6

What did you do, Talia?! He barely even started Thinking!

"I know, Cat, I know," I whispered under my breath. "But I'll save this kid. Just wait and you'll see, you'll see what I did!" Then I turned my attention to Jojo.

"Be quiet! I don't want to see you anymore! You got me in trouble! Just trouble galore!" Jojo was yelling.

"Come on, Jojo, just Think a little, you fool! Your tub's not a tub, it's McElligot's Pool!"

Jojo looked confusedly at me. "A pool?"

"Look, this might be a pool like you've read of in books! Connected to one of these underground brooks! An underground river that starts here and flows right under the bathtub and then..."

"Who knows?" Jojo took over. "It's possible!

Our gazes met for a second, and we exclaimed in unison, "Anything's possible!"

I looked away and blushed. I couldn't act like this; Jojo would think that it was the Cat speaking. But yet, there was something about this kid that I liked.

While Jojo started singing about where the pool could go, he climbed into the bathtub - clothes and all - and turned on the water. He seemed too overwhelmed by his Thinks to see that his clothes were getting soaked. "...of Mrs. Umbroso, who's hanging out clothes! It's possible! Anything's possible!"

Good job, kid. You got him Thinking again.

"Thank you, Cat," I muttered while Jojo was going on about fish. "Thanks, Cat in the Hat."

I couldn't see the fish now, but Jojo clearly could. He was fascinated by something moving around in front of his face. However, all I could see was Jojo, the bathtub that water was flowing out of, and the tile floor that the water was pouring onto.

"Cat, should I turn off the water? Should I? He's Thinking so hard it'd be hard not to try."

Nah, kid, just let the water flow. Remember what the Mayors will say?

All of a sudden, Jojo started to sing once again, while looking around to all the 'fish' around him. "Oh, the sea is so full of a number of fish; if a fellow is patient, he might get his wish!"

"The sea? All the fish? Oh, silly Jojo! Just Thinking won't get you your way, ya know!" I quietly said so that Jojo wouldn't actually hear.

Now, the Mayors are just about to arrive, so just stay out of the way of the door. Okay?

I nodded as the water level rose to my knees. However, I didn't feel wet at all. Was I supposed to?

"It's possible! Anything's possible!" he sang. "It's possible, anything...anything..."

BAMBAMBAM. The Mayors were knocking on the door. "Jojo! Get out here now! I don't care why, I don't care how!" Mr. Mayor called angrily to his son. Jojo jumped out of the bathtub and waded through the deep water to open the door.

When the door opened, all the water washed out of the bathroom and down the halls and stairs, soaking the Who family. Mr. Mayor was clearly furious, while Mrs. Mayor just seemed worried about her boy.

The Mayor was yelling now, he was so infuriated. "Jojo! The tub has overflowed on the floor! The water is running right under the door!"

"The ceiling is peeling, you've flooded the den!" Mrs. Mayor cried, as if this would ruin her reputation for the five minutes that she was a mother. "Oh, Jojo, you're Thinking - you're Thinking AGAIN!"

It's mostly over, and then the number can finish. It's all good.

I felt guilty to just stand there and watch, but what else could I do as the Cat?

Mr. Mayor, however, started talking off-book, which surprised both the Cat and me. "Now, the General's here, General Genghis Khan Schmitz. And he's a non-Thinker. He wiped out towns with a blitz! So go pack your things, boy. You're off to a school! We just can't have you Thinking around here; that's the rule."

Oh. So I guess that it's not good.

Jojo sighed and ran to his room, his shoes squishing on the wet carpet. I followed him into his room, where I found him shoving clothes from a dresser into a suitcase. When he looked up and saw me, I could tell that tears filled his eyes. "This is all your fault!" he screamed at me. "You got me into this mess! And you think that it's funny, nevertheless! I mean it this time, Cat, just don't follow me! I just need to be a non-Thinker, that's what I must be!"

"Come on, Jojo," I tried to reason. As the Cat, I knew that I needed to push him as far as I could without having him fall over. "Don't give up on your Thinks! Believe me, I've tried it, and oh man, it stinks!"

"No, you're staying here, I'm off to military school. You can sit here alone with McElligot's Pool." And with that, Jojo zipped up his suitcase and rolled it out of his room and down the hall. I could hear it go thunky-thunk every time the wheels rolled off a stair. I could hear General Schmitz's loud, booming voice practically bouncing off the walls. "I'm General Genghis Khan Schmitz! I scare children out of their wits!" he yelled in a drill-sergeant type voice.

You're just gonna sit there? Go watch the kid make a fool of himself, Talia!

"No, Cat, don't you see? This's the difference between me and you. I do what he says. You do what you want to. Have you ever just thought if you'll push him too far? If he falls, then you shouldn't thank your lucky star."

Hey, wait until it's time for the song!

"You know what, Cat? Fine. I'll do it, alright. But I want something back, and not just in slight."

Okay. You get to watch Jojo do high knees. That's pretty funny.

As I walked out and stood next to the staircase, I could see Jojo on the main level, trying to march in place as the General shouted orders at him. "Feet together! Eyes on the prize! March!" he shouted. Luckily, Jojo didn't see me, but then the General led him outside and shut the door behind himself.

The Mayors sat down together on their couch. Mr. Mayor turned to his wife and sighed. "Oh, sweetie, what did we just do?"

Mrs. Mayor sighed in agreement. "He was Mommy's little boy," she sang.

"He was Daddy's little man," her husband agreed.

As they sang through How to Raise a Child, I didn't know whether to stay or leave. Jojo wouldn't like it if I followed him, but the Cat did things without others' permission. Luckily, I didn't have to make that decision.

Kid, we kinda need to get back to Nool. They're expecting us.

I looked from the hallway window, where the General and his Cadets were marching around Jojo, to my hat, which I had just pulled off. I took a deep breath, grabbed it by the brim, and I was gone.

MagicalAwesomeness: Hey guys, guess what?

Cat: What?

Talia: What?

Jojo: What?

MagicalAwesomeness: It's the 15th of May, the day Horton found the dust speck!

Jojo: It's May 16th...

MagicalAwesomeness: Well, it was the 15th when I wrote this!

Talia: So you should have told us yesterday so we knew for today!

MagicalAwesomeness: I can't remember everything!

Cat: ...like telling us to "review" instead of "rate".

MagicalAwesomeness: That's just one word!

Cat: I'd like to see you try!

MagicalAwesomeness: Fine, then. Don't forget to review.

Cat: Eh. You tried.