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Pancakes for Breakfast

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By Tamara Kula

My name is Fred. The boys and girls in my class at school say I am boring, but it’s not true. I like to do the same things every day – exactly the same things. The other children just don’t understand.

Every day I wake up at 7:00 a.m. First I get dressed. I always wear a red shirt and jeans. Then I eat breakfast. My mom always makes me pancakes because I love them the best. After breakfast, I ride my bike to school, even if it rains. I don’t mind.

At school, we study English and Math in the morning. Then we eat lunch. I always eat lunch at the small round table in the front of the lunchroom. After lunch, we study history, science, and art. When school is finished, I always go to the library to do my homework. Then I ride my bike home and watch my favorite cartoon on TV until dinner is ready. During dinner I tell my parents all about my interesting day. After dinner, I play football outside with Jimmy, my neighbor. When it gets dark, I come inside and play computer games until my mom says I have to take a shower. So I shower, brush my teeth, and go to bed.

So you see, my life is not boring at all. It’s actually very interesting, don’t you agree? I like my life exactly how it is. I hope it never changes.

* * *

One day, my alarm clock didn’t ring. That meant that I didn’t wake up at 7:00! I woke up at 7:30 because my mom was yelling. It was terrible! I had to get dressed very quickly and I couldn’t find a clean red shirt. I had to wear an orange one – how terrible!

When I ran downstairs for breakfast, there were no pancakes. “Mom, where are my pancakes?!” I cried in panic.

“Sorry, sweetie,” she replied. “I don’t feel well today, so I’m not going to cook. You can just have cereal.” I was so disappointed.

My day did not get better. In fact, it got worse and worse. My bike had a flat tire and I couldn’t ride to school. That meant that I had to ride with Jimmy, in his dad’s car – it was terrible!

At school, we had a field trip to the zoo, so we didn’t study English or mathematics in the morning! I hate it when things are different. All morning at the zoo I couldn’t wait to get back to school and have a normal day.

But the whole day was different! At lunch time, I couldn’t find the small round table and I ate at a big long table instead. Then we studied art before history and science! “But art is supposed to be last!” I complained to the teacher.

“Oh, Fred,” she said with a sigh. “It’s OK if things are not always the same.” My teacher doesn’t understand either!

When I went to the library to do my homework, it was closed. “Closed?!” I said. “How can the library be closed! This is terrible!”

I rode my bike home early, thinking I would do my homework there. But mom asked me to cook dinner because she was sick. But I never cook dinner! It was so difficult that it took me hours, and I didn’t have time to play football. After we ate, I went right to bed. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I remembered the homework that I still had to do! It was the most terrible day of my life.

* * *

I heard my alarm clock ringing. As I slowly woke up, I remembered the horrible dream I had last night. I was so glad it was just a dream.

I went to my closet to get a red shirt. I had many clean red shirts. Suddenly I had a funny thought. Maybe I would wear a blue one today!

I came downstairs in my blue shirt, and my mom gave me a funny look. But all she said was, “You want pancakes for breakfast, right?”

“Actually,” I said, “I want eggs and toast this time!”

“But you always have pancakes!” she said in surprise.

“Well,” I said, “it’s not so bad to be different sometimes.”

And that day I rode my skateboard to school.

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