November 25
Mom made me comb my hair. It doesn't work. I told her my hair is like Jareth's; it needs to stick up everywhere. She was cross. Mom doesn't like Jareth. I'm not allowed to say his name for the rest of today. That's okay. His other name is the Goblin King. Mom doesn't know that.
I have to wear a tie for Thanksgiving like Dad. Ties make my neck itchy. Dad helped me knot mine but it was still itchy. I told the Goblin King. He did a sparkly ball thing and made me a ca- carrat – cave – I asked the Goblin King to spell it. Cravat. It's a fancy neck scarf not a tie. It's better than a tie. It has a sharp pin. I poked Sarah with it when she tried to flatten my hair. Now she won't speak to me. Or the Goblin King. The Goblin King made me say sorry. He gave me a jar of roaches. It is the most awesome gift ever. I hid them under my bed. The Thanksgiving meal is ages away, all my aunts and uncles and cousins have to arrive first.
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Today was the best Thanksgiving! Uncle Thomas arrived with his new girlfriend Jasmine. She wore a dress that must have shrunk in the wash. It was all small and stretchy. Mom didn't like it I could see. Aunt Donna arrived with Grandpa Bailey in his wheelchair. He let me ride on his footrest.
Then Uncle Charles arrived with Aunt Kathleen and Angela the Snot and Brian. Angela said my hair looked like I'd shocked myself. Mom was going nag but then Jareth, I'm allowed to say his name now, arrived. He drove a fancy old car called a Chevy. Grandpa Bailey made Aunt Donna take his chair back out to look at the car. Dad also went to look at the car. Angela stared at Jareth. It wasn't fair, she never told him that it looked like he had shocked himself. His hair is always worse than mine.
Dinner started off boring with lots of grown-up talk. It got better. In the middle of dinner, I saw a roach. It was a huge one right there in the hall. Then I saw Tulby the goblin with Mrs Cluck. Mrs Cluck ran over and gobbled it up. It was so gross. Jareth almost knocked over his glass when he saw. He looked very funny trying to wave to Tulby without everyone noticing. Then there was another roach. I must have forgot to put the lid on the jar. Thundercloud the black hen and Mrs Cluck both tried to catch one roach. They had a big fight. It was super gross. Jareth dropped a sparkly ball on the floor and kicked it across to the hall. Everyone vanished. Sarah saw and hissed at Jareth. He smiled with all teeth. Only then I saw another roach. There were no goblins or chickens to catch it. I chased it. It ran under the fridge. Sarah came to see. There were two on the kitchen table. Sarah screamed. Everyone came into the kitchen. Jasmine and Angela the Snot screamed the loudest. It was very funny. Jareth just picked them up and put them back in a jar. I told him there was one under the fridge and he got it. He let me have that jar also. I took it upstairs. There were no roaches in my room. Just an empty jar and fat chickens.
I left my jar in my room. Sarah and Jareth were at the top of the stairs trying to keep the goblins up there. In the hall Jasmine and Uncle Thomas were leaving. Angela was crying. Aunt Kathleen was yelling at Brian. Then they went home. Only Aunt Donna, Grandpa Bailey and Mom and Dad were left. Sarah asked me where I got the roaches. I pointed at Jareth. Sarah gave him a yucky kiss. I left them on top of the stairs. Even the goblins ran away from it.
We got to watch the game and eat dessert instead of boring talk. Roaches make for a great Thanksgiving!
