Billy that’s a warning young man Mr Karas says as he writes my name on the board You know you have to raise your hand to ask a question right OH MAN Now I have a warning That’s like strike one Two more strikes and I’m out out of the classroom and headed straight down to Principal Crank’s office Sorry sir I forgot I say I just get so excited about adventure that I can’t contain myself Grumpily I take out my homework from my schoolbag and hand it in Back at my desk I lean over and say to Teddy Do you think we’ll do something cool like dissect frogs Teddy shrugs My older brother didn’t get to cut open a frog until high school So probably not he says Say what I exclaim High school I can’t wait that long
Yuck says a high-pitched voice behind us It’s Polly Polly Pembroke is the class know-it-all She’s also kind of a snob Frogs are slimy and gross she says I try to say something clever but she may actually be right Hey Teddy frogs are slimy How do you get them to stay still before you dissect them Aren’t they slippery and hopping all over the place The frogs are already dead says Polly They’re soaked in formaldehyde
Teddy and I look at each other You mean the stuff that is in toothpaste he asks No that’s fluoride she says Formaldehyde is an embalming agent We stare at her She replies very slowly That means it keeps the dead bodies fresh so they don’t rot and decay Just like the stuff in toothpaste Teddy exclaims Yeah I cry Polly rolls her eyes and lets out a deep sigh Then she flips her hair and ignores us Teddy and I look at each other and shrug Girls We’ll never understand them All of a sudden Teddy looks deep in thought What is it I ask I’m wondering if I should have saved my baby teeth and put them in formaldehyde he says I’ll
start doing it with the next one I wonder the same thing until Mr Karas interrupts my thoughts Today’s scientific journey will take us beyond the classroom beyond the moon and into our solar system he says YESSS Teddy and I whisper to each other We love stuff about outer space We both have books about the planets and constellations We both build model rocket ships from scratch And we both love the cartoon Super Samurai from Outer Space Mr Karas pulls up an image of the solar system on the smartboard Then he walks across the room and turns off the lights In the dark the colors of the planets and the Sun look bright and real It feels like we’re floating in between them
