Charlie Moore Detective

The snowflakes are falling down like pieces of cotton.  They are falling slowly to the ground. It’s the perfect day to play outside and get wet.  I grab my nice pants and parka for skiing, I slip on my favourite pair of socks and rubber boots, grab the touque and gloves and ask Betty if she is in the mood to play with snow.  “I am not in the mood Charlie, ask Harold.  He likes to play outside when it’s cold and wet.  I prefer the warm.” Betty is not the type of spider that likes snow, she usually stays at home when I go skiing with my parents.

It’s a little late in the day and it won't be long until my Dad gets home.  Mom is cooking, as usual for this time of day. “Mom, I’m going out to play with Harold.” “Don’t be late and stay around here, Charlie. Dad will be home shortly for dinner.”  I’m running to the front door and Harold is chasing me.  We slam the door and run into the snow, sliding and jumping. It’s getting dark but with the huge white cotton flakes it doesn’t look too dark.  The street lights are giving off a yellow shine.  The sweet smell of cedar is flowing through the cool night air.

Jeremy and Jack who live across the street are also out making snowballs, and when they see us they start throwing snowballs at us. We avoid them by jutting from one side to the other.  I don’t like to fight.  I also don’t like to get hit by snowballs.  We run down the street, to where Margaret lives.  She’s out playing with the snow and a red plastic shovel. “Hi Margaret, what are you doing?” “Playing with the snow, I am making a castle for a princess.  Do you want to help me, Charlie Moore?” I look at Harold and ask him what he prefers to do, play with Margaret or get into a fight with the guys across the street. “I’d rather play with Margaret than fight with those kids. I would, however, like to go for a walk to the park and back.  Ask Margaret if she wants to come with us.” I’ve always liked how Harold talks, he is such a young pup yet he speaks to me like a grown up with a pipe in his mouth and a book in his hand.

“Harold would like to go to the park. Would you like to come with us?” “How do you know that Harold wants to do that?” she asks, as she gives me dirty looks with her hands crossed over her chest, typical, coming from her. Margaret is in my class.  She likes the desk in the front and she’s always lifting her hand to speak in class.  I sit in the middle-left hand side of the classroom, close to the windows to watch what’s going on outside.

“He just told me! So do you?”  She drops the shovel and crosses her arms and comes along with us.  We’re walking slowly over the slippery white carpet. “Now Charlie Moore, tell me how is it that you know what Harold wants.” I look at her proud of myself as Harold whispers “Charlie, watch out what you say to her.”

“I can talk to Harold,” I say, “Betty, my spider friend, told me that I could.” “Betty...? A spider friend of yours...? Come on Charlie Moore, have you been watching too much television?” I nodded, tilting my head sideways, like admitting something bad. “I can talk to Harold,” I repeat in a very quiet voice.

“Charlie, there's a man going into the Wood’s house,” Harold said.  I turned to look across the street.  Mr. and Mrs. Wood are a nice older couple that live on the other side of the street.  Sometimes they give me cookies that Mrs. Wood has baked, and they like to talk to me and give me small jobs and pay me with five dollar bills. They have gone to see their daughter for a couple of weeks, she lives in another town that I can’t remember the name. I saw the backyard door closing behind a shadow. “Margaret, somebody's going in the house across the street, we better go to check, are you coming?”

Margaret looked at me with a face like she couldn't believe it. “Come on Margaret, come with us,” I shout while crossing the street running. “Don’t make any noise Charlie,” Harold says. There were foot prints in the snow towards the Wood’s backyard door. I noticed Margaret following us at a safe distance. Walking with knees bent, so that we are closer to the ground, hidden, we reach the door.  It is  slightly open, enough for us to slide in.  Harold is in front of me, looking around with his ears pointed up. A noise of broking glass comes from the kitchen.  Harold turns to me, “Go for help, someone has broken into the house, I will start barking while you get some help, quickly Charlie, make lots of noise!”  Harold turns to the kitchen door and starts barking.

“Help! Help!" I shout at the top of my lungs.  "Someone is in the Wood’s house!”  Margaret jumps back, scared. “Go to tell your Mom," I command her, "someone has broken into the Wood’s home.  Call the police!” I run to the neighbour’s home and start knocking at the door and ringing the bell, Mr. Chang opens the door. “Mr. Chang, someone is breaking into the Wood’s house, I need help, call the police!” I say, having troubles breathing because of the excitement.  Margaret is at her house talking to her Mom and John Fraser.  Her dad is taking long steps towards the Wood’s.  Mr. Fraser is a pretty scary man, big, very big, I have always been a little afraid of him.

As soon as Mr. Chang sees Mr. Fraser walking towards the Wood’s house, he starts going there too.  Bridgett, her daughter who is also in our class comes out and watches from her door. Harold is still barking at the back of the house.  I run to Mr. Fraser who is reaching the Wood’s entrance.  “He is at the back,” I shout and run to the backyard door. Mr. Fraser runs behind me along with Mr. Chang.  Harold is tired of barking and barking at the door. Mr. Fraser passes me and goes into the Wood’s kitchen, turns the light on at the same time as  Mr. Chang is getting into the kitchen. I pick Harold up in my arms, “Thanks Charlie, I am so tired of barking and I'm cold.” He rubs his face in my chest.

