Who Wants a Phantom Pal? UFLI Foundations Lesson 92
Practice Words
I am Gus, the best ghost you will ever meet. I get it. Green skin. Fangs. Floating in a dark wood. But I have stood by this tree all day, and not one kid has come to say hi. This wood has a ghost problem.
Yes, it is a ghost problem. See those three? A big furry one. A bony one. A creepy pale one. They hide, wait for a person to walk past, then pop up and yell, 'Boo!' That person almost flew up off the path. The three think it is funny. I think it is rude.
I floated up to the treetops to get away. Then I took a peek past the leaves. Kids! Kids in a park! Jumping, playing, having fun. The fun I had been dreaming of forever. 'They will love me,' I said. I put on my best grin and zoomed right to the kids.
'Hi kids! I am Gus! Want to be best pals?' I rolled off the big tree with a wide grin. I felt it was perfect. The kids did not. They yelled. They ran. Not one looked back. Well, one looked back, and that just made him run faster.
'Wait! Come back! I am not bad!' But they were gone. A little dog ran off with them, its little legs a blur. I floated there all alone, dust drifting on the path. Yelling at kids from a tree was a bad plan. I needed a new plan.
I went to the market and hid in a pile of coconuts. Just one problem. I was the one coconut with a face. A kid walked past. Too green. Too odd. Time for a new plan. I puffed up and hid in a bunch of balloons. Red, yellow, blue, and one green one with a cheeky grin.
I drifted over to the kids, just like a normal balloon. 'Hi! Who wants to play? I am just a talking balloon! Balloons talk all the time!' The kids stood in a huddle. They did not run. But they did not smile. Then came a very bad sound. Mew!
A cat! Leaping at me with a big hiss! I dodged left. I went flat. I stretched into a long noodle. The cat swung and missed, swung and missed, then fell on the grass. I pulled a silly face, and the cat just sat there. The kids started to giggle. 'You are not spooky at all! Want to play with us?'
'Yes! I am in!' I zoomed by them in a blur. I puffed big, then small. I went blue, then red, then back to green. The kids chased me up a hill, giggling. Then I looked at the top of the hill. A volleyball net! And the kids had a sneaky look on their faces.
'Gus,' they said. 'Are you set to be a ball?' I puffed into a perfect ball shape. 'I am set!' The other team had no clue. They stood across the net, stretching. My team threw me up, and at the top of my arc, I yelled, 'Boo!' You should have seen their faces! They jumped a mile.
I was the best volleyball ever! They tried to serve me. I went the other way. They tried to hit me. I flew past their hands! They tried to spike me. I went flat and slid under the net. 'You cheat!' the other team yelled. 'True!' my team said back, high-fiving. We took every game.
As the sun set, I floated up to the treetop. 'Can we play again soon?' I called. 'Yes! Soon!' they called back. 'And bring your coconut! That was so bad!' I smiled all the way home. The other ghosts in the wood could keep popping up to yell, 'Boo!' I had pals! And next time? Next time, I will be the football!
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