IF I NEVER SEE A TOMATO AGAIN …
Kyle’s living room reappeared around them, shimmery at first, as though they were seeing it through a bubble. Then there was a pop! and the world came into focus—along with Kyle, Halley, and Kyle’s baby brother, Gabe. Or Gross Gabe, as Kyle never failed to call him. The light coming in the windows was just the way they’d left it, like all of their time in Verona had been only a few seconds.
“You made it!” Kyle and Becca both said at once.
“Where were you?” Sam and Halley asked together.
“That was crazy,” everyone said in unison.
“Did you get sucked into a book, too?” asked Becca.
“Yes! Where did your magic trap book take you?” Kyle said.
Becca took a deep breath and gave them a brief overview of what had just happened to them.
“Whoa,” Kyle said. “I don’t know if that sounds better or worse than a library full of skulls, an insane king who likes dropping people in soup, and a sad prince in a castle that smells like a pizza-with-everything left under a couch for a year.”
Becca thought both sounded pretty bad. Or pretty exciting, depending on how you looked at it.
“Hey, Roodly Roo!” Halley said, bending down to deliver a flurry of pets to Rufus’s head. “I bet you had a tough time, huh, pups?”
“He’ll probably never eat a tomato again,” Sam said.
Kyle raised an eyebrow.
“We’ll tell you all about it,” Sam added. “In fact, we should definitely, absolutely all sit down and go over whatever just happened in more detail, and maybe figure out what to do next.”
Rufus and Gabe started rolling around together, as if getting sucked into four-hundred-year-old plays was as much part of their daily life as eating breakfast.
“Now that that’s over,” Becca said to Sam, “I can finally return that library book. Then Kyle and I can send in the fee for our contest entry. I hope I get there in time.” Although staying in Hawaii and ditching everyone else forever was no longer part of her plan if they won.
“I can run it to the library for you,” Sam said. “I’m fast.”
“Okay.” Becca nodded. “As long as you promise this won’t involve any water buckets or tomatoes.”
“Ugh,” Sam said. “I bet we both picked up a tomato allergy after all that. Anyway, even if the library’s closed, I … have a key.”
“You what?” Becca said. “Why?”
“Well, sixth grade has a community service requirement, and I thought volunteering at the library might be cool. The librarians have always been super nice to me.” He shrugged. “If my basketball career doesn’t work out, I think I might want to be one when I grow up. Actually, even if my basketball career does work out, I still want to be a librarian.”
Becca smiled and shook her head. “Wow, Sam. Between this and being eaten by a book, I’m not sure what’s surprised me more today. Thanks.”
Still smiling, Becca turned to look at Kyle, who looked like he’d actually enjoyed the conversation he’d had with Halley. The surprises just kept coming.
Becca decided to take charge, like the Narrator would have. “First, let’s pack these books up and ship ’em back. Or bury them. Something.”
Looking around, she spotted Romeo and Juliet lying on the floor a few feet away. She reached out a hand very slowly, brushing a corner of the book and yanking her hand back. When nothing happened, she picked it up. Something caught her eye. “Hey, wait a minute.…”
There was a piece of paper stuck in the book that hadn’t been there before, and she tugged it out.
“Um, does anyone else want to read this?”
Kyle shook his head very fast.
“I’ll do it,” Halley said. Becca only felt relief as she handed her the note.
“Dear Reader,” Halley read, rolling her eyes as she said it, “I hope you enjoyed your first thrilling and educational expedition with the Get Lost Book Club. No doubt you already miss the escape our club can give you from ordinary life. Don’t worry, though. This was just the first of many adventures to come.”
“Oh no,” Kyle said. “Absolutely not. No. I’m never opening one of those old books again.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever open any book again,” Becca said. “What if I got nabbed by a math textbook or a train schedule?”
“I have some great ideas for future Mal & Cal Worthy adventures, though,” Kyle said to Becca.
“Me, too!” she replied. “If we don’t win the Storyland contest this year, we’ll definitely win it next year. But let’s talk about that after we’ve hurled these books into the sun.”
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “I mean, I still want to go to Hawaii eventually, but Hamlet was pretty exciting even though I didn’t leave my living room. Not”—he quickly added—“that I ever want to get lost in a book again!”
“I hope you’ve all been having a good time,” Mrs. Word said, walking into the living room with cinnamon-stained hands. “Wow, Kyle, is that Hamlet?” she said. “I didn’t realize you were studying Shakespeare. You like it?”
Becca saw Kyle and Halley exchange a look.
“Yeah,” Kyle said through what sounded like clenched teeth. “It was gripping.”
“Captivating,” Halley said.
Becca smiled. “One of those stories you feel like you’re right in the middle of.”
“You can almost smell it,” Sam added.
Mrs. Word smiled delightedly. “You three are all welcome to stay for dinner if you’d like. Mr. W. said it’ll be ready soon. He’s got a big pot of tomato soup bubbling.”
Becca’s stomach lurched. She put her hands on her stomach, trying to let it know she wouldn’t subject it to any more Instead-Stix and marinara sauce. But it didn’t help that Kyle was telling Gabe that tomatoes were actually yummy.
“Uh,” Sam said, grabbing his basketball off the carpet. “I’d love to, but I have to … write that essay about, um, carpentry. Becca, you need that library book returned, right? I’ll grab that and run over to the library first. I bid thee—I mean, have a good night!” He made his exit as if he were being pursued by a bear.
“More for the rest of you,” Kyle’s mom said, smiling. “It should be almost ready—” She suddenly stopped talking and blinked once. “What’s that awful smell?”
Dear Reader,
Congratulations: You, too, made it through the perils of the book! You followed Becca, Sam, and the brave Rufus on their strange, perilous, and eye-opening journey through the world of Romeo and Juliet. You, as they did, found out new things, watched other characters change, and maybe started to understand a little more about the world.
As with every journey and every story, some questions are answered at the end, but some remain unanswered. Where did the Narrator hide the stolen cheese and dough recipe? Who is this Ophelia, Romeo’s mysterious long-distance poetry teacher? And what strange adventures did Halley and Kyle have while Becca and Sam were stuck in Verona?
As with most questions, the answers can be found within a book. If you’re brave enough to dive back in. William Shakespeare wrote a great many plays, including one called Hamlet. Kingly treason, ghosts, skulls, tights … Perhaps nothing as dangerous as Romeo’s poetry, but some of it comes close.
There are so many more books to explore. If you want more answers, and more important, if you want to find new questions to ask, that’s the best place to look.
Sincerely,