A few minutes later Mr. Fraser drags a scruffy looking guy into the kitchen by his neck.  The scruffy guy looks shaken up and afraid.   “Look what I got here Charlie!” exclaims Mr. Fraser, looking at the scared burglar with his ogre.  “This one will never step foot in this neighbourhood again!” he shouts in the man’s ear.   Hearing that shout, Harold and I are scared too!  As we walk out to the backyard the blue lights of the police car shine over the fence.  A big policeman shows up in the backyard, takes the burglar and puts handcuffs on him.   They start talking amongst themselves, grown up things.  I ask  Mr. Fraser to fix the broken glass in the kitchen door.  He gives me the spooky looks and I run away home.

Running in the front door, I grab a towel from the basket beside the door and start drying Harold, “Mom! Mom! You have no idea what happened across the street, Harold saw a burglar breaking into the Wood’s house.  Mr. Fraser got him and the police are there now!”  Harold is dry now so I start taking off my ski clothes.  Ding...Dong...the doorbell rings.  I open the door and the big policeman is standing there. “Are you Charlie Moore?” he asks.

 “Yes I am and who are you?” I reply.

 “I'm Constable Prett.  I want you to tell me what happened at the Wood’s house tonight” he continued.

“Well...” I started, “I was walking with Harold and Margaret to the park when Harold told me that someone was going into the Wood’s backyard...”

“Who is Harold?” asked the Constable.

“Harold is my dog, Haaarold...” I called Harold to come.

“Nice dog,” the Constable said passing his huge hand over Harold’s head.

“OK, so Harold noticed someone going into the Wood’s house and you picked up on that?”

“No, he just told me that someone was going into the backyard of the Wood’s house.”

“Haaaaa...I get it, your dog can talk, is that right?”

“Exactly, he talks to me, can you hear him?” he gave me that grown up look that I see so often, how come they don’t get it. 

"Yes I can talk to Harold and almost all of the animals around," I added.

Mom was standing behind me and said to the Constable, “Charlie talks to Harold, do you understand?”

What a name, by the way, “Constable”.  I want to be a Constable when I grow up.  “Charlie talks to Harold, do you understand?” she repeated.  I knew they thought that they were talking in a grown up language that I didn't understand, wuuaa!  I get it and I understand that they have no imagination!

Charlie Downtown

It was Saturday after lunch when my parents took me downtown to look for a new place to live.   

“We are going to see open houses,” they told me.

 That's strange, I thought, open houses?  What does that mean?  The doors are open?  Houses can’t be open... what is this idea, open to what?  I don't always ask many questions, my dad gets upset really fast and I don’t like that.  I didn’t want to move, I was happy where I lived.  After a boring drive we arrived downtown.  It was horrible, full of tall buildings and people walking fast from one side to the other. Nothing nice about it, nothing like our neighbourhood.

Why did my parents want to live downtown?  It was a mystery to me.  I got my courage and asked, “Why do we want to live here? It doesn’t look nice to me.  Where am I going to play?  There is only super tall buildings and no yards at all!”  My dad was pulling me by the hand, he turned to me a little bothered and said, “You are growing fast and soon you would not like to pay in the yard, you are going to hang out with your friends and such, besides there is a nice park a couple of blocks that way for you to go with Harold and play ball,” giving me a not nice look.  We were walking really fast and I was having trouble keeping up.

We stopped at a huge building and after some ringing on the wall telephone we got in. I didn’t like the ride in the elevator. It was my first ride in an elevator.  It looked quite shiny and when the doors closed, I felt like I was trapped in a space shuttle. The smell of the elevator was new to me.  How can I describe this?  Metal, rubber and I don’t know what else, definitely elevator smells that worked perfectly with the sensation of the ride.  I felt climbing but couldn't see anything moving, it was a weird sensation.  I felt like I was going to throw up so I slipped my hand in my pocket and touched Betty, who was coming along.  As soon as I touched her fur, I felt relieved.  Betty wouldn't allow anything bad happening to me. The feeling changed suddenly, I felt light and then the elevator stopped.  The door opened silently and I walked out comforted.

We walked through a hallway to one of the doors, interesting, I thought, so many doors.  What are they all for?  My dad let my hand go and knocked on one of the doors.  The door opened and a loud man's voice that talked like a woman greeted us, I was pushed in first and ordered to take off my shoes.  I sat on the floor while my Mom and Dad were walking into the apartment leaving me at the entrance.  Will was the name of the man.  Mom told me that he was the agent.  I wondered what kind of agent he was, like a secret agent maybe?  The agent was wearing black from head to toe, and he looked like a vampire, with that long black coat and red scarf.  He was talking and talking, quite loud, showing this and that to my parents who looked speechless.  I took Betty out of my pocket to show her around, she had not had much fresh air since we left home.

