"What was the first book you simply couldn't put down?" asked the therapist.

"'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,'" said Joe. He sat up and rubbed his hands on his thighs. "Without a doubt."

The therapist scribbled in her notebook. "When did you first read that?"

"Last year." Joe laid back down and cracked his knuckles. "That book totally nailed what it's like at that age."

"Did you purchase the book from the bookstore's children's section?"

"You know I did," said Joe. He turned away from her.

"And who did you meet there?" asked the therapist.

Joe whimpered. "A boy."

When I was small, I vowed to ride a hot air balloon straight up to the sun. I saved my coppers and silvers, even the five-pound birthday note uncle gave me. One day, mum surprised me with a balloon ride. It was red and gigantic and amazing. Yet when it soared to its zenith, I saw the sun, still far away. I cried a little.

"Is this all the closer I'll ever get?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so, cub," said mum.

That day, I learned that somewhere between one person's logic and another person's dreams lies the realm of possibility.

Don't ever let them see you cry. This is how you whittle a piece of driftwood. This is how you whittle too much and throw it in the fire. This is how you feed the fire so no one goes hungry. You get responsible instead of the remarkable halfwit you're so bent on becoming. Girls are more than playthings, but don't tell them you know that. This is how you get a girlfriend. This is how you dump her. This is how she dumps you. This is how you date her best friend. This is how you become a man.

“What is that?” asked Toby.

“What does it look like? It’s a dog,” said Tyler.

“It doesn’t look like any dog I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s ‘cause my dog is special.”

“How?”

“It eats people I don’t like.”

“What?”

“It’s true.”

“You’re just making that up.”

“Why would I?”

Toby glared at Tyler, suspicious. He knelt beside to the dog. It looked him in the eye. Toby stood up and walked away.

“Yeah, you’d better leave,” said Tyler. “And tell your friends!”

Tyler looked at his dog. It looked him in the eye.

“We’re gonna be so rich,” Tyler said, smiling.

There once was a boy with cold feet. He had no shoes or socks, and his toes were like tiny frozen blueberries.

One day, the boy asked the man who owned the restaurant for a job so he could afford to buy shoes and socks. The man agreed, and when the boy with cold feet earned enough money to buy socks, he quit.

The man asked the boy why he didn’t work until he had enough money to buy shoes, too. The boy admitted he was impatient. He put on his new socks and his feet were a little warmer.