Here's the next episode, known as... 'Runaway Float'! Anyway, enjoy!

A couple of days later, we had the float project currently in the works. Most of the kids that Arnold and Gerald could involve gathered around Olga as we took center seats, Olga sitting down.

"First of all, thank you all for coming over. I realize you have a lot to do for the summer, but if I can ask for your full cooperation, I'm sure that with our help, this float will be the biggest prize in the competition." Olga smiled as she explained the plans. "Now, if anybody has any ideas on what the float should be, speak up now. I'm open to ideas."

We all turned to each other as we started to discuss a few ideas.

"How about a giant brownie?" Harold asked.

"Hmmm... possible." Olga said as she wrote it down on a notepad. "What else, what else?"

"How about a float dedicated to ice cream? Ice Cream Float, get it?" Curly smiled.

"No bad ideas so far." Olga smiled as she started writing it down.

"Dedicate a float to the many wonders of socks, but with hands." Stinky suggested.

"Gloves? Do you mean gloves?" Olga raised an eyebrow, then shrugged as she wrote it down. "I'm putting down 'gloves'."

"An entire science fiction float!" Sid suggested.

"I think somebody did something similar last year, but I'll still write it down." Olga said as she started writing it down.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Sheena called.

"Not really a float idea, but I'm still writing it down." Olga said as she resumed writing.

I turned to Arnold who seemed to be drawing up an idea. "Excuse me, I think I have a pitch for a float."

Everyone remained silent as we all turned to Arnold. "Would you mind if I gave it to you?"

Olga put her notepad aside for a moment as she took a deep breath. "You must be Arnold, the winner of our spelling bee. Very well, Arnold. Impress me."

Arnold smiled. "Okay, how about this?"

Arnold came up and displayed his drawing for all of us to see. "I'd think this float should be similar to our city, but keep it as a carnival motif so that there's some diversity."

We all listened in interest as Arnold continued, "See right here? Each carnival ride would be a different part of our neighborhood. Downtown's a roller coaster since it's exciting and unpredictable, the south side is a giant souvlaki stand because of all the great places to eat, the river front is a big water slide since... well, there's a lot of water there, and City Hall's represented by a Tilt-A-Whirl since it's sort of crooked."

Everyone awed in delight for the idea, and heck, I did too. Arnold concluded, "It would be really colorful, just like our city itself."

Olga paused as she thought about it... then smiled. "You know... that might work as our float! You kids could even ride on it! And since I can get daddy's influence in on the float, I'm sure it'll be more than enough."

Everyone cheered, including myself. Even though a giant headache had still formed, I didn't care... Arnold's idea was going to happen.

"This was a great idea you had, Arnold, with the parade float design!" I smiled to my friend as we were sitting down somewhere. "Where did the inspiration come from?"

"Well, I guess it came from the last trips to Wankyland, DinoLand AND the last Cheese Fair." Arnold explained. "I looked around at all the rides and places that were in each amusement park, and made similar connections to other rides."

"It's still really creative." I said. "I never would have thought of those ideas."

"You really think Olga will try and make my vision a reality?" Arnold asked.

"Hey, she's like, perfection made!" I said, deciding not to tell Arnold about what I experienced with Olga before. "I'm sure she can manage something!"

Ouch. The headache again. Arnold looked over to me in confusion. "Are you feeling okay?"

I paused. "I'm feeling fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you seem to tense up whenever you mention Olga, and you feel your head a bit." Arnold explained.

Have I been putting my hand to my head? I... didn't even notice that detail. "I'm fine, really. It must be the heat."

"Oh, yeah, I don't blame you." Arnold said. "I heard the next week is going to be hot all the way through."

"Duly noted." I nodded as we continued hanging out for the rest of the day.

The next day, after getting the right tools, the kids of PS 118, me included, started to work on the parade float that would manage to be, in my mind, the perfect float! However, when we started, after getting plenty of flowers AND a lot of chicken wire put in, we tried to look around for more things, but we realized we used up all our tools. So, we just sat around as Arnold noticed we stopped working.

"Hey, why'd you guys stop working?" Arnold asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We're out of flowers, Arnold." I sighed.

"Yeah, and chicken wire." Nadine sighed.

