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A few seconds later he reached his home (which was next door
to Mrs. Ferguson’s), where he found significantly fewer parents than he was
used to. Doing a thorough search of the entire house, which consisted mostly of
walking to various parts of the living room and yelling “Mommy!” at the top of
his lungs, Grady concluded that he must be home alone. This was a new
experience for the boy, and he struggled to fully comprehend its meaning. When
the full significance of this monumental occasion finally sank in, he did what
any unreasonable six-year-old boy would do, and became a total anarchist. In
five minutes time, he was in the back yard, wearing no pants as he ran through
the spray of the sprinkler, drinking juice from the carton he carried in his
left hand, and biting off chunks of the tube of cookie dough in his right.
Grady experienced a moment of clarity a half our later as he
vomited up orange-scented chunks of half-digested Elfhouse a half hour later,
realizing that it was just such a series of events which made having parents
such a useful thing. He determined to go find them, and went around the house
gathering supplies. He would need mommy’s purse so he could buy stuff, and have
somewhere to put gum wrappers. A flashlight would definitely come in handy, as
would the plunger from the downstairs bathroom. While he was collecting the
plunger, he found a toilet paper roll which would make a perfect telescope, and
another which would make his voice louder when he yelled into it- he’d have to
make sure not to get those mixed up, or he might make his eyes loud by
accident. Fully equipped, he set out on his quest for parental supervision. But
he hadn’t journeyed long before he hit his first roadblock- or rather, his
first road. His mother’s words echoed in his mind, and he turned the corner to
the right rather than stepping out into the street. This happened three more
times before he found himself back at home, still unsupervised. Desperation
came over Grady as he considered his plight, but ever the optimist he decided
to try walking the other direction. After three left turns, things did not look
promising. But as Grady approached the corner which would take him back home, a
serendipitous turn of events occurred- a bus pulled up to the bus stop on the
corner, and it appeared to be there especially for him.
Grady was a very good reader, and he knew his daddy’s first
name was Jack. He also knew that made him Jack’s son, and his mommy had told
him that a ‘nothingville’ was a place where nothing was. That meant this bus
was going to the place where Jack’s son- which was him- was supposed to be. He
ran to the bus with glee and sprinted up the steps. The bus driver gave him a
strange look, but when he produced his mommy’s bus pass from the purse, the man
shrugged and waved him back. Grady didn’t recognize anybody on the bus, and not
wanting to risk death by talking to strangers, he sat by himself in the back.
It was a really long ride, so he did what he always did on long rides and went
to sleep.
When the bus finally reached its destination some three
hours later, a well-rested Grady awoke to find that all the grownups on board
looked really scared. He didn’t know why everyone was so frightened, but he did
know he’d just arrived in Jack’s son ville, and his dad was surely waiting for
him. With a smile on his face and a spring in his step, he bounded to the door
of the bus, eager to see what new awesome things awaited him.