Mr. Lemoncello's Fantabulous Finale by Chris Grabenstein

Author:Chris Grabenstein [Grabenstein, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2024-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

36

Sixty-seven minutes later (not that Kyle had been tracking the time), the plane touched down in Florida.

A high-roofed Sprinter van pulled up alongside the banana jet on the runway. Ms. Yen was riding in the passenger seat.

Chester Raymo, Mr. Lemoncello’s longtime chief imagineