Thursday
It’s only a few days till the performance, and I still have no idea how we can make this work.
First, nobody took the actual efforts to learn their roles. And Mrs. Norton is sour about it.
During rehearsal, she’s always hinting the lines.
Well, I don’t know how it’s gonna work next Tuesday, if Mrs. Norton has to stay ten meters away from the piano.
Other than that, it’s spreading between us that Mrs. Norton is still creating new scenes and figures.
Yesterday, she decided that a first grader will play Dorothy’s dog: Toto. But today, the boy’s mother came and wanted her son upright, because it’s “shameful” to be on all fours.
Now, we have a dog that’s running on it’s back legs all the time.
But the worst change is that Mrs. Norton composed a song for the TREES. She said that everyone who joined should be “allowed” to sing a song.
So today, we sang the most horrible song of all times for a whole hour.
We are three trees…
Thank god Rodrick wasn’t coming to see this absolute catastrophe. Mrs. Norton said, the performance was going to take place in our hall, and I knew, Rodrick would never give up time for a school performance.
But there are good news today. Towards the end of rehearsal, Andy Kelly stomped over Philip James and lost a corner of a tooth, because he couldn’t support his body with his arms.
The good news is, we’re finally getting armholes in our costumes.
Tuesday
Today was the great performance of “The Wizard of Oz”! Before it started, there were already a few signs showing that this wasn’t gonna go smooth.
I peeked through the curtains to see how many people were coming and who was there in the first row? My brother Rodrick, even with a tie!
It was clear then, that I had to sing, and I had to sing with shame. The performance should’ve started at 8, but there was a delay because Philip James suddenly got stage fright.
At first, you would think that when one only needs to quietly sit on the ground and do absolutely nothing, he could hold it for an introduction’s time. But Philip was sweating a whole lot and had to be carried to his parents finally.
The introduction finally began at half past eight. Just as I said, no one was able to recite their lines, and Mrs. Norton had to run back and forth between the backstage and her piano. The little boy who played Toto needed a stool and a bunch of comic books on the stage, so the part with the dog was totally ruined.
When the forest scene came, I went into position with the other trees. The curtains went up and right this moment I heard Manni yell.
Oh, great. I successfully hid this nickname for five years, and now the whole city knows it. I got about 300 eyes on me.
So I improvised a bit and got it on Andy Kelly.
You lost an apple, “Bubi”.
But the biggest embarrassment was yet to came. When Mrs. Norton played the first note of “We are Three Trees”, my heartbeat suddenly got to my nose.
I looked into the hall and there sat Rodrick with a video camera.
I knew, if Rodrick filmed me when I’m singing, he’s gonna show it to everyone and destroy my life.
I didn’t have a single idea what I should do. And when the first line came, I simply shut my mouth close.
We are three trees…
Everything went by in the blink of an eye. I thought, if I didn’t actually sing, Rodrick would have nothing against me in his hand. But soon, the other trees noticed I wasn’t singing.
Maybe they thought I was somehow foxier than then, so they also quieted down.
We three just stood there and didn’t say a single word. Mrs. Norton thought we forgot the lyrics, because she came under the stage from the piano and sang the rest.
The song only lasted three minutes, but it felt more like thirty. I only wanted the curtains to fall down again and we can quietly stand on stage.
But then I saw Patty Farrell about to go up behind the curtains. If you ignore the blinks, we were three dead trees. And she thought we’ve ruined her hollywood career or something.
But when I saw her standing there, I suddenly realized why I wanted to be a tree in the first place.
Soon, the other trees were also throwing apples at her. I think even Toto joined us.
Someone knocked Patty’s glasses off her nose and one of the lenses broke. After that, Mrs. Norton had to abruptly end the performance, because Patty couldn’t see a thing without her glasses.
When it ended, I went straight home with my family. But she threw it away when we were exiting.
I hope that others in the hall would find the performance just as funny as I have.
Wednesday
The performance definitely did one thing for good: I don’t have to worry about the nickname “Bubi” anymore.
