The Other Harold

On the morning that Harold's aunt came over, they made ENOURMOUS chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. They added whipped cream, caramel sauce, and a cherry. The pancakes were too big for their plates, so they set them on the floor to cool.

Harold's mother and father flew down the stairs, hardly bothering to say goodbye. They had a very important day ahead, and they would be very late getting home. Harold's aunt had agreed to watch him. As she raced out the door, Harold's mother reminded his aunt of the rules. "No sweets," she said. "No television, no running, no jumping and no screaming."

"No problem," said Harold's aunt. But she always said no problem when talking to grownups.

When his parents had gone, they turned back to the pancakes. "Hey," said Harold, "this one kind of looks like me."

And it did. They used whipped cream for hair, a cherry for the nose, and clothes for clothes. When they were done, the other Harold looked even more like the real Harold.

"We have to give him a name," said his aunt. They thought and thought, but the only name that made sense was Harold. "We'll call him the other Harold," his aunt said, "just so we don't get confused."

It was almost time for school, so Harold grabbed his book bag and the three of them rode to school on the aunt's llama. When they got to school, Harold quickly placed the other Harold in his seat and slipped out the back of the classroom.

His aunt, who didn't believe in school on Wednesdays, took him to the zoo. They watched the lions and the porpoises and each had a grape snow cone. Back at school, the class had a surprise test on the Peloponnesian War. The other Harold got the second highest score in the class.

After the zoo, Harold and his aunt went to Chinatown for lunch. They ate Chinese food, first with chopsticks and then with their fingers. Back at school, it was lunchtime too. The other Harold sat next to Mary Beth.

Harold and his aunt went to the amusement park. They went on the loop-de-loop roller coaster twenty-seven times. Back at school, the other Harold played goalie for the soccer team and blocked the winning goal.

Harold and his aunt finished up a long day with ice cream cones as big as their heads. Harold got double nutty chocolate fudge royal with sprinkles. His aunt got vanilla. Then they headed back to school, where the other Harold was having his picture taken by the sports photographer of the local paper.

The real Harold came back just in time to join the team. Their coach was taking them out for ice cream. He had a second helping of double nutty chocolate fudge royal with sprinkles.

When he got home, there was a message on his answering machine from Mary Beth. That night, they did their homework together.

Harold's parents arrived home so late that they picked up an early edition of tomorrow's newspaper. Harold's picture had made the front page. Harold's father was so pleased that he tacked it up on the refrigerator.

Finally, at the end of the night, just before bed, Harold and his aunt had a chocolate chip pancake with whipped cream and cherries for dessert.