I was very careful to hide Betty from my parents, especially Dad, they get aggravated when they see her. I went skating on the soft, smooth wooden floor of the apartment.  My warm wool socks were perfect for that, it was a good feeling, like skating.  Sometimes my parents would take me skating. I love skating, it is so much fun to go around and around as fast as I can.  Mom and Dad are the best in the world they can skate backwards, they hold hands and dance while going around the ice.  I follow them around and copy what they do.  Skating and skating I ended up in the living room where Will was showing every detail of the place and talking about how good the place was.  Boring, it’s just a boring place, cold, and no garden to play in.   I skated over to the window and Woooow!   Spooky, I was high up, I had never been that high in my life.  I stepped back fast, scared at first and then when I my heart slowed down I crept back to the window.  Wow! It was cool to look out from up here.  Everything looked so different.  I couldn’t wait to show Betty the view.  I took her out of my pocket and put her on the window sill. Betty had her eyes wide open, “this is high,” she said.  Will was talking and talking and moving his arms and hands like my Mom does, he was behind me with his loud funny voice and all of the sudden I heard him screaming, “Ayyyyyyyyy!” I turned around and saw Will grabbing his coat with both hands and putting it over his face.  He looked terrified!  He had seen Betty, who at the sound of the scream jumped up onto my shoulder. “Ayyyyyyy! A monster spider is on your son's shoulder!” he shouted as he ran away.  Both of my parents were astonished with the scene.  Backing up to the living room wall, they looked perplexed.

I was frightened by all the commotion.  I looked around to find the danger and Betty quickly climbed back into my pocket.  I looked at my parents whose faces had changed from surprise to anger. They tried to calm Will by filling him with apologies and nothing to worry abouts.  Will looked to be in disbelief. I quickly put my shoes back on and walked to the elevator.  Dad gave me the looks and Mom told me that I wasn't supposed to bring Betty.  I failed one more time to explain to them that I brought Betty for my protection.

We walked a few blocks and then stopped at another building.  I was getting used to the scenery. We climbed into an elevator again, this one was different.  It had nice shiny wood and golden trim, wow rich people must live here, they even have gold in the elevators! The smell was also different, a mixed smell of cigars, magazines and nice cologne, like the one my Dad’s boss wears. The ride up was pretty much the same, uncomfortable, my stomach was not feeling great. The hallways in this building were much wider and elegant, for sure only rich people lived here.  I will tell my friends that we are rich.

This time a woman agent opened the door, all of these agents must be rich too.  They dress so nicely and wear so much jewellery, they smell good and they are so friendly. She put her hands on my shoulders and said, “What a nice boy you are. You must be 8? Do you like toys? Come with me," she said, directing me down the hall without giving me time to answer.  My parents followed.  It was heaven, a room full of toys.  I looked around, I couldn’t believe it.  I grabbed a Tonka truck and started playing. “Keep Betty in your pocket,” whispered Mom, giving me a rub on the head. There was an airplane, a helicopter, baseball gloves...I wanted this place.  I couldn’t resist showing Betty this place, I looked over my shoulder, nobody around so I reached into my pocket for Betty.  We had a wonderful time in this place, checking this and that, I couldn’t decide what to play with, and I needed more like a week here. “Charlie Moore,” I heard my Mom call, “we are leaving, hurry up hun.” “Are we going to buy this place Dad? This place I like, it's the best”  The agent looked happy, and so did Mom and Dad. They thanked the woman agent and we left for another ride in the elevator.

“Are we buying this one Dad? Because I like it a lot!” I exclaimed.  Mom gave me that sweet look, “We are just looking hun.” I love my Mom, I held her soft hand. Everything here was much the same, a thought crossed my mind, what would happen if I got lost here? I wouldn’t know how to get home. We kept on walking, I was feeling tired and dizzy. After a few blocks we went into another building.  There was a bunch of people waiting for the elevator. One more time we jumped in. The elevator stopped and some people went down, I looked around to find Mom and my heart jumped in my chest.  Mom and Dad were not in the elevator. I stayed in the elevator until everybody got out, I wasn't afraid. The elevator went down on its own and at the first floor I got out.

I looked around for my parents, I still couldn't see them. How do I get home now? Nobody seemed to care that I was lost, people were walking all around me, not like at home where everybody knows me and asks me what I am doing.  Different!  I reached into my pocket and told Betty that we were lost.  “Nothing to worry about Charlie,” she said, “I know how to get there but it would be better if we find your parents first, they must be missing you.” It didn’t cross my mind that my parents would be missing me, I thought that they were only interested in looking at apartments.  Oh well, Betty must be right, let’s get back into the building and wait for them in the lobby.

I pushed the door and it didn’t open. I couldn't reach the enter phone, I was too short and I didn’t know the buzzer number. I looked around waiting for a miracle and there, the door made that electric noise and a man went in and so did I.  I followed him into the elevator. “Which floor are you going to young man?” he asked.  “I don’t know, I came with my Mom and Dad, they want to buy an apartment downtown.”  The elevator stopped and the man took me by the hand, “come with me, I’ll help you find your parents.  Let me first take my groceries inside and then I will help you.”  He looked like a nice man so I followed him in.  His apartment was different, it was dark and quiet.  There were piles of books laying everywhere. “Can I use your bathroom?” I asked.  “Of course, make yourself at home, I'll be ready in a minute and then I'll help you find your parents.”  I went to the bathroom, it was big and grey, piles of books there too.  It smelled nice, like books that smell nice.  I came out and the man was still busy in the kitchen.  I went to the living room and looked out the window at the scenery, it was fascinating. “I’m ready,” he said in a soft voice, “do you like to look out the window?”