After the fifth session, I saw how they pushed Andy Kelly to the ground. That means, I can finally throw all this behind me.
How’s it going, “Bubi”?
Sunday
After all that in school, I didn’t really have any time to think about the upcoming Christmas. And it’s only ten days away.
I only realized that Christmas is just outside the door when Rodrick sticked his wish list on the fridge.
Rodrick’s wish list
1. new drums
2. new minibus
3. shrunken head
Usually I make a really long wish list for Christmas, but this year, I only wanted a video game called “Twisted Wizard”.
Today, Manni went through the Christmas catalog and marked everything he wanted with a thick red marker. Manni circled every single toy there is in there. He even marked a really expensive thing, I think it was an electric car or something like that.
So I decided to write some advice to him, as an older brother.
I told him that if he circled things that are too expensive, he’s only gonna end up getting sweaters for Christmas. I said, he should choose three or four things that were average-priced, so he could at least get something he actually wanted in the end.
But of course, Manni insisted on marking basically everything. Well then, he’ll have to learn from experiencing.
When I was seven, I only wished for a Barbie Dream House. And it’s totally NOT because I like girl’s toys as Rodrick claimed.
I only found it suitable for all my toy soldiers.
When Mom and Dad saw my wish list, they had a huge fight over it. Dad said he’s never going to buy me a puppet house, but mom found it good for me to “try out” new types of toys.
Believe it or not: it was an actual fight that dad won! Dad said to me that I should make a new list with toys “appropriate” for boys.
But I have my secret weapon for Christmas. My uncle Charlie always buys me stuff I want. So I said to him that I wanted a Barbie Dream House, and he said of course he’s gonna buy it.
But when Charlie surprised me with his present at Christmas, it was NOT what I was hoping for. I think he went to a toy shop and simply bought the first thing he saw under the category “Barbie”.
When you see this picture of me holding a beach Barbie in the hand, you’ll know why.
Dad wasn’t happy when he saw what uncle Charlie gave me. He said, I should either throw it away or sell it.
But I held on to the Barbie. And I’ll admit it, maybe I played with it for once or twice.
So two weeks later, I went to the clinic with a pink Barbie shoe shoved in the nose. And believe me, Rodrick would never forget that moment.
Thursday
Today I went with mom to the church to sort out a present for the christmas tree. The thing with the christmas tree is like a dream come true, where people gift the poor something special.
Mom found a red pullover for our “christmas-tree-guy”.
I wanted to persuade mom into buying something cooler, a TV or a ice cream machine or something.
I mean, your only Christmas present is a wool pullover.
I’m pretty sure the guy’s gonna throw it straight into the trash.
Christmas
This year, about one million gifts were under the tree. But as I went through them, I realised that there were almost none with my name on it.
But Manni totally got on the gravy train. He got EVERYTHING that he marked on the catalog! Not joking. He’s definitely happy that he didn’t listen to me back then.
I found a few things with my name on it, but they were mainly books and socks and so.
I packed my gifts in the corner behind the sofa, because I didn’t want to open them near my dad. Because when someone unpacks a gift, dad always gets up immediately and cleans the paper.
I gave Manni a helicopter and Rodrick a book about rock bands. Rodrick also gifted me a book, but his is obviously not wrapped. The book was “The Best of Little Putzi”. “Little Putzi” is a totally crooked newspaper comic, and Rodrick knows, how much I hate it. I think it’s the fourth Christmas he’s gave me something about it.
Then I surprised mom and dad with their gifts.
The other relatives began arriving. And then uncle Charlie came.
Uncle Charlie had a big rubbish bag full of gifts and mine was the first one that he grabbed out.
The package was just the right size for the “Twisted Wizard” video game. I knew then, that uncle Charlie wasn’t gonna leave me in pain. Mom turned on the camera and I ripped open the present.
But it was only a 20 × 30 cm picture of uncle Charlie.
