The African Safari Discovery - Jeff Brown [9]
Africa is almost an island. Its only connection to other land is the tiny Sinai Peninsula in Egypt!
Take a sneak peek at
FLAT STANLEY’S
WORLDWIDE ADVENTURES
Book No. 7
The Flying Chinese
Wonders
The fact that Stanley Lambchop was flat did not mean he enjoyed being treated like a poster.
Stanley trudged back and forth outside the school auditorium with a giant piece of cardboard taped to the front of his body. It read:
THE FLYING CHINESE WONDERS
A CHINESE NEW YEAR PERFORMANCE
FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY
People streamed inside. A beefy boy from Stanley’s class called out, “Look, it’s the poster boy for flat kids!”
Stanley grimaced. He hoped no one else would notice him.
“Well, hello there, Stanley Lambchop!” It was Doctor Dan, whom Stanley had visited just after he was flattened. It wasn’t long ago that he’d woken up to find that his bulletin board had fallen on him in the middle of the night. “Helping out with the big performance, are we? Well, good for you for making positive use of an unusual condition!”
How embarrassing, Stanley thought.
After Doctor Dan left to take his seat, Stanley’s family appeared. “My little star!” squealed his mother, Harriet Lambchop.
Stanley tried to smile as she kissed the edge of his head.
His little brother, Arthur, rolled his eyes. “He’s not even in the show, Mom.”
“Now, Arthur,” Mrs. Lambchop said, “those behind the scenes are just as important as those onstage.”
“And nobody is behind the scenes like our Stanley.” Mr. Lambchop winked. Stanley sighed. He’d always liked being in plays. Now, all anyone wanted him to do was move the sets, because his shape made him hard to see when he crossed the stage.
“I’m not even moving scenery today,” Stanley grumbled.
“Why not?” asked Mr. Lambchop.
“Are you in charge of the giant pandas?” said Mrs. Lambchop hopefully. “They have always been my favorite wonders from China!”
“No.” Stanley pouted. “There aren’t any pandas. The spotlight blew a fuse, so . . ,” He held up a giant flashlight from behind his poster. “I have to hang upside down from the ceiling with this.”
“Hey, Stanley,” called his friend Carlos, who lived next door to the Lambchops. “Don’t break a leg!”
Stanley’s mother chuckled. “He means, ‘Break a leg,’ dear. That’s a common figure of speech in the theater. It means good luck!” Harriet Lambchop took great interest in the proper use of the English language.
“I don’t think so, Mom,” said Arthur. “I think Carlos meant, ‘Don’t fall from the ceiling and break your leg.’”
“Be quiet, Arthur,” huffed Stanley.
Once everyone was seated, Stanley took his place. He hung with his lower body rolled around a bar high over the crowd.
It’s not fair! he thought. Why do I have to save the day any time somebody needs something flat or flexible?
On the one hand, Stanley’s new shape allowed him to do lots of fun and exciting things, like fit between the walls of an Egyptian pyramid and be a cape in a Mexican bullfight. On the other hand, he was often asked to do uncomfortable, humiliating, and boring things that would never be expected of a rounded person. For instance, he had been rolled and tied to the back of a horse in South Dakota and on another trip he had been forced to ride with baggage in the cargo hold of an airplane to Africa.
Stanley didn’t want to hang high in the air holding a heavy flashlight. He didn’t even know what to expect onstage. The performers had arrived only moments before the show was about to begin.
The lights went down. With a sigh, Stanley lifted his flashlight and flicked it on as the curtains squeaked open.
In the center of the bare stage stood a teenage boy and girl. They wore matching red outfits.
“Lucky people of America!” A Chinese man in a tuxedo stepped onto the stage. “All the way from the People’s Republic of China, we bring to you . . . the Flying Chinese Wonders!”
A few people clapped as Stanley moved his spotlight back and forth between the two performers. They bowed slowly.
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