Page 6 - Spider Magazine for Kids (January 2020)
P. 6

we’ll all have bad luck all year long.”


                      “What’s the First Footer?”

                 Rudyard asked, really ready to duel


                 but not wanting any bad luck.

                      “The Lucky Bird, same thing,”

                 Pearl chirped, her double chins


                 waggling. “It’s the tall, dark-haired

                 stranger who must appear at your


                 front door on New Year’s Day before

                 anyone can leave. The First Footer


                 brings good luck for the whole year!”

                      Punky whined like a pig himself,

                 but Dandelion secretly signaled the


                 other kids with a slight nod toward

                 the kitchen.

                      “Teatime while we wait?” she


                 suggested primly.

                      Catching her drift, the boys


                 eagerly followed Dandelion toward

                 the kitchen, expecting to sneak


                 out the back way. But immediately

                 Charles leapt up and sped off, his

                 lumbering bulk beating them there.                                     “OK, here’s the plan . . .” Dandelion


                 He planted himself like a gigantic                                said, the wheels in her head turning.

                 pork sausage against the back door.                               The kids gathered in an excited,


                 No one was getting out.                                           whispery huddle, and she explained

                      “Charles is such a pig!” Doodlebug                           her idea. Then she grabbed a trench


                 fumed. “We gotta escape this prison!”                             coat and a fedora from the back coat
                                                      My tradition is I wear my special
                                                    New Year’s  hat, tied up priml —in a            I wear my
                           Everybuggy gets                proper way— with a bow.               sparkly bow tie.        I gots me a snazzy
                           all dressed up.
                                                                                                                      fedora—this felt hat
                                                                                                                         with a small brim.



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