by Abby Klein
“Are you crazy?” I said to Josh when Max was gone.
“What do you mean?” asked Josh.
“I’ve never gone down Cherry Hill in my life!” I said. “It’s really steep.”
“So?”
“So tomorrow I won’t be able to race Max, and he’s going to make fun of me in front of everybody and call me a baby like he always does.”
“Why won’t you be able to race Max?”
“I told you. The hill is too steep,” I said. “I’m too afraid to go down it on my sled.”
“Why?” asked Josh.
I pretended to knock on Josh’s head. “Hello? Anybody in there? Are you listening to me? I said I’m afraid.”
“It’s all in your head,” said Josh.
“What?”
“It’s all in your head,” Josh repeated.
“Can you speak English, please?” I said.
“You think you can’t go down that hill, so you won’t even try,” said Josh.
“No, I know I can’t,” I said.
“Exactly,” said Josh. “That’s because you’ve convinced yourself you can’t. When I was first learning to surf, I was just as scared of the waves as you are of Cherry Hill.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Really.”
“What did you do?”
“My dad told me what I’m telling you. He said, ‘It’s all in your head. You have to change your thinking.’ ”
“How do I do that?” I asked.
“You have to tell yourself that the hill isn’t really that scary,” Josh said.
“It is a big hill,” said Robbie.
“And it is scary,” I said.
“The waves were really big, too,” said Josh, “and I was scared, but I just told myself that it probably wasn’t as scary as I thought. My brain was making me think it was worse than it really was.”
“Then what?” said Robbie.
“Then my dad told me to paddle out on my board. He said I had to face my fear, and then I would realize that it wasn’t really so bad.”
“Did you do it?” I asked.
“Yep. I got on my surfboard, and as I was paddling out, I just kept telling myself, The waves are not that scary. I can do this. I can do this.”
“Did talking to yourself work?”
“It did. When I changed my thinking, I felt my fears disappear, and the next thing I knew, I was riding my first wave!”
“Wow! That’s awesome!” I said.
“It was awesome,” said Josh. “After that, I was never afraid of the waves again. My dad was right. It was all in my head.”
“So, Freddy, you have to change your thinking,” said Robbie.
“It’s worth a try,” I said. “I don’t really have a choice. If I don’t race Max tomorrow, he’ll call me a baby for the rest of my life.”
“You can do it, Freddy,” said Josh. “I know you can.”
“You think so?”
“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” asked Josh.
“I’ll hit a huge bump, go flying off my sled, and do a giant face-plant in the snow.”
“That’s the worst?” said Josh.
“That sounds pretty terrible to me,” I said.
“I think it sounds like fun,” said Josh.
“You do?”
“Yeah. Flying down a hill like that, catching some air, and face-planting? I can’t wait!”
“Like I said before, you’re crazy.”
“So you get a little snow in your face.”
“A lot of snow in your face,” I said, “and it’s cold.” I shivered just thinking about it.
“Just brush it off,” said Josh, laughing. “Do you know how much water I’ve swallowed learning to surf?”
“How much?”
“Probably gallons and gallons. It’s all part of learning not to be afraid, and how to take risks. I’m glad my dad didn’t let me chicken out. Surfing is, like, my favorite thing to do, but I would never have learned if my dad let me walk away. I’m not going to let you walk away, either, Freddy.”
“Josh, are you going to be there?” I asked.
“Of course I am,” he said. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“How about you, Robbie?”
“Freddy, you know I’m always there for you,” said Robbie. “Josh and I will be cheering you on.”
“We’ll be screaming, ‘Go, Freddy, go! Go, Freddy, go!’ ” said Josh.
“You really think I can do this?” I said to Josh.
“I know you can,” said Josh. “You’re not a baby. You’re a cool kid.”
I smiled. “You think I’m cool?”
“Yep,” said Josh. “Really cool. Max just thinks he’s cool, but he’s not. You need to stop being so afraid of him.”
“I can’t help it. He’s just so big and mean,” I said.
“It’s all in your head,” Josh repeated. “It’s all in your head.”
“All right,” I said, and gulped. “I’ll do it. I’ll race Max.”
“He’s going to be so surprised, he won’t know what to do,” said Robbie.
“Wait until Freddy wins the race,” said Josh. “Then he really won’t know what to do.”
“I can’t wait to see his face,” said Robbie.
“Me, either,” said Josh. “It’s going to be great!”
I sighed.
“I just have one question, guys,” said Josh.
“What?” Robbie and I said together.
“Where’s Cherry Hill?”
We both laughed.
“It’s on Potter’s Farm.”
“Where’s that?”
We laughed again. “Just meet me at my house at ten o’clock tomorrow morning,” I said to Josh.
“I can’t wait!” said Josh. “My first snow day ever! Woo-hoo!”
“Guess what?” I said that night at dinner.
“You learned how to spell your name today?” said Suzie.
“Oh, ha-ha! You think you’re so funny, but you’re not!”
Suzie grinned.
“What?” asked my dad.
“Do you know Josh has never seen snow? Can you believe it?”
