if another shadow followed you all the way here, it must have escaped fairly quickly and been invisible in the first place, because you're the only one standing in front of us and there's no second shadow behind you."
"Perhaps," Mrs. Pete suggested, just as gently, "you've spent too much time overdressed in the sun, dear?"
"I know what I saw," Petal said, turning in circles to try to catch this imaginary other shadow, "even if none of you see it now and I don't either. What if it's someone dangerous that's following me in the hopes of worming secrets out of me? What if it's Bill Collector or, worse, what if it's finally the ax murderer? What if—"
"We'll all go for a walk with you this time," Annie suggested. "We'll walk with you and we'll keep count of all our shadows as we walk. If someone is following you—or us—we'll catch that person."
We expected Rebecca to say something snide about Annie humoring the loony, but she didn't. We figured that for once Rebecca had seen the wisdom of Annie's ways and recognized the fact that Annie was right: if we didn't do something to humor the loony, and fast, Petal would never stop going on about this.
***
So we walked.
We walked, and walked, and walked.
"We have ten shadows," Annie had announced heartily when we first started walking. But as the day went on, and the walking continued, the heartiness of those announcements waned to something less enthusiastic, like "Yup, still just ten shadows."
"Can we stop for a snack?" Georgia said.
"Is it tomorrow yet?" Rebecca said. "Perhaps this is all just one big nightmare I'm having."
"I don't like to complain," Zinnia said, "but my feet are getting a bit tired."
"Maybe—" Jackie started to say.
We never did learn what sensible Jackie had to contribute because just then Petal said in an urgent whisper, "There it is! There's the shadow!"
We stopped walking and began counting shadows. We counted again.
Petal was right: there was an eleventh shadow!
"It's the same shadow I saw yesterday and today," Petal whispered, still urgently. "And as you can see, it's nothing like my shadow."
It was true. This eleventh shadow had nowhere near the bulk of Petal's bathrobe shadow.
Ten heads swiveled around abruptly. We admit it, we half expected to see no one there, just as Petal said happened every time she tried to catch the person following her. We half expected to learn there was nothing following us but a mysterious shadow, which would have been scary in its own way.
How funny, then, to turn around and see...
"A boy? " Annie said.
There was a boy behind us, and no one else in sight. Or at least not in sight behind us. The boy had on a bathing suit and sandals. He had brown hair and brown eyes, kind of like us. If we had to say how tall he was, we'd have said he was closest to Georgia in height. In fact, his hair was most similar to Georgia's as well.
The boy was smiling at us.
"Who are you?" Annie demanded.
"George," the boy said, still smiling.
That seemed odd. George ... Georgia...
"Have you been following Petal?" Annie said, still using her demanding voice.
"I might have been," the boy named George said, still smiling, "but not for anything bad." Abruptly, he raised his hand, waved. "See you around!"'
And then he turned and raced away from us down the beach, his body becoming smaller and smaller until it was finally invisible as the orange sun disappeared from the sky.
"Huh," Annie said, hands on hips. "What do you think that was all about?"
"Maybe he has a crush on Petal," Durinda suggested.
Rebecca looked at Petal, snorted. "You cannot be serious."
We
We all craned our necks to peer around Petal.
"Well," Pete said gently, "if another shadow followed you all the way here, it must have escaped fairly quickly and been invisible in the first place, because you're the only one standing in front of us and there's no second shadow behind you."
"Perhaps," Mrs. Pete suggested, just as gently, "you've spent too much time overdressed in the sun, dear?"
"I know what I saw," Petal said, turning in circles to try to catch this imaginary other shadow, "even if none of you see it now and I don't either. What if it's someone dangerous that's following me in the hopes of worming secrets out of me? What if it's Bill Collector or, worse, what if it's finally the ax murderer? What if—"
"We'll all go for a walk with you this time," Annie suggested. "We'll walk with you and we'll keep count of all our shadows as we walk. If someone is following you—or us—we'll catch that person."
We expected Rebecca to say something snide about Annie humoring the loony, but she didn't. We figured that for once Rebecca had seen the wisdom of Annie's ways and recognized the fact that Annie was right: if we didn't do something to humor the loony, and fast, Petal would never stop going on about this.
***
So we walked.
We walked, and walked, and walked.
"We have ten shadows," Annie had announced heartily when we first started walking. But as the day went on, and the walking continued, the heartiness of those announcements waned to something less enthusiastic, like "Yup, still just ten shadows."
"Can we stop for a snack?" Georgia said.
"Is it tomorrow yet?" Rebecca said. "Perhaps this is all just one big nightmare I'm having."
"I don't like to complain," Zinnia said, "but my feet are getting a bit tired."
"Maybe—" Jackie started to say.
We never did learn what sensible Jackie had to contribute because just then Petal said in an urgent whisper, "There it is! There's the shadow!"
We stopped walking and began counting shadows. We counted again.
Petal was right: there was an eleventh shadow!
"It's the same shadow I saw yesterday and today," Petal whispered, still urgently. "And as you can see, it's nothing like my shadow."
It was true. This eleventh shadow had nowhere near the bulk of Petal's bathrobe shadow.
Ten heads swiveled around abruptly. We admit it, we half expected to see no one there, just as Petal said happened every time she tried to catch the person following her. We half expected to learn there was nothing following us but a mysterious shadow, which would have been scary in its own way.
How funny, then, to turn around and see...
"A boy? " Annie said.
There was a boy behind us, and no one else in sight. Or at least not in sight behind us. The boy had on a bathing suit and sandals. He had brown hair and brown eyes, kind of like us. If we had to say how tall he was, we'd have said he was closest to Georgia in height. In fact, his hair was most similar to Georgia's as well.
The boy was smiling at us.
"Who are you?" Annie demanded.
"George," the boy said, still smiling.
That seemed odd. George ... Georgia...
"Have you been following Petal?" Annie said, still using her demanding voice.
"I might have been," the boy named George said, still smiling, "but not for anything bad." Abruptly, he raised his hand, waved. "See you around!"'
And then he turned and raced away from us down the beach, his body becoming smaller and smaller until it was finally invisible as the orange sun disappeared from the sky.
"Huh," Annie said, hands on hips. "What do you think that was all about?"
"Maybe he has a crush on Petal," Durinda suggested.
Rebecca looked at Petal, snorted. "You cannot be serious."
We
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