Alex
looked at the tree. His eyes got wider and wider as he checked
out how tall it was. He thought of how the big kids tease
him and his brother, Michael. So what if they were the only
two kids left in the neighborhood who couldn't climb the biggest
tree in the woods.
"There
it is!" Alex said.
"It's
huge!" Michael said.
"Today
is the day we're going to do it!" Alex said.
The
first branch was so high they couldn't even reach it standing
on their tippy toes. They took turns jumping, trying to grab
the bottom branch. They got so tired they decided to take
a break.
"If
we don't climb this tree, the big kids will never stop teasing
us! I'm getting sick of being called shorty!" said Alex. "Let's
try again!"
So
they jumped some more. They were both surprised when Michael
grabbed the bottom branch! Alex cheered as Michael climbed
higher and higher.
"Good
going!" Alex said.
Alex
tried but just couldn't do it. He thought, "Oh no!" as he
heard the big kids coming. They said to Alex, "Now you're
the only shorty left!"
That
night at dinner Alex ate all of his meat and vegetables and
drank all of his milk. He also went to bed early. He remembered
hearing that eating healthy and getting a lot of sleep helps
your body grow. "Why do I have to be so short?" he thought.
"It wouldn't bother me so much if even my little brother,
Michael, wasn't taller than I am."
The
next morning, Alex woke up early, ate a good breakfast and
went to the tree. He had butterflies in his stomach just thinking
about trying again. He jumped but he still couldn't reach
that bottom branch.
"Those
bid kids will be here soon. I bet Michael will be with them
and they'll all make fun of me!" Alex thought.