Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul by Jack Canfield Read Free Book Online

each time they talked, Andy told him, “Still no picture. Maybe you’d better send another.”
    It was weird. No photo and no comment from Joey. He’d just change the subject. Then one day when they were talking about Star Wars and aliens Andy asked him, “What if there really are aliens in disguise on earth? You know, like in the TV program Third Rock from the Sun or the book My Teacher’s an Alien? ”
    It seemed like a long time before the screen lit up with his reply. “Can you keep a secret?”
    “I guess,” Andy answered.
    “Promise? It’s really important!”
    “Sure. I promise.”
    “I’m an alien from another galaxy. That’s why I can’t send you a photograph. My energy field can’t be caught on film.”
    Andy sat there, staring at the screen. His mother was calling him to dinner, but it was Joey who signed off while he sat, staring at the computer, in a daze. Was this one of Joey’s jokes? Then why didn’t he send a picture? Is this why he knew so much more than other kids about spaceships and outer space? Why was he so secretive?
    At dinner, Dad announced, “Good news! My transfer request was approved. We’ll be moving to the home office in Denver at the end of this month. The company has found a rental home for us that’s close to a good school for Andy and with plenty of room for Grandma to live with us.”
    Andy’s mom was happy because her mother had been in a Denver nursing home ever since she fell and broke her hip, and she wanted to have Grandma live with them. Andy just felt mixed up.
    That night in bed, Andy thought about being a new kid in a new school. I remember how I felt when we moved here. It was hard to make new friends. It seemed like everybody stared at me the first day, and the other kids treated me differently for a while until they got to know me. That was the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep.
    The next morning, as Andy was sitting at the kitchen table, eating cereal, his mom was watching a show on TV. A newscaster was interviewing a lady in Tallahassee, Florida. “Tell me about the role the Internet plays in Joey’s life,” the newscaster asked.
    “Well, it has allowed him a freedom he’s never known before. Not only is he able to access information from his wheelchair, but most important, he has made new friends.”
    The newscaster then continued, “Tell us about your Internet friends, Joey.” The camera shifted to this kid in a wheelchair, sitting in front of his computer. He was kind of skinny with sort of shriveled legs. His head hung to one side, and when he answered, his words were hard to understand. He had to make a big effort to say them, and a bit of drool came out of one corner of his mouth.
    “When other kids see me, they just see that I’m different. It’s hard for me to talk and be understood. But when I’m on the Internet, they think I’m just another kid, because they can’t see me. I’ve been making friends with lots of different people,” Joey explained.
    All day at school, Andy’s mind was full of jumbled thoughts. His Internet buddy, Joey; Joey the alien; Joey the kid on TV; making new friends in Denver; Grandma and her walker. As soon as he got home, he ran to his room, threw his backpack on the bed and went to his computer. As Andy logged on to the Internet, he decided: It doesn’t matter where Joey came from—Mars, Saturn or Tallahassee. It doesn’t matter what Joey looks like. I know who Joey is. Joey is my friend.
    Andy typed into the computer: “Joey, guess what? We’re moving to Denver. Boy, am I ever glad to have a friend who goes with me wherever I go.”
    Joanne Peterson

Seeing, Really Seeing
    His nose was all smooshed looking, like maybe his mom had dropped him when he was a baby. His ears were two—maybe even two and a half—sizes too big for his head. And his eyes! His eyes bulged like they were ready to pop right out of their sockets. His clothes were nice, Tim had to admit. But he was still the