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Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure Page 8

one of his best toymakers and when she

  was on vacation she got turned to stone

  by Medusa. Then he thanked Roland for

  SAVING her.

  Shae’Vana said she figured out that the

  One-Eyed Wizard was Santa’s long-lost

  BROTHER and knew she had to warn her

  boss he was in DANGER. And she took

  the MAP so the wizard couldn’t find the

  secret entrance HIMSELF.

  201

  Then she said she knew stealing was

  WRONG and wanted to apologize to any

  kids who might hear about this somehow.

  But everyone was too busy TALKING to

  notice the One-Eyed Wizard had slipped

  out of his robe and snuck up behind them.

  And now he had Santa’s STAFF.

  The One-Eyed Wizard tried to blast Santa

  with the staff but he MISSED and blew

  holes through the throne room’s icy walls

  INSTEAD.

  202

  And that’s how Roland’s FRIENDS got in.

  They started attacking the One-Eyed

  Wizard and for a second it looked like the

  good guys were going to WIN.

  But just then Righty punched a hole

  through the roof and the ceiling came

  crashing down.

  203

  Then the evil magical hand snatched up

  everyone and held them in his sweaty

  fist. Roland thought for SURE they were

  all DOOMED. The hand squeezed tighter

  and tighter and Roland thought this was

  the END.

  204

  But just before he ran out of oxygen a

  MIRACLE happened.

  It was Roland’s MOM!

  The One-Eyed Wizard was so surprised

  he lost his CONCENTRATION. And that

  made the magical hand lose his GRIP

  on Roland and his friends.

  205

  Now the One-Eyed Wizard was SUPER

  mad and he focused his attention on

  Roland’s mom. He raised his wand and

  took a few steps toward her.

  206

  But Roland loved his mother very

  much so there was no way he was

  going to let anything HAPPEN to her.

  Everyone was totally SHOCKED,

  especially Roland’s MOM. But Roland

  knew his magical sword Jeremy had

  the power to turn bad guys NICE. And

  that’s exactly what it DID.

  207

  The One-Eyed Wizard apologized to

  everybody for being such a jerk and

  they all FORGAVE him.

  Roland asked his mom how she FOUND

  him and she said it was because of the

  NOTE he’d left for his dad back home.

  And then she thanked him for being

  such a thoughtful son.

  Santa said even though it wasn’t

  Christmas yet he had a special PRESENT

  for each of them.

  Roland’s mom got a charm bracelet and

  Garg got a gift certificate to a tanning

  salon. Sherlock Holmes got a brand-new

  magnifying glass and the One-Eyed Wizard

  got a new flag with a rubber ball on the

  tip of the pole for safety. And Stephen got

  a holiday sweater with a hole cut out for

  his udders.

  209

  Then Santa said he had an EXTRA

  special present for Roland and gave

  him the biggest box of ALL.

  But the box was EMPTY except for a

  rolled-up piece of paper at the bottom.

  So Roland opened it and read what was

  written on the scroll.

  210

  Roland thought the note was nice and all

  but to be honest he would’ve rather gotten

  a new TOY. But Roland was a polite boy

  and he didn’t say anything because he

  wouldn’t want to hurt Santa’s feelings.

  It turned out the note was just a

  PRANK and everyone else was IN on it.

  And Roland didn’t know how to feel about

  that because it felt a little like BULLYING.

  Then Santa picked up Roland’s sword and

  asked him to bend down on one knee.

  Santa said that Roland had proven himself

  on his quest so he earned a new NAME.

  211

  Then Santa tapped Roland on each

  shoulder with the sword and knighted

  him Roland the Kind.

  Roland STILL probably would’ve liked a

  toy instead, but his mom and his friends

  seemed proud of him so that made

  Roland feel better about the prank with

  the note.

  212

  Santa asked the vampire if he wanted

  his double curse reversed but Christoph

  said he LIKED being a vampire-

  werewolf because girls think it’s COOL.

  Then Shae’Vana told Santa she was

  going to take some time off and travel

  with Christoph because her vacation

  kind of got cut short by the whole

  Medusa thing.

  Everyone said good-bye to Christoph and

  Shae’Vana and wished them luck. And

  Roland was happy for them.*

  Sherlock Holmes and Stephen told

  everyone they were teaming up to solve

  crimes together. So everyone wished

  them luck too.

  For real this time

  *

  213

  And everybody who was LEFT got a ride

  home with Santa on his magic sleigh.

  When they got to Roland’s house the

  One-Eyed Wizard said good-bye and that

  he was sorry again for all the trouble.

  But Roland could tell the wizard was sad

  to be leaving so he asked if he wanted

  to live with him and his parents. And

  Roland’s mom said the One-Eyed Wizard

  could sleep in Bampy’s old room.

  So everything worked out for everyone,

  and Christmas that year was the best

  one EVER.

  THE END

  215

  I REALLY didn't wanna show the last

  chapter to Greg because I knew he'd

  have negative comments about all the

  Santa stuff. But Greg LOVED it.

  He said the last chapter was GENIUS

  because now we could sell this book as a

  CHRISTMAS story. And he said those kinds

  of books do GREAT around the holidays.

  216

  I was a little worried because not

  everyone celebrates Christmas and I

  didn't want anyone to feel left out.

  So Greg said we could make lots of

  different versions so the story would

  work for EVERYONE.

  The other thing Greg said we should do

  right away was trademark the word

  "kind." And then if anyone uses it in

  THEIR stories they'll have to pay us a

  ton of money.

  217

  But I think I'll let GREG deal with all that

  stuff. The truth is I don't really

  CARE if this book gets published because

  like I said I wrote it for myself ANYWAY.

  Well not JUST myself. I hope my mom

  and dad like it too. In fact I think I'm

  gonna have my dad read it to me as

  my bedtime story tonight. Because I

  really like how he does different voices

  for all the characters when he reads me

  stories.
/>   And if I accidentally fall asleep in my

  parents' bed halfway through the book,

  then I'm OK with that.