My Cardboard Balcony

Mint, Coconut, and Peanut Butter by Belinda Roddie A Girl Scout came to my house one day and sweetly rang the bell. As soon as I spotted the green sash, the knee-high socks, and the adorable little beret, I was off my couch in a flash, leaving the Mario Party game I was sharing with my friends behind. I opened the door to hear the nine-to-ten-year-old girl ask, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies. Would you. Like to. Buy. Cookies. Great. Cookies. Cook-aaaaaaaaays. I blinked once. Then twice. Then folded my arms across my purple flannel, slightly salsa-stained shirt, eyeing the noble little cookie trooper cautiously as she hovered in anticipation on my porch, the obligatory red wagon squeaking beneath the weight of her treasure - countless neon boxes of mint, coconut, and peanut butter goodness that waited to be torn into and emptied in about a half hour. And I, very calmly, not accusat

"For my next parlor trick," the little magician enunciated, "I will make all your homework disappear!" "Oh, please don't do that," grumbled Patrick. "Missus Reynolds would kill me." But Matthew was eager to volunteer, if only because he was behind a week in terms of book reports, math assignments, and creative writing prompts. The juvenile trickster was eager to take on the enormous stack of paper.