Arlo was not an ordinary human. Nor was anybody in his town, but Arlo was exceptionally different.
Arlo lived in Halloween Town where everybody turned into a wolf when the moon came out at night. Their school also started at 8:00pm, so everyone was a wolf at school. Arlo though, didn’t turn into a wolf with the moon, he would turn into a hippo. For this reason, Arlo was bullied at school for being the odd one out. Everyone would play wolf games after school while Arlo would sit at home watching his favorite television show with his family. He loved his family but he wished for some friends.
One day, Arlo came home from school with a sad face (as usual). He was watching TV with his family when a commercial came on. It was promoting a pair of glasses that made you look like a wolf. Arlo thought “That’s exactly what I need!”
A week later, the package came on his front door. Before getting on the bus that evening he put them on. In the bus window reflection was a wolf! At school, everyone looked at him differently. He sat with the cool kids at lunch. They even invited him to play wolf football with them.
For the rest of the month, Arlo followed his new “friends”. When they spray painted the school bathroom, so did he. He played tackle football instead of going home to his family. In fact, Arlo’s whole personality changed. He dressed differently, he had no manners towards his parents, and he even sneaked out at night.
Although Arlo loved being one of the cool kids now, he missed watching television with them. He missed his mom’s delicious pumpkin pie. He just missed his family.
One day, Arlo took the glasses off before he got on the bus. He was just his normal hippo self. He got to school and tried to sit with his friends. They told him he wasn't cool enough anymore. Everyone gave him dirty looks. Arlo realized that if you weren't “normal” no one wanted to be your friend. He wanted to put an end to this.
He stomped on the table to get everyone's attention. “Hello everyone. I know I am not very “cool” anymore, but I just want you to know that you don't have to be the same as everyone else to be cool. Just be who you want to be and that's all that matters.”
Arlo went home and told his family what happened. His family was very proud of him. He was proud of himself. Arlo went to bed that night with a smile on his face.
When he went to school the next day, everyone was different. Some people wore their hair differently. Some people had different clothing on. Some people weren’t wolves either! But what they looked like was themselves. People thought of Arlo now as their friend. Although Arlo wasn't the “cool” kid, he was the hero who helped everyone be themselves.
Keira is an 11 year old girl going into 7th grade. Keira loves writing and comes up with the most creative stories. When she is not writing, you can find Keira on the softball field pitching in one game after another.
You can find more of Keira's work in Little Thoughts Press, including the following blog posts:
And an interview about "Christmas Countdown" from our Magical Winter issue.