10: One week later

Arnold was sitting at his computer in his room. Gerald was at his side as he watched him play a game. "No, no! Turn the canoe to the left! The left!"

"I'm trying!"

Onscreen the boat hit a log and tipped over. "Careful! You've just hit a log and capsized!" The game said. "You've been bitten by a giant catfish..."

The life bar, already dangerously low, finally emptied. "Your quest for the Inca city has come to an end…"

"Aw man!"

Arnold sighed. "Looks like the Inca King's not getting his cinchona tonight, Gerald." He exited the game. "I'm tired of this anyway. We've been trying to get to the end for two hours…"

"What's that?" Said Gerald, looking at the bottom of the screen where a graphic of an envelope sat blinking.

"It's an email." Arnold clicked on the blinking picture and read. "It's from Patty Smith. She sent me a link to a video. Looks like she sent it to almost everyone in our school."

"Well open it up!"

The video started with Patty, dressed in her normal clothes, sitting on the couch. Mittel was on her lap.

"Hi. My name is Patty Smith. You might know me from the TV show 'Short Smiths.' On that show they call me Tricia, but that's not my name. In fact, a lot of what you see on the show is different than what happens in real life. My friend Harold, the real Harold, and I are making this video to show you the truth. First of all, this is Mittel. He's not a Chihuahua…"

"I hope her producer doesn't get too upset about this." Said Arnold as he watched.

Lyle was beating his head against a wall as Patty's video played in the background. Billy was sitting in the computer chair watching. "Three hundred thousand views in just the last hour, Lyle…"

"I KNOW I KNOW!"

The camera was now on Patty's parents in the kitchen as they made dinner. Mrs. Smith was standing on a stepstool as she sprinkled seasoning on stir fry. Patty talked to the camera.

"These are my parents Henry and Zelda, the best parents in the world. They both have a condition called Achondroplasia. A lot of people think I'm adopted but I'm not.

"Most people have a gene called FGFR3. Sometimes this gene is defective though and that can cause dwarfism. People with dwarfism carry two copies of FGFR3, one that causes the dwarfism and one that causes normal height. Because of this, I had a three in four chance of being born with dwarfism like them, but I wasn't."

Mr. Smith smiled and hugged Patty. "Our Pretty Patty Petunia is our miracle baby!"

Mrs. Smith smiled too, at the camera. "Harold, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"OH BOY! FOOD!"

Billy looked thoughtful as he watched. "You know, Lyle, this isn't bad stuff. Camera work's a little shaky, but it's kind of…sweet. In an old fashioned kind of way, but still…"

"Sweet, schmeet! She's undoing everything we've worked for! Now everyone'll think we're frauds!"

"We are frauds."

"But we don't want people to know it!" He howled.

Gerald smiled as he and Arnold watched. "This is better than the show!"

"That's because it's real."

Patty was standing in front of PS 118. "This is my school. I'm not a cheerleader. We don't have cheerleaders but I can show you some of the things I do like."

The scene changed to Patty sitting on a couch between her mother and a woman who looked like an older, white haired version of Patty with spectacles. They were all holding knitting needles and working on a quilt. "I like to knit. Grandma taught my Mom and my Mom taught me. Every year we work together to make a blanket and then we donate it to the Homeless Shelter where I volunteer."

Again, the scene changed. Now Patty was standing in front of a rack of DVDs and video tapes. "I like old movies. I'll never forget the first time I watched 'Singin' in the Rain' with Grandma. I thought it was the best movie I'd ever seen. A lot of people don't like old movies because they think they're boring. To those people I say, you're missing out. Give them a chance. I think you might be surprised."

The final scene was of the living room. "Sometimes after dinner, we like to listen to music as a family. My parents even like to dance together."

A CD was playing and Patty's parents were singing along as they moved to the music.

"Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising!" Sang Mr. Smith.

Mrs. Smith sang the next line. "Higher, higher…It's burning through to my soul!"

"Girl, girl, girl, you gonna set me on fire!"

"My brain is flaming! I don't know which way to go!"

Now they sang together. "Your kisses lift me higher! Like the sweet song of a choir! You light my morning sky! With burning love!"

Patty spoke to the camera as they continued to dance in the background. "This is what my family is about. Before the TV show, we didn't have a lot of money, but we had love. And no matter how much things change thanks to the show, we'll always have love. We're the Smiths. The real Smiths. Goodbye for now and thank you for letting me show you the truth."