“My name is Sylvester,” he said, “what is your name?” offering me his huge hand.  “I am Charlie Moore,” I said shaking his hand. “How come you have so many books all over your house?” “I like to read,” he said, grabbing his chin. “I like to read,” he repeated. “What else do you like?” I asked since he looked like a nice person. I sat down on a chair close to the window prepared to listen. “Well,” he said, “I like to write books, I like animals, birds, I like to fly...” “I like to fly too!” I burst out, “do you know I can fly? I can talk to animals too!” he looked at me intrigued. “Are you afraid of spiders?” I asked, “I have one in my pocket and I promise you she will not do anything to you.”  He looked at me with a sweet face and said, “Take it out.”  I got Betty out of my pocket and placed her on top of a pile of books on the coffee table in front of me. “Her name is Betty, she is from the Amazon.” Betty looked Sylvester and said, “he can’t hear me, he's a grown up, but he's a good man Charlie.” Sylvester was not afraid of Betty as most people are. “I always wanted to have a spider friend,” he said.  “Tell me more, how did you meet her?”

Sylvester was interested in Betty and my stories!  He stood up and said, “Charlie, we better look for your parents, they must be worried about you.  Betty jumped up onto my shoulder and crawled into my pocket as she always did. “Can I come to see you again Sylvester? I want to tell you about my adventures.” “For sure, let’s go find your parents,” he said.  We took the elevator down to the lobby, and there they were, Mom and Dad, talking to people nervously.  “Mom, Dad!” I shouted when I saw them and I ran to hug them. It wasn't that I missed them or that I was afraid, it was more for them because they looked afraid.  I grabbed Mom’s hand and said, “This is Sylvester, he's my friend and helped me find you.” Sylvester was standing with a nice smile.  Dad said thanks to Sylvester. “I want to come to see Sylvester again, can I come Mom?” “Of course Charlie,” she said with wet eyes and hugging me as usual.

On the way home, I told my parents that Sylvester was not afraid of Betty.  And also that he couldn't hear Betty speaking, just like them.  I was tired, I fell asleep in the car.

Oh Margaret!

The tires were screeching, blue smoke billowed from below the car as Frank took the corner as fast as he could.  Somebody in a red pickup truck was chasing him and gaining fast.   The black 1972 El Dorado was his baby.  He was wearing white, white suite, white shirt and white shoes.  He always dressed well and looked good!

Frankie was a dealer, since he finished high school and even before that.  As some say, he was selling dope.  He was a nice guy and that was why he did well.  He never got into trouble.  It was surprising that today, he was running away from someone who most likely, wanted to have more than a chat with him.

Frankie was a pretty good driver but in this part of the city he didn’t have much of a chance.  After a few more blocks Frankie realized that he was going nowhere and decided to stop the car to talk to the guy who was chasing him.  He stopped the car and jumped out leaving the door ajar.  The red pickup stopped 100 feet behind, a big guy rolled out carrying a shotgun is his left hand. He must have been 5’9” and 300 lb.  He was wearing a blue logging shirt with jeans and blue sneakers.

“Hands up,” he shouted while pointing the shotgun at Frankie, “come this way.”  Frankie started slowly walking towards the hulking guy.  Frankie had this funny way of walking like swinging the waist to the left.  His blond hair was dancing in the wind while his face was frozen, not afraid but no signs of life, he was staring at the gunman straight in the eyes.

“Do you know who I am?” asked the gunman, when Frankie was 30 feet away.

“No idea, what do you want from me?” returned Frankie.

“I am Margaret’s brother, you punk!” he bellowed jumping on top of Frankie.  He was too fast for Frankie.    Before he knew it, there was a storm of punches.  Soon Frankie’s legs gave way and he ended up on the ground, sore and bloodied from the punishment.

Facing the pavement, Frankie’s white suit was ripped and covered in the blood that was coming out of his mouth and cheeks. 

“Call me Mark,” said the ogre as he pulled Frankie up by the back of his white jacket.   

“I came to visit my little sister Margaret and I found an old address book and around your name there was a red circle.  Somebody called Margaret’s line, the person on the other end said to me that you were the cause of Margaret’s sadness and if I loved my sister I should beat the crap out of you...and that is what I am doing. He told me where to find you,” explained Mark.

“What have you done to my sister asshole?” he demanded, still holding tight to Frankie's jacket and giving him a good shake. Frankie’s face looked perplexed, he didn't understand what was going on.  Frankie moved gently and got loose from Mark.  He sat on the curb, grabbing his face, trying to put all the parts where they belonged.

“You got it all wrong Mark, I don’t know who called you and for what reason.  Margaret is my fiancée and we're getting married in September.  We haven’t had a fight. How come you didn’t ask her?” Frankie reasoned, holding his hurting face.  Mark was standing right in front of him looking down at him. He passed his hand over his head, scratching his scalp for a moment. 

“What are you saying?" he mumbled. He leaned over to Frankie, grabbed his arm and helped him up.

