Charlie lay in bed half asleep looking at the pipes above him. Could it be that he had been there dancing with Timothy and Dorcas just the night before? A strange warmth filled his heart as he remembered the sweet tea he enjoyed with them around the fire making senseless jokes. It seemed like ages ago but only a few hours had passed.

He looked around to see the same cracks in the ceiling and rusty pipes above his head. As he climbed down the ladder rings he was reminded of the accident he had last night. Just then his brother Sam gave the ladder a slight push, just enough for it to fall off the bed.

“It stinks like vomit in here Chuck.”

Charlie put down his head.

“I’ll clean it up.”

Nothing changed. Mom had already gone to work. She was a nurse’s aid and had to be at the hospital by 7 am. The good thing was that she back home by 5pm. The bad thing was that she was exhausted every day. All she did was come home and eat and drink and sleep.

Charlie cleaned up the mess he made and went into the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cold cereal.

"Hey, We’re out of milk.”

Sam opened a can of Budweiser and took a gulp then poured the rest into Charlie’s bowl.

"That’s all we got left in the fridge. The malt and hops will do you well.”

Charlie got to his second grade classroom at General Custer School a little dazed and confused. He could not but think about a school covered with custard.

When he walked into the classroom the whole class cheered. Charlie was so surprised and happy. Then a kid told him, “Now we are fifteen boys and fourteen girls. Boys win!”

The teacher told him to take a seat in the second row right across from Kim De Niro. Charlie had seen a lot of movies and he was sure he knew how to deal with this kind of girl. He walked up real smooth to her desk and pushed his glasses down a little bit and looked at her. He said it real cool like he was Arthur Fonzerelli on Happy Days:

"I love you.”

She just shook her head and then put her head down. Trying not to let it get him down Charlie went to his seat and couldn’t remember a word his teacher said all morning until she said,

"Lunch time.”

This was a word that Charlie was familiar with. In the passed Charlie had to bring his own lunch to school but since they moved to this new neighborhood Charlie got a hot lunch at school due to something called “Government subsidy” whatever that means. For Charlie it just meant broccoli in his Jello and meat that smells like chicken but looks like liver.

Charlie the new kid sat all alone. A million thoughts raced through his mind. He wondered what his mom was eating at the hospital. She said they gave her so many patients she has no time to eat lunch these days. Charlie felt so lonely and wondered what it would take to be popular.

He saw in another movie that one kid tripped another kid carrying his lunch tray and everybody laughed. Charlie wanted to try this and Anthony Valera was coming down the aisle carrying his lunch tray at just that moment. Charlie stuck out his foot waiting for the excitement to begin.

"Get your foot out of the aisle you idiot!”

Charlie waiting for something to happen but the only thing that happened was that his face turned red. He sat all alone staring into his green Jello.

Then the lunch room doors were knocked off big a giant kick. Oh no, Timothy warned him about these guys. It was the worse nightmare Charlie ever had and it was coming right to the lunch room.

The leader had a bandana and a wooden leg. He said,

“Argh! We’re tak’n these kids hostage because there’s no custard in this lunch!”

The teacher on duty, Miss Doubtweiler, screamed. She couldn’t believe her eyes as four giant cats walked around the lunch room flashing swords. They threatened her with a knife and gagged her. These pirates went pillaging through the lunchroom cafeteria spilling green Jello everywhere. Then they came to Charlie and said,

“This one.”

They picked up Charlie and the two other kids and then the leader called out on his wrist guard.

"We got’em now beam us up."

A green glowing light flashed across the lunchroom and they were gone. The next thing Charlie knew he was in some kind of strange cold building. The captain spoke up.

"This is our vessel. We are space pirates. I’m Tyger captain of the Catarons. One of you kids has gone into our world and made contact with our enemies the Ratillions. We are going to find out today who has been fraternizing with the enemies and we will make him eat the cheese."

Charlie wondered how they could have known he was flatulating with Timothy and Dorcas the nice rat family the other night. But somehow they knew it and if they found out they would make him “eat the cheese”. Charlie was not about to find out what kind of torture this was. He had to think of a way out of this.

The space pirates interrogated each of the kids individually listening to each of their stories. When it came to Charlie’s turn they put him in a dark room and shined a bright on him. They showed him the other side of the screen and said,

“You want your little friend Kimmy De Niro to live don’t you?”

A spark flashed around Kim and then Charlie was given a charge from Tyger’s wrist device device. Charlie screamed,

“I admit it. I saw the rat. But he his is a friendly rat. He wouldn’t hurt anyone”

“Okay little boy. Then tell me… What was he wearing?”

“He was wearing baby pink long johns!”

“That’s the rat we want. Now tell us where he is.”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know. I was in my bed in the basement looking up and the pipes and this rat came by. I followed him and we went through this hole. In there the sky was green and the grass was blue. We dug a little further and there was a purple world where everything was comfortable and cozy.”

“Ha! He’s in Narmathan you Earthling scum! You and your friends get back to the forgetme chamber.

With that Tyger pushed his friends into the chamber and locked the door shut. The cold air bit at Charlie’s flesh until he was number. The friends tried to stay together to keep warm. This Kim who once shock her head at him now looked up to Charlie and cried her frozen tears. Charlie embraced her and although freezing felt a tinge of life and then all was black.

When he woke up again he was in the lunch room. Everything was the same like it was only it was about two minutes earlier before this all happened. Charlie felt dizzy and looked up. There was Anthony Valera was coming down the aisle carrying his lunch tray. Charlie laughed thinking, “I’m not going to go through this again.” He just watched Anthony pass by and smiled.

Charlie looked down at his lunch tray and there was the mystery meat and Jello but another side dish was added. There was a piece of green cheese next to the broccoli Jello. Charlie felt that someone came down to sit directly across from him. When Charlie looked up it was Kim. She said,

“I know it’s tough to be the new kid and all. I just felt like I needed to tell you. I’m sorry I turned away from you in first hour class. You are a cool kid. I was just kid of… I don’t know. Shocked.”

Charlie couldn’t believe his ears or his eyes.

Kim said,