CHAPTER ONE LOSING HIS TOUCH Fred inhaled Most kids hated the way their gym smelled But Fred liked it Not the stale sweat and stinky gym shoes so much But just before lunch time when the kitchen behind the gym got too warm and the staff opened the side doors the gym smelled like a mix of tater tots and fresh crisp air Plus basketballs The gym always smelled like basketballs Even up here on the stage 1
Ugh Luisa said plugging her nose I hope they spray some air freshener before my uncle gets here I hope we get some good ideas before your uncle gets here Drake said Well if you wouldn't keep insisting that we have to bring Krampus into a Christmas pageant maybe we could get somewhere Luisa said And if you could stop insisting that we had to include the three wise camels or whatever they are maybe we'd have at least one decent idea Drake snapped back That's the thing the girl across the table said You're too stuck on Christmas My family celebrates Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and she pointed to the boy sitting next Krampus is a half-goat monster from myths who punishes naughty children
to her his family celebrates Diwali We should celebrate all the holidays that celebrate light in the darkness Not everyone believes in Santa or Christmas you know Fred closed his eyes and breathed in again Maybe it didn't smell that great after all But at least it distracted him from the bickering happening at his table Fred Luisa Drake and two third graders had been chosen to help write the Winter Wonder Fest school pageant Luisa's uncle the world-famous Broadway director Juan Pierre Reyes was coming in all the way from New York City to help them write it For the life of him Fred couldn't imagine why someone as famous as the Juan Pierre Reyes as Luisa insisted on calling him 3