Frankie was dirty, bloody and beat up.  He looked like a windy hot summer day!

“You don’t look like a bad guy,” said Mark as he helped Frankie walk to his car.

 “I didn’t know...I'm taking you to Margaret to check the story. Follow me, I’ll buy flowers for you to give to Margaret.”

“She likes roses,” Frankie said while lowering himself into the car with difficulty. 

“Red roses,” he added.

  They drove slowly to where Margaret worked, she was a clerk at the hardwood store.

Mark got the roses.

“You wait for me here Frankie, I’m going to get Margaret, tidy up," he said with a friendly look.   He passed the roses and a bottle of water to Frankie, and then turned and walked towards the store.  As soon as Mark entered the store, Frankie turned the ignition of the black Cadillac and pushed the throttle all the way.  The tires started screaming, smoke trailed as the heavy Cadillac started rolling faster and faster with ease.

“Catch me if you can moron!” Frankie howled while flying away in his black Cadillac.

Trip in a balloon.

Jesse, Marion and I were wandering in the fields behind Mr. Robertson’s. The gentle slopes were perfect for a Sunday morning walk and enjoying the company of my best friends. The fields were covered in short green vegetation dancing with the breeze’s compass, scattered trees and a bunch of white cotton clouds in the blue sky. The soft wind whispering in our ears and the smell of a fresh day and the tweeting of the birds completed the symphony.

We were talking about school and other light subjects, we were in grade eight, my eyes were delighted when I saw a hot air balloon blown full up not too far from us.  Before we knew it, we were running in that direction, screaming “Balloon!”  We were running with our hands in the air, simulating wings and pretending to fly.  It didn’t take long to get to where the balloon was.

Excitement was all over our faces when we arrived at the open field.  The balloon was light blue with pink, purple and black vertical stripes shapes. My heart was beating quickly from running and from seeing the majestic balloon rising in the air.  Three men were around the balloon, preparing themselves for the trip.  They were wearing leather jackets and leather tuques, like old pilots.  One of them was working the flame, starting and stopping it at regular intervals the others were working on arranging some boxes they had close by.

Slowly we got closer and closer, until they noticed us.  “Hi” we said at the same time, “Where’s you going?” Jesse asked them. The man who was working the flame said “We are going for a raid today, we are going South, the wind will takes us South”. In my mind I was wondering how we could ask them to give us a ride. “How many people can the balloon carry?” I asked.  We were getting close to the basket and we could smell the burned gas and the peculiar mix of hot air and the nylon fabric from the balloon.  As we got even closer, we leaned over the wicker basket, its texture was smooth and hard and it had a woven texture that my fingers wanted to follow.

“How many?” I asked again. “Just three,” the man said in a deep voice. As the balloon was getting more and more hot air, it was wanting to climb. “Kids,” he said “would you like to help us?” we looked at each other smiling “yes” in a chorus. “OK.  Climb in and help me keep the heat going while I help my friends finalize what they are doing, climb in.  And you,” he said looking at me “you pull this rope every one minute”. Before he was even finished talking, we were rushing into the basket and taking our positions.  The man smiled at us and walked over to help his friends.

Without thinking we untied the three ropes that were holding the balloon to the floor and the balloon jumped gently up. I pulled the rope and held it for a while and the balloon pulled us up even faster, the soft breeze was pushing us away slowly from the three men. We were flying.

Permanent Obsession

It has become an obsession to lose weight, and the question is “to be or not to be”. “I am losing weight,” I declared at the beginning of the year.  It seemed to me appropriate to have such a declaration.  It’s something that most of the “fatsos,” how I call on the fat ones, do at this time of the year.  Looks good, nice to say, everyone will accept that.  What can happen if I declare something else…like...I am becoming a writer! People would have looked at me with that weird face.  I don’t want people looking at me with a weird face, I want to first lose weight and second be accepted.  Fits in! Well…I have some challenges.  I like to eat good tasting food and also large quantities of it.  I guess that is because I suffer from anxieties.

Now that is a great word…anxieties!  It’s a great explanation for any deviation from the plan. Why is it that anxiety works well for me?  Well…let me tell you that the word anxiety might not be the right one to use.  I looked it up in the dictionary and to my surprise anxiety means, “distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune” which does not fit into my psychological profile and I don’t like it.  As I’m writing these words I am getting a little preoccupied, I’m not going to look at the meaning of  “psychological profile” in the dictionary, I might get a definition that I am not willing to live with.

But…coming back to my…lack of determination, to avoid the word anxiety, and I wonder, “how many people use the words without knowing what they mean?”

Stay focused Ernesto Salvador, I tell myself.  That, and only that, is the reason that you don’t lose weight and that you can’t follow your word.  Nobody does, however, that is no excuse for me not doing what I said, besides, I want to. That is the reason why! 

That might be the most powerful tool to get things done.  No covering one eye!!  Let’s go back to the reason why should I lose weight?  I will start with “looking good.”   That is just conceit but, oh well...I like myself!  Do I have to admit that publicly?  It might not look good to others that I feel better than them, but…I don’t care that much!  The second reason is to have good health.  In this department the heart is the king.  Today I bought a bottle of Omega 3.  My doctor recommended it to me a year ago.  My excuse is that I have not been in the store for a while, and if I have been in, I have forgotten or…mmmmm…indeed…the same thing over and over again.