Eugene then threw a bucket of paint by accident and spilled it. "We're out of paint too."

"...Now what?" Gerald sighed.

"Make way, kids!" We heard Olga's voice call as she led a few more people came in with some more chicken wire and flowers and paint... plus a few bits of wood and metal objects. We all cheered as we eagerly went back to work.

It took at least a day, but we finally had it done. We all marveled in its' beauty... the actual parade float that Arnold envisioned... came to life before our eyes.

"Just one more touch..." Olga said as she and a few other kids put down a large arching sign that said, 'Big Bob's Beepers'. "There, hopefully that makes daddy pretty happy."

"Hey man, this is cool!" Gerald smiled.

"It's so wicked awesome!" I smiled... before pausing. "I never thought I would actually put the words 'wicked' and 'awesome' in the same sentence."

"Hang on..." Olga smiled as she ran out, as if she saw somebody out the window. A few moments later, Olga came back in, with Mr. Pataki in tow. "Well, daddy, this is the float for the parade. What do you think?"

Mr. Pataki paused as my head and heart started acting up again. Maybe I'm just nervous around Mr. Pataki. I mean, Olga did tell me he had a pretty mean temper, and I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him. I can see why my dad didn't really trust Mr. Pataki.

After a few minutes of contemplating, Big Bob simply said, "Eh, I don't like it."

The kids stared in shock as Olga sighed, "Daddy, I told you, the parade float wasn't built so you can like it. This is all for the competition."

"Well... I should like it." Mr. Pataki said. "I mean, look at this thing! I run a beeper agency, Olga, not a travelling circus!"

"Well, your company name's on there, see, over on the arch." Arnold pointed it out.

"Fortunately, I brought my associate, Nick Vermicelli here with me. He knows floats. He can probably fix the mistake." Mr. Pataki said as all the kids gasped, a shady business man walking in to examine the float.

Olga sighed as she looked down to me and Arnold and whispers, "I'm sorry, when daddy wants to promote his business, he wants to promote it... BIG! We need to follow what he says."

"What?" Arnold said, angrily.

"I like your idea, I do... but daddy and his associates are the executives here." Olga explained.

"So, they're going to pull some executive meddling on our float?" I frowned. "On Arnold's hopes and dreams?"

"What other choice do we have?" Olga whispered as she gave a small smile.

"You're right, Bob. It's a mess." Mr. Vermicelli said.

"But... we worked days and days on it..." Arnold started.

"Look kid, you listenin' to me? I know floats. And this float is a mess!" Mr. Vermicelli said. "So, what time's the parade?"

"Tomorrow." Mr. Pataki frowned.

"All right, then, we don't have a lot of time! Here's what we do. We make a giant paper-mache beeper that goes over the top of this whole thing, THEN, we get a remote control so that Bob can steer it from the platform, THEN, we dress up a bunch of these kids as cell phones and beepers, they stand around the edges of the float and wave to the crowd!" Mr. Vermicelli planned.

Everyone gasped in excitement at the fact that they were going to ride the float. I wasn't, and neither was Arnold or Gerald. I glared at Nadine and Phoebe, who were the most excited. "Really, guys? What kind of friends are you?"

"Hey, I'm sorry if Arnold's dream got crushed, but come on, Rhonda!" Nadine smiled. "At least we're still riding the parade float!"

I glared at Nadine before turning to Olga, who just silently nodded, as she looked over to Arnold. "I'm sorry guys. You two can still drop out of this if you wish..."

Arnold paused as he turned to everyone. "Come on, you guys. We worked so hard on this thing! It's great the way it is! You don't want to see it turn into a giant beeper, do you?"

Everyone paused... before cheering for the phone idea.

"Oh come on, really guys?" I turned to Nadine and Phoebe.

"Sorry, Arnold, Rhonda... it's just..." Nadine paused. "...well..."

"...how often do you get a chance to ride in the big parade?" Phoebe said in excitement.

"That's right, kids, let's get you outfitted in your beeper costumes!" Big Bob said as he started to lead the kids off, them in excitement. "Olga, come on, there's a spot at the top that's got your name on it."

"Sorry guys." Olga sighed to us as she smiled. "Coming, daddy!"

As Olga went off, we sighed. So much for Arnold's dream...