“Never?” said my mom.
“Nope. Never. He said it didn’t snow where he used to live in California.”
“How can you have Christmas without snow?” said Suzie.
“He said that last Christmas he was on the beach, surfing and building sandcastles.”
“So he was wearing a bathing suit, and you were wearing snow pants, boots, mittens, a hat, and a winter coat,” said my mom. “That’s funny.”
“I know,” I said. “Really funny.”
“What did he think when he went out to recess today?” asked my dad.
“He loved the snow,” I told him. “I taught him how to make snow angels.”
“He didn’t think it was too cold?” said my mom.
“No. He was even eating it right out of his gloves.”
“I hope you told him not to eat yellow snow,” said Suzie.
“EEEWWW! That’s gross,” I said. “I’m trying to eat dinner.”
“Well, he’s in for a real treat tomorrow,” said my mom. “I think it’s going to be a snow day.”
“We’re supposed to get about twelve inches tonight,” said my dad. “I’d be surprised if you had school tomorrow.”
I jumped out of my chair to do a happy dance. I sang, “It’s a snow day! It’s a snow day!” While I was dancing, I accidentally knocked over my glass of milk. A stream of milk raced across the table and into Suzie’s lap.
She jumped up. “UGGGHHH! Now look what you’ve done, you big pain! I’m covered in milk.”
I kept singing. “It’s a snow day! It’s a snow day!”
“Freddy,” said my mom, “stop dancing and apologize to your sister.”
“Oh, uh, sorry, Suzie,” I said. “I’m just really excited.”
“Now I have to go change before I can finish eating,” said Suzie. “You
are so annoying.”
Suzie left the room, and my mom said, “Freddy, go get a sponge to clean this up right now. What a mess!”
“It wouldn’t be such a mess if we had a cat or a dog,” I said. “They would just lick it all up.”
“Nice try,” said my dad. “But you know your mother is never going to agree to any pet other than a fish.”
“Now go get a sponge,” my mom said again, “unless you want to lick the milk off the floor.”
I got down on my hands and knees and stuck out my tongue.
“Freddy!” my mom screamed. “I was just joking. Do not lick that milk off the floor.”
I started to laugh. “I was just joking, too, Mom.”
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I was worried there for a minute. Now for the third time, go get a sponge!”
I went over to the sink, got a sponge, and came back to the table.
“Make sure you clean all of it up,” said my mom. “I don’t want Suzie sitting in a sticky chair.”
Just then Suzie came back in the room. “Yeah, you’d better get all of it, Shark Breath. I don’t want to have a sticky butt.”
I wiped up the spill and sat back down.
“Thank you, Freddy, for cleaning that up,” said my mom. “Now what were we talking about?”
“A snow day!” I said.
“Oh yes,” said my mom. “How could I forget? You were doing a snow-day dance when this whole spill happened.”
“So do you two have big plans for tomorrow?” asked my dad.
“Kimberly is going to come over, and we are going to stay inside and make some of those cool new bracelets everyone is wearing,” said Suzie.
“You mean the ones with the colored rubber bands?” my mom said.
“Oh, those are really cool,” I said. “Everyone in my class is wearing them.”
“I know,” said Suzie. “All the kids have them. Kimberly just got one of the kits to make them, so she’s going to bring it over.”
“Will you make one for me?” I asked Suzie.
“Maybe.”
“Come on, Suzie,” said my mom. “You can make one for Freddy.”
“Not if he keeps dumping milk in my lap.”
“That was an accident,” I said.
“Well, if you weren’t jumping around like a weirdo, those accidents wouldn’t happen,” Suzie said.
“How about you, Freddy?” asked my dad. “Do you have any plans?”
“I do,” I said.
“I hope you plan to be outside. I remember when I had snow days as a kid,” said my dad. “My favorite thing to do was to play in all the fresh snow. We’d make snowmen, and have snowball fights, and build snow forts.”
“That’s what I plan on doing,” I said. “Josh and Robbie and I are going to do all of that stuff.”
“Where?” asked my mom.
“On Potter’s Farm.”
“There’s a great sledding hill over there,” said my dad.
“Yeah. Cherry Hill,” said Suzie. “But Freddy will never go sledding there.”
“Why not?” asked my dad.
“Because it’s steep, and he’s too much of a scaredy-cat.”
“I am not,” I said.
“You are, too,” said Suzie.
“Am not!”
“Are, too! Whenever we have a snow day, everyone goes sledding on Cherry Hill except you.”
“Well, I’m definitely going this year,” I said.
“Oh really?” said Suzie.
“Really,” I said.
“Why will this year be any different?” she asked.
“Because of some advice Josh gave me.”
“Josh?” said my mom. “But I thought he hasn’t been sledding before.”
“He hasn’t, but he’s a cool kid, and he gave me some cool advice.”
“I like that attitude,” said my dad.
“Yep. This year I will not chicken out,” I said to my family, and then I whispered it again to myself, “I will not chicken out.”