I didn’t control my reaction there, so mom was kinda sour. I can only say that I’m happy to be a kid, because when I look at the gifts the adults get, I don’t know if I could pretend to be happy.
cosy home
I know EXACTLY where to hang this!
I KNEW you would like it!
So I went up into my room to get a little alone time. A few minutes later, my dad was knocking at the door. He said that there was still a present for me in the garage, and that was because it was too big for wrapping.
And when I went with him into the garage, a brand new barbell set was standing there.
That thing must’ve costed a fortune! I really didn’t want to tell my dad that I don’t have such passion with bodybuilding anymore, since we were finished with wrestling last week. So I simply said: “Thanks.”
Dad was, I’m pretty sure, expecting me to lay on the thing right away and start lifting, but I apologised quickly and went up again.
Three hours later, the relatives were gone.
I sat on the couch, with Manni by my side, playing with his new stuff, and felt rotten. Then, mom came and said she found a gift with my name on it behind the piano: “From Santa”
The packaging was too big for the video game, but mom already used the trick with the too-big package last year when she bought me a memory card for my game console.
So I ripped open the package and took out my present. But this time it wasn’t “Twisted Wizard” either. It was an ugly red pullover.
At first I thought that mom wanted to prank me, because we gave our “Christmas-tree-guy” the exact same thing.
But mom seemed to be confused also. She said, she ACTUALLY bought the game for me, and has no idea why I got a sweater.
Then I realized. I told mom that there had had to be a mix-up somewhere. I got the gift for the “Christmas-tree-guy” and he got mine.
Mom said, she used the same wrapping paper for both packages and maybe put the wrong name on them.
But then mom said that it’s still great because the guy would definitely be happy about the gift.
It’s a Christmas wonder!
I had to explain to her that you needed a game console and a TV to play “Twisted Wizard”, which meant he couldn’t play it even if he got it.
Even though my Christmas didn’t go great, it’s definitely more horrible for the guy.
Then I kinda lost interest in this year’s Christmas and decided to go to Rupert’s.
I forgot to buy Rupert a present, so i just put a bow on the “Little Putzi” book that Rodrick gave me.
it worked perfectly.
Rupert’s parents had a lot of money, so they always gave out great presents.
But Rupert said, he found a gift by himself for me this year. So he went out with me to show me.
For some reason, I thought he was gonna buy me a TV or a motorcycle or something.
Just like every other time, my hopes were way too high.
Rupert buy me a tricycle. It was a really cool gift, but now, I have absolutely no idea of what I should do with it.
But Rupert was so excited, so I tried to pretend.
We went in again, so Rupert could show me what gifts he got.
He definitely got more than me. He even got the “Twisted Wizard” video game, so I could at least come here and play. At least before his dad notices how brutal the game is.
And I’m telling you, I haven’t seen anyone get so lucky as Rupert with his “Little Putzi” book. His mom said, it was the only thing he didn’t get on his wish list.
At least SOMEONE got one thing they wanted.
It’s a Christmas wonder!
Silvester
Just in case you’re wondering, why I’m sitting in my room at 9 o’clock on Silvester, I’ll explain it now.
Earlier I and Manni were in the basement. I found a small black object on the carpet and he said it’s a spinner.
Then I grabbed the spinner over his head and acted as if I was gonna force him to eat it.
When I wanted to let Manni away, he pushed my arm and I let the thing fall. And can you guess what happened next? He swallowed it!
Yeah, then he totally freaked out. He ran up to find mom, and I knew it, now I’m definitely dead.
Manni told mom I threatened him to eat the spinner. I told her it wasn’t a spinner and just lint.
Mom let Manni to the kitchen table. There she put out a seed, a raisin and a grape on a plate and said, that Manni should show her how big the lint was.
Manni stared at the plate for a bit.
Then he went to the fridge and took out an orange.
yeah, then she sent me back to my room at 19 o’clock, instead of letting me watch the Silvester shows downstairs.
And my only wish for next year, is to not play with Manni.