Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace by Nan Marino

Author:Nan Marino
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Beyond the Yodels

Elvis listened to the music of the yodeling cowboy for the rest of the afternoon. But all the Sourdough Slim songs in the world couldn’t yodel away the fact that those girls came close to discovering who he was. He could tell by the way that coffee girl grabbed his arm and by the flirty smile from that lemonade girl. They were moments away from recognizing him.

And what if they did? How would they react? It was different before he froze onstage. He knew what would have happened before.

Before, his fans would wait outside in the cold or the rain, screaming his name, holding up painted signs they spent hours making. But after the big freeze, the people who stood outside his apartment were paparazzi with mega-huge cameras trying to snap a picture for the front page of a gossip magazine and reporters who shouted out questions like “How does it feel to have let down your adoring fans?” or “How did you feel when that TweenStar judge called you a disappointment to America and the entire rest of the world?”

And his adoring fans? Some of them shouted things like “We still love you,” but he stopped reading his fan mail because too many letters started with words like “You broke my heart.”

He was Elvis Ruby, disappointment to his fans, to America, and to the entire rest of the world.

Being Aaron was definitely a better choice.

The walls felt close. The air felt thick, like blueberry syrup. It was hard to breathe.

Elvis mumbled to Aunt Emily that he was leaving and then headed out the back door. He ran down the steps and into the woods. Cecilia was right. It was different in the daylight. He traveled down the sugar-sand path and into the pygmy forest. Crooked limbs grabbed at him, like anxious fans after he gave a concert.

Elvis tried to remember the last time he was alone. It had been months. In TweenStar the contestants were always in groups. And even if he did happen to be by himself, there were always the cameras. For the entire television season, the contestants lived in the TweenStar mansion and there were cameras everywhere. Every move they made was watched by millions. It was a reality show after all.

Before that, he traveled on a crowded tour bus with his father, Cher, and the rest of the band. He was hardly ever alone.

With Sourdough Slim yodeling in the distance, Elvis was free to explore.

If he followed the yodels, he’d find his way back. The “yaa-deee-oooos” filled up the trees.

He took a few more steps. The paths grew smaller. The trees grew tighter together. A hawk circled overhead.

Sourdough Slim and his yodels were getting farther and farther away. But Elvis heard something else coming from the opposite direction. Music. He could tell what instrument it was by the first note. A violin. Or maybe it was a bird that sounded like a violin? It was hardly a tune at all, only a few scrambled notes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.