On Saturday, Bean was unfortunately being swallowed by quicksand. First her feet—slurp!—and then her legs—slurp!—and then her middle—slurp! Inch by inch, she was sucked to her doom.
It was a tragic scene.
Nancy came into the living room and unrolled her yoga mat.
Bean struggled for survival.
Nancy held her leg behind her back.
Oh no! The quicksand was up to Bean’s shoulders! It was just a matter of time.
Nancy held her other leg behind her back.
Bean was a goner.
Nancy bent in half until her head touched her knees.
But wait! Where there was life, there was hope! Bean used the last of her strength to leap to freedom.
Good golly, what a leap! The tips of her fingers scraped the edge of a nearby raft. She would be saved, if only she could stretch just a little farther, like this: Eeeeeeep!
Her fingers closed around the life-giving raft. She was saved!
“Get your grubby hands off my yoga mat!” puffed Nancy, upside down.
“Wa-tuh! Wa-tuh!” croaked Bean. Now she was dying of thirst. It was just one thing after another out here in the jungle. “Help muh!” Muh was the same thing as me, only sadder.
“Go away!” Nancy huffed.
Bean groaned.
Nancy fell over. “Bean! That was a perfect downward-dog and you ruined it. Mom! Bean’s driving me bonkers!”
“Stop doing whatever you’re doing, Bean,” called their mom from another room.
“Okay!” yelled Bean. What a good kid she was! She was so good, she decided to help Nancy. “You know, that doesn’t look anything like a dog,” Bean said helpfully. “I think you’re doing it wrong. Here’s a dog.” She got on her hands and knees and panted. “A-yerp! A-yerp, yerp, yerp!”
Nancy fell over again. “STOP MESSING ME UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Bean stopped barking. “I thought yoga was supposed to make you calm.”
“MO-OMM!” bellowed Nancy. She rushed out of the room.
Sheesh. Bean rolled onto Nancy’s yoga mat and lay there. At least someone around here was calm.
“Bean!” There was Bean’s mom. She seemed to be frowning. “If you can’t leave Nancy alone, you’ll have to go outside until she’s done.” She glared some more. “Can you leave Nancy alone?”
A trick question if Bean had ever heard one. “It’s my house, too,” she began.
“Out you go!” said her mom, pointing to the backyard.
“What?” yelped Bean. “I was helping Nancy. And I was here first!”
“Outside, Bean,” said her mother, still pointing.
“You guys are ganging up on me! Two against one! It’s not fair!” huffed Bean.
“Who said life was fair?” asked Bean’s mom.
“Blame it on Bean!” huffed Bean. “That’s the motto of this family!” She thumped down on the back steps. “There I am, lying on the floor, minding my own business, and all of a sudden, Nancy comes in, and bing bang bong, Bean’s a criminal!” Bean turned toward the house and yelled (but not very loud), “Just because she’s older doesn’t make her right!” Then she slapped the step with her hand—ow!—and wished for the millionth time that she wasn’t a little sister.
“Bean! Are you there?” It was Ivy, on the other side of the fence.
“Ivy! Come on in, old buddy, old pal!” yelled Bean. Just in the nick of time! A friend!
Ivy came charging through the gate. “I’ve got it! The cure!”
“For what?” asked Bean.
“For being spoiled! What do you think?” Ivy said.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot,” said Bean.
“Jeez. If you were spoiled, I wouldn’t forget,” said Ivy. “I spent the whole morning working on it. At first, the only thing I could think of was giving you all my toys—”
“Really?” interrupted Bean. “Even the jiggly man?” The jiggly man was Ivy’s best toy. He was a little gummy blue guy that you threw at the wall. He stuck there for a second and then he somersaulted—bloop, bloop, bloop—down the wall, leaving greasy marks where he had been. Bean loved him.
“Sure, the jiggly man!” Ivy said. “Everything!”
“Sounds good,” said Bean. “I’ll take ’em!”
“But then I thought, No, I’d get in trouble if I did that, just like I got in trouble for giving away my clothes.”
“Oh.” Bean was disappointed. “What if you only gave me the jiggly man?”
“No, because then I got a better idea.” Ivy’s eyes were shining. “Remember how Vanessa said that being an only child makes you spoiled? Remember?”
“Yeah,” said Bean slowly, “but I don’t think she’s right about that.”
Ivy ignored her. “So the cure is simple! All I have to do to get unspoiled is stop being an only child! I have to get a sister!”