Persistence, commitment…uyyy…what words!  Hearing the word commitment makes my body gets goose bumps.  Ah perseverance and persistence, the “p” words, as above.  In Spanish we call it “fuerza de voluntad”.  That, in fact sounds much better to me than “will power”.  “Will power” sounds like a country song from Albert Hammond!

OK, OK, back to the point.  I gathered that from the amount of explanations and the running away from the subject that I’m not going to loose weight and that’s looks like a fact.  I love eating and indulging!  Indulging is an awesome word alright!  It makes me feel great, at that moment.  How many times have I heard to people saying that you must live in the moment, the present!  There…great explanation.  I’ll live in the present and... be fat in the future!

My name is Charlie Moore

For most of the grownups readers I am Charlie Moore, and my parents are Alice and Peter Moore, and I live at 371 Villeneuve.

I have superpowers, I become invisible, I fly and I can talk to animals. I am 6 1/2 years old, and my best friends are Harold and Betty.  I go to the school were my Mom is a teacher. I have few friends that I see at school and sometimes at the park. Check my picture!

Most of the times I am at home, having adventures with Harold and Betty and sometimes Mom and Dad.  My house is pretty big and what I like the most in my house is the backyard, its big and has lots of bushes were we play.  I have a fort made with Dad’s old camping tarp and wooden boxes that I found kicking around. I pretend that I am being attacked by aliens and me Harold and Betty save the fort from the bad guys.

I am going to explain   to you how is it that I got these superpowers and perhaps, if you want to, you can get them too. I have always wanted to have a real friend, you know? The kind that is there for you when you need them, the one that you can help when they need you… that is how I got the power of talking to animals.  I just wanted too hard to have such friends and the guys at school have other interests sometimes, they are nice to me and other times they are really bad, they make fun of me and they hit me.  I just wanted to have friends that they were going to be on my side all the time.  Betty was the first friend I got, she started talking to me and now we are inseparable.  She told me that was fine to talk to Harold and Harold is now my best friend too.

When I went to bed the other night, Betty was on the window. I opened the window and brought her in.  She was crying, a little lonely and cold so I put her underneath the covers and have her sleep with me.  She told me that she missed her family and that she would like very much go for a visit. There… that is how I learned how to fly.  I needed to take Betty over to her family and I didn’t think any better idea than to take her flying.  That night I dream about flying and the next morning we looked in the map to find out where we were going, I put Betty in my Jacket pocket and flew over to her place. It was the Amazon, quite hot and humid and lots and lots of trees, the smell was very particular, fresh and humid, clean air.  The jungle had so much noise, all of the animals talking and screaming at the same time, worst than when my parents take me downtown. 

Everybody at Betty’s was friendly and they offered me all kinds of strange food.  They were so nice that I couldn’t refuse and I tried. Some of them good and some very bad but I try them all to be nice. Betty was busy talking to her family and telling them all about home, she was eating and eating and running from one side to the other. She came to me and told me that it was time to go home and that she was so happy.  I put her again in my Jacket pocket and said good bye to everyone and flew back home.  When we arrived, Mom was looking for me as always, as I enter into the family room she asked me a little angry “where have you been”.  “Brazil” I said proud to her and showed her on the map.  “I took Betty home she wanted to see her family.”  “Betty?” She said looking at me with that face that she has when she does not understand with her arms like expecting a miracle to happen… Yes “Mom, you don’t know Betty, she is my best friend” as I was reaching Betty from my Pocket. “Charlie!!” She screamed… “that is a tarantula!!” her eyes were as round as a full moon and her face was not sweet any more, I know I had to calm her down.

“Mother” I said in a low voice pretending to be like one of the grownups… “This is my friend Betty, she protects me from bad guys and she keeps me company when I am alone at home.  “Betty can talk…”  Betty was in the palm of my hand watching Mom and Mom was backing out of the kitchen with an expression of fear. “Nothing to fear Mom, I know Betty now for few Month, and Harold is her friend too.”  My Mother stopped in the hallway, she had one of her hands in her throat. I put Betty on the table and went to hug Mom. “I love you Mom,” I said while I was rubbing my head into her belly, that was my favourite. I can smell her and feel how soft she is, she hugged me back and knelt.  She was looking at my face.

The world of Charlie

Invisible

My head was hurting when I woke up, it was late, unusually late for a Sunday, and I had had nightmares. The house was silent, like a Sunday morning.  My mouth was dry and I needed a glass of cold, sweet creamy milk.  Barefooted, I walked to the kitchen, I felt something strange when I went by the mirror at the end of the hallway.

I just needed that milk in my mouth.  I looked around for Harold and couldn’t see him.  He always comes to say hi when I come into the kitchen.  Not this time.  I opened the fridge, and with both hands took the milk carton out and put it on the table.  Then I hopped onto a chair and climbed to get my favourite yellow glass.  I filled it with milk, carefully, not to make a mess.  Haaa...the milk was just perfect, cold and nice.  My head was still hurting.  The hurting was on top of my right eye, and it was like when you have something stuck. I felt something soft caressing my feet, it was Harold!  “Moning Harold,” I said, “I had nightmares last night and my head hurts a bit this morning...how did you sleep?” Harold looked at me as if he was asking what was going on.  You know, animals know more than humans about things!

