Okay, so now we’re in overtime, and I’m asking you once more: What is this superspecial thing that Lulu is going to buy when she earns enough money?

What Lulu is hoping to buy, what Lulu is planning to buy, what Lulu is GOING to buy is . . . a seat on a spaceship. She wants to be the very first kid in all the entire world to take a journey into outer space.

That’s impossible, right?

Impossible? What do you mean, impossible? Have you forgotten who is writing this story?

But wouldn’t a seat on a spaceship cost at least a million dollars?

No, a seat on a spaceship would cost at least TWENTY-FIVE million dollars. But Lulu convinced the people in charge to take away some zeros so she’ll only have to pay twenty-five hundred dollars.

But if Lulu makes forty dollars a week, and she’s giving half to Fleischman, won’t it take her forever to earn enough money?

Not really. Lulu says that it’s going to take two years and twenty-one weeks of walking the dogs. Which definitely is worth it, she says, to be the very first kid in outer space.

The first kid in outer space: Won’t that be lonely?

Actually, no. Lulu says that as long as he absolutely understands that he’ll just be the SECOND kid in outer space, she is going to save a seat for Fleischman.