"Hey, buddy. I'm really sorry about your float." I said to Arnold as me, him and Gerald were walking home together.

Arnold sighed. "That's all right. Thank you guys for believing in me."

"Hey, man." Gerald said as he put his hand on his shoulder. "We're here for you."

"I can... understand if you don't want to watch the parade tomorrow." I sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll still watch the parade. It just won't be as exciting." Arnold sighed.

I hugged him for a couple moments as I sighed. "Oh, buddy..."

So, it was with that we decided not to talk for a while until tomorrow. It was all very depressing right now.

The next day, me and Arnold decided to sit down together to watch the parade. Gerald had called and said he'd catch up later on, so for now, it was me and him.

"Would've been a great float." Arnold sighed. "Too bad they turned it into a giant beeper."

"I agree, buddy, but what can you do?" I explained. "The problem is adults, business managers, executives, any people that have different views. They want to interfere with a good idea you have... a movie project, a story you want to write... you have this vision, you know... and they want to take that idea and turn it into something different. I suppose that's how most creators of their work feel."

Arnold just sighed as I leaned a little close to him. "Buddy, listen, just try not to worry about it. I'm sure you'll get another chance someday."

I put my hand into Arnold's as I squeezed it a little. Even though I wished it was something more, I knew it was just a simple comfort moment.

We kept silent as we watched the parade, everybody was looking at it in awe as I smiled... but then I saw something big black coming up. "Well, here it comes. You want me to shut your eyes for you, buddy, or can you do it on your own?"

"No, let me just see it." Arnold looked over... and gasped upon seeing the new float... and indeed, the giant beeper was up there, with all the kids in beeper and cell phone costumes, Mr. Pataki was in control as Olga was waving from the beeper's top.

Arnold frowned. "How can they control that thing? It's too top heavy! It's not even aerodynamic enough to steer."

I paused as if all of a sudden, I pointed towards some leaves on the ground. Arnold blinked. "Uh, what are you..."

The winds then picked up the leaves as they started swirling around. The wind then started to blow towards the float. "And... there you go. This is what we call... the Big Mouth Curse."

"Big Mouth?" Arnold frowned. "You made that up."

"Well, you tempted fate, Arnold. And now it's aiming towards the float." I said as I pointed towards the float. Sure enough, the paper-mache from the beeper started to rip apart as Mr. Pataki lost control of the float. "See?"

"RUNAWAY FLOAT!" We heard Mr. Kokoshka yell in the foreground as the float started to sway back and forth, the kids starting to hang on and scream in fear, Olga yelping.

"Oh no!" Arnold said as he looked around. "We got to save these kids!"

"I agree!" I said as I turned to Arnold. "They may have turned to the side of the executives, but they're still our friends! Besides, Nadine and Phoebe are up there, we need to stop that float!"

It was true for Nadine and Phoebe, but I was more concerned for Olga right now. Poor Olga, stuck in a runaway float, worried about what's going to happen.

"We need a quick ride!" Arnold said.

"Arnold, here!" We heard Gerald say. We turned to see Gerald coming over with a bicycle and gave it to Arnold. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, Gerald!" Arnold said as he got on the bike. I joined him quickly as I hung tight to him.

"There's an emergency brake underneath the City Hall section!" Gerald said.

"Got it!" Arnold said as he started peddling.

"Come on, come on, we only got one shot, Arnold. Make it count!" I said as Arnold kept peddling as we caught up to the float.

My eye caught Nadine, who gave a smile to us. My eyes were paid more attention to her hair, though... it was brown! "Arnold, Rhonda!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Phoebe sighed.

I frowned towards Nadine and Phoebe as I started to say my piece. "Nadine, Phoebe two things I want to say to you. First, Nadine only, you're going to explain to me about your sudden hair color change!"

"I thought dying it brown would be a good fashion choice, okay?" Nadine said. "Is there anything else we should know, aside from our hair color?"

"Yes. Number two, both of you, I'd like you to apologize to Arnold for betraying him and his vision." I said.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Rhonda, but we are currently in the middle of a crisis right now!" Phoebe said as the float kept going out of control and Arnold still kept peddling.

"You can give it to him later then. Just listen. No matter what, hang on to the beeper at all times! Pass the word to the other kids and Olga!" I said.