“I dreamed that I could make myself invisible Harold,” Harold sat down.  “If I put my fists together and press them really hard while I crouch I will become invisible Harold,” I said while I demonstrated.  Harold’s ears lifted up like when he has seen something and opened big eyes. He jumped back and barked twice. “Shut up, Harold you're gonna wake up Mom and Dad.”  Harold was nervous, he started pacing quickly from one side of the kitchen to the other, then stopped and said, “Charlie...I can’t see you...I know you're there but I can’t see you.”  He barked one more time.

I looked at the mirror and...“Wow Harold,” I howled, “am I still dreaming?”

Harold sat down again and staring at me he said in his low voice, “No Charlie, you are not dreaming.  What are we going to do now?” At the same time I heard noise coming from my parents bedroom. “Uh oh, I’m in trouble," I chimed.  My Mom showed up in the hallway and opened my bedroom door.   She looked around and then kept on coming to the kitchen.  I moved to the side and sat on the couch by the fireplace.

The kitchen had an eating area where we had all of our meals.  There was also a family, it’s very cozy, it’s my favourite room in the house besides my bedroom.  I find it big but my parents are always talking about moving to a larger house, what for! I have everything I want here.  There is a fireplace, a real one and sometimes in the winter when it's cold out we light a fire.  I like the smell of the smoke and the room smells like that all the time.  My Mom is a great cook, the best in the whole world.  When she cooks, the warm smell of the food mixed with the smell of the smoke is my favourite.

I was sitting on the couch when my Mom came into the kitchen, “Charlie, where are you honey,” she called.  “Are you hungry?” I remained quiet, breathing as quietly as possible.  She looked around and couldn't see me.  Harold played along coming to my Mom’s feet and barked twice, wagging his short tail.  Harold is a white little dog, I don’t know how old he is but he likes to play with me most of the time. Harold doesn’t like to chat like Betty, but he is good company.  Mom got her glass and poured milk.  She drank it while looking around trying to find where I was hiding.

Finally, she gave up and went back to her room. I looked at Harold who was looking in my direction.  “Charlie, how do you get visible again?” asked Harold.  “I don’t know but let me try,” I replied.  I pushed my arms back and a little cracking noise came from my back.  Harold jumped, “That’s it you're back Charlie!”  I ran to my parent’s room and jumped on the bed and hugged them. “Charlie,” said Mom, “where were you? I was looking for you.”  "Mom...you won't believe it...I was in the family room sitting on the couch and you couldn’t see me, I was invisible!”  My mother grabbed me, hugged me and said,  “Sweetie you are adorable!”  My Dad was looking at us, over the top of his book.   He mumbled, “Charlie, you sure have lots of imagination, don’t you? Buddy?” Dad rubbed my head with his big rough hands.  He was not like Mom, all sweet and soft with a nice smell.  Nothing smells like Mom, I thought.

The world of Charlie

My Secret Friend

“Hi Charlie,” a voice sounded from behind me. I was lying on my back, “How come you can speak just like me?” I asked her.  “I can speak to anybody that I want to,” Betty said. Charlie sat cross-legged looking interested at Betty. Betty was a spider, a large one, the largest I have ever seen.  Betty was the size of my fist or perhaps even bigger. “Interesting,” I returned, “do you know Harold? My dog?” “Of course,” she laughed, “We have long conversations about you and your parents all the time, we are good friends." “Wow,” I nodded, “very interesting”.

My mom was a teacher at my school, grade three, and my dad worked in an office downtown.  I really didn’t know exactly what he did.  He went to work everyday wearing a dark blue suit and a hard brown suitcase full of pens and interesting stuff. Mom was the best, we walked to school every morning. We often had lunch together in the school yard and she always gave me good advice that I didn't always follow.   It was my first year in elementary school, I was 6 ½.

I like to play outside in the garden most of the time.  I even have a little fort that I made with a plastic tarp and I can be there even when it rains, but not when it rains too much.  I like to imagine that I am in the jungle, in remote places that I have seen in movies and on TV.  Speaking of TV, I don’t watch much of it, well my mom doesn’t encourage it and I have better things to do with my time.  I discovered sliding on my back on top of a rag that I turned over to be able to slide on the floor pushing with my legs.  I find it fascinating to view everything from the floor up, it’s different... but the same.

“I think you are interesting boy,” Betty said, “I have watched you for a long time now, that is why I want to be your friend.” “What kind of spider are you Betty?” I asked, “do you have parents here in the backyard? Do you have brothers and sisters?" "I don’t," she said.” “Unfortunately, no Charlie, I am by myself here.  I was brought in a plane from my home quite some time ago.  I ended up in the house of a man who had me in a glass cage. One day I escaped from the cage.  I ran as fast as I could to find your house and decided to hide in your backyard because it is the one with the most bushes like at home where I come from.”