I woke up early the next morning, jumped out of bed, and ran to my window. Even though it was still dark out, all I could see was snow, snow, snow!
I raced to my parents’ room. They were both sound asleep. My dad was snoring so loud it sounded like an airplane was roaring through their bedroom.
I poked my dad’s shoulder. Nothing. I poked him again. This time a little harder.
“ZZZZZZZZZ.” He snored even louder. I didn’t think that was even possible.
I poked him one more time and yelled, “Hey, Dad, wake up!”
He sat up in bed with a start. “Huh? What? What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
I laughed. “No, nothing’s wrong.”
He squinted at the time on the clock. “Then why are you waking me up at five o’clock in the morning?”
“Because I want to know if it’s a snow day today,” I said.
My mom opened her eyes. “What’s going on? Is something wrong, Freddy?”
“No, nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why are you in here?”
I sighed. “Like I said to Dad, I want to know if it’s a snow day.”
“You couldn’t wait until later to ask us this?” said my dad. “The sun isn’t even up yet.”
“I just want to know,” I said.
“Well, we have no idea,” said my mom. “We haven’t checked the school closings on the news channel.”
“Can you check it now?” I asked impatiently.
“If we do, will you let us go back to sleep?” asked my dad.
“Yes. You can sleep as long as you want!” I said.
My dad grabbed the remote and turned on the television. I sat down on my parents’ bed.
“Do you see it? Do you see it?” I asked, bouncing up and down on the bed.
“Freddy, calm down,” said my mom. “Stop bouncing. We have to get to the right channel first.”
“But I’m just so excited,” I said.
My dad changed the channel, and a list of school closings was scrolling across the screen.
“Is Lincoln Elementary on that list?”
“I’m looking,” said my dad.
It seemed like it was taking forever.
“Oh, there it is,” said my mom. “Lincoln Elementary is closed today.”
“Woo-hoo!” I shouted. I hopped up and started jumping up and down on the bed. “It’s a snow day! It’s a snow day!”
“Freddy!” said my mom. “Get down right now. You know you’re not supposed to jump on the beds.”
“Sorry, Mom. I just got carried away.” I bounced off the bed.
“Why don’t you go back to sleep,” said my mom.
“Are you kidding? I can’t sleep now.”
“Well, we can,” said my dad. “You promised you’d let us go back to sleep once we got you the information.”
“Okeydokey,” I said, walking out of the room. “I’m going.”
I went back to my room, sat down on my bed, and looked at the clock. It said 5:15. I had to wait almost five hours before Josh and Robbie came over. I didn’t know if I could wait that long.
I decided to look for all of my snow gear just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
I bounded down the stairs to the mudroom. I found my snow pants, my boots, my shark hat, my shark mittens, and my coat. Something was missing. What was it?
Oh yes! My long underwear and my neck gaiter.
I raced back upstairs to my room and opened all my dresser drawers. I dug through every drawer. I found my neck gaiter mixed in with my bathing suits, but I couldn’t find my long underwear.
I sat down on my bed and hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Think, think, think,” I whispered to myself.
Maybe Mom put it in Suzie’s room by accident, I thought.
I ran into Suzie’s room and started going through her drawers. I was trying to be quiet, but Suzie woke up.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
“Looking for something.”
“Why are you in my room?”
“Because I think it might be in here.”
“Why would something of yours be in my room?” Suzie asked.
“Maybe Mom put it in here by accident.”
“What are you looking for?”
“My long underwear.”
“Long underwear?” said Suzie. “Unless you want pink underwear with flowers on it, you’re not going to find any long underwear in here.”
“I just have to be sure.”
“Well, I’m sure,” said Suzie. “It’s not in here.”
I ignored her and started throwing things out of her drawer. A pair of purple undies hit her in the face.
“That’s it!” Suzie yelled. “Get out! Get out right now!”
“But —” I started to say.
“O-U-T, out!” Suzie shouted, pushing me out the door. She slammed the door behind me.
Where else could I look? I couldn’t go back into my parents’ room and ask my mom. I promised her that I would let them sleep.
I guessed there was nothing else to do but wait.
If only I could make time fly.
Time moved slower than a snail, but at last it was ten o’clock.
My mom had found my long underwear, so I was all dressed and ready to go.
“Freddy,” said my mom, “why don’t you take off your coat until your friends come? You must be sweating like crazy.”
“That’s okay, Mom. They’ll be here any minute, and I don’t want to waste any time getting out the door.”
Suzie walked into the room. “Is Kimberly here yet?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “She came two hours ago, but I forgot to tell you.”
“You think you’re so funny,” said Suzie. “Don’t you?”
Just then the doorbell rang.
Suzie reached for the door, but I jumped in front of her and grabbed the handle to open it.
Robbie and his sister, Kimberly, had picked up Josh on their way over.
“Hi, guys!” I said.
Kimberly stepped inside, and I joined my friends outside.
“You guys ready to go?” I asked.
“You bet!” said Robbie.
“I’ve been ready since six o’clock,” said Josh.
I laughed. “I got up at five this morning!”