"What about you guys?" Phoebe asked as Nadine started whispering to Curly.

"We're getting towards the emergency brake! Just hang on!" I said as Arnold kept peddling.

"You know, for a crisis, we're sure talking calmly." Nadine said as we kept peddling.

"Well, it's the only way we can assure you you'll be fine!" I said, then we decided to stop talking.

"Rhonda, take the bike!" Arnold said as I let go him, confused. He jumped up and... Oh my God, he jumped from the bike to the float! Who does that? I quickly grabbed the bike and started peddling as I saw Arnold rip open the front of the beeper and walk inside. We were getting close to the end of the float where we saw City Hall as I stopped the bike around the same time I saw the float starting to slow down.

I noticed the beeper phone about to come apart as I turned to Nadine and Phoebe. "Nadine, Phoebe, let go of the phone and form a circle!"

I looked up to Olga, who was clinging on to her life with fear. "Olga, listen to me!"

"Rhonda?" Olga said, looking down.

"When I say, now, jump! Nadine and Phoebe will catch you!" I called. "You're just going to have to trust me!"

Olga paused... then took a deep breath as she jumped down, Nadine and Phoebe caught her with ease as Olga started breathing in and out.

"That... that was an exhilarating experience..." Olga panted.

And it turns out, I was right as the beeper phone collapsed... to reveal the original float. Looks like they didn't ruin the float, they just put a cover on it.

Everyone examined it as the judges started to talk it over. Arnold came out of the car as he looked over.

"...and in conclusion, we apologize for not realizing that friendship is worth more than riding on a float that was meddled with." Phoebe and Nadine repeated towards the paper as they gave it to me, Arnold and Gerald.

"Ahem." I coughed as I pointed to Nadine.

Nadine sighed. "Fine. And I won't wear any brown hair dye. Happy, Rhonda?"

"Delighted." I smiled.

"You know, Rhonda, this is sure a lot of hard work you're putting us through just to apologize to Arnold." Phoebe frowned.

"Hey, you know me, I like to make you guys suffer through that work." I smiled.

"It's what Rhonda does. She likes to complicate the apologies." Arnold said. "Still, it was awesome that after everything, our parade float, the original parade float, still won the competition!"

"It was great, wasn't it?" I smiled as I turned to Olga, who was just getting out from her beeper costume. "Just a moment, fellas."

I went over to Olga as she looked down towards me. And, as if by magic, my headache started up. She smiled as she said, "Hey, thanks for saving me, Rhonda."

"Anytime." I smiled. "Is your dad angry about the whole beeper thing and that everything didn't go accordingly?"

"A little bit, though he's more mad at his executive advisor. He's not really mad at me, thank goodness. He did apologize with honesty though. In his eyes, I'm a perfect girl, and he let his pride and ego interfere with it." Olga explained. "At least we're getting somewhere..."

I sighed to Olga. "Olga, how do you put up with this guy?"

"He's not really bad... okay, maybe a little, but I still have hopes we can be a perfect family." Olga said. "I'm probably still going to hang out with him and Mom for the summer, hopefully we can have a little fun together."

"Well, thanks for letting me in on the parade thing." I smiled. "Hopefully we meet up again soon!"

"You know it!" Olga smiled as she turned around. "I better go up and meet daddy. We're going to get some wings tonight. See you later!"

"See you, Olga!" I waved as Olga left the scene, my headache going away.

I came back and joined up with my friends as I smiled towards them. "So, what's going on for the rest of the week?"

"Well, we still have our camping trip next weekend." Gerald said.

That's right, the camping trip we planned. Luckily, we already got our parents' permission, and they were all cool with it, they know Nadine, Phoebe and I do this every summer, so it was only fair we do some camping with Arnold and Gerald this year too. "Awesome! What else should we do tomorrow?"

"Hmmm... how about we play some baseball tomorrow?" Arnold smiled. "We haven't had a lot of time to do some sport related activities, and I'm sure the others will be up for it!"

"Oh, hey, that's a great idea!" I smiled.

"We need it after today!" Phoebe said.

"Great, guys." Gerald said as we decided to discuss some more summer plans. The best thing was for sure, we had a baseball game tomorrow!

There's the thirty-fourth episode! How do you like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!