“That is great,” I said, “now we can be best friends and I can protect you Betty.” “You and Harold will be my best friends at home now...how come Harold doesn’t talk to me Betty?” I asked. “Why don’t we ask him?” Betty said. “Sounds good,” I said, “where do you live? I mean where do you sleep? Do you have a house...like...a safe place to sleep?” I asked her. “In a burrow, that I dug below those bushes there at the back,” she replied, “I go looking for food during the night most of the times.”

“Sometimes at night I climb to your window and see you reading books about insects.  I like the books that you read.  Sometimes I see you going to bed and falling asleep,” Betty said. “I would like to sleep in your bedroom one time with you.” This was getting very interesting I thought.  Now, can I tell mom about Betty? Dad for sure not, he will get mad and perhaps will try to put Betty in a cage again.  That, I would not like at all and making dad change his mind is quite difficult.

Betty was a big spider with lots of hair.  Her fur, if you can say that because I don’t know what you call the hair of a spider, was brown with some orangey stripes. Betty looked like a nice spider, she inspired calmness in me.  We talked for a good hour until my legs got numb. “I have to go now Betty, my legs are hurting. It was nice meeting you and I will call you a bit later and we can play if you are not busy.” Betty agreed and I went in the house.

Harold was sleeping close to my dad’s chair in the family room.  When I came in he looked at me with his friendly face. “Hey Harold,” I said, “I met Betty in the back just now...she told me that you are her friend too!” Harold came to me, wagging his small tail and rubbed his nose on my leg...

Freezing TIme

What an amazing idea, freezing time.  Olivia asked, “Mumma can we freeze time?”  Looking at her with her sting?? face, her little almond blue eyes, almost Chinese, were smiling and her face had a shy expression while playing with her fingers in her lap. Olivia was 8 and she had been growing fast lately.  When kids grow fast some parts of their body and especially their faces grow at different speeds.  They look like a portrait in the works, like somebody was working on it and had to go to do something else for awhile and didn’t quite finish their work.

I have known Olivia since she was two.  She always struck me as a curious kid, sneaky, funny, and advanced for her age.  I would say that she falls into my category of nice.  Her face always tells me that she knows more than we think she does.

She looked at Sherry and asked again, “Mumma, can we freeze time?” Sherry, looking confused, replied, “yeah, I guess.” Olivia retorted quickly, “if we can freeze time can we freeze 7:00 am?” Sherry burst out laughing.  Olivia stared at her, questioning with her expression. “Why would you want to freeze 7:00 am Olivia?” Sherry inquired, getting the gist of the smart question. “If we can freeze 7:00 am we can stay in bed longer in the mornings, we wouldn’t need to get ready to go to school Mumma,” she announced with a smart face, making that grin so characteristic of Olivia.

Olivia still has her sweet tooth??, they are perfect for her face and personality, she has thin blond hair, baby-soft pink skin, a ski-slope nose, rather big for her face but we already discussed that.  She is growing so fast.  Almost no eye brows and a great smile. Her face really portrays her personality, in one word - sting??.

Sherry thought that “freezing time at 7:00 am” was not a bad idea after all and she decided to explore Olivia’s concept a little further.  It was not always that Sherry would further explore Olivia or Samuel’s ideas, there was no time for that.  Between working, cooking, doing laundry, dishes, and cleaning, the day was far too short to spend time elaborating on these kinds of thoughts.  It's tough to be a mother, so much to do and so little time, she always wanted to have time off.   Freezing time would come in handy.

She turned to Olivia who was patiently standing behind her and said, “freezing time at 7:00 am sounds like an awesome idea.  For how long do you think we want to freeze it for?” Sherry asked looking at those sweet blue eyes and stooping to be at eye level with Olivia.  Sherry smiled at Olivia and waited for the answer. Olivia, playing with her hands nervously, said, “for as much as we want Mumma.”  Sherry felt dumb asking such an obvious question. “Well, what would we do in that time?” invited Sherry, keeping the momentum going.

“Well Mumma, we'll stay in bed cuddling for one, you can read to me, we can talk, we can hide under the covers and make a tent.”  She looked at me with her smiling eyes as she was leaning her face sideways, like wanting to get acceptance. “What would you like to do Mumma?” she asked.  Good question Sherry thought, wondering how Olivia had such great questions at this time of the day.   Sherry wondered why she never thought of these questions herself and if she had any creative juices left at all. A not good feeling ran though her body. “What would you like to do Mumma?” she asked again expecting an answer.

“Like you Olivia, I'd like to stay in bed sleeping for while longer and cuddling with you” Sherry responded.  "Don't you want to make a tent under the sheets and play that we are camping in a park Mumma?”  Sherry wondered for a moment, and dug into her memories of when she was as little as Olivia.  She had never thought of freezing time.  "Where did you get the idea of freezing time Olivia?” Sherry asked, caressing her soft hair.  Sherry sat on the bed, bringing Olivia into her arms and sat her on her lap.  It was cozy.

“I don’t know Mumma, it just came to me," Olivia kissed Sherry’s cheek as she said, “I love you Mumma” and stood up and ran to her room.   Sherry smiled and said to herself, "Freezing time is what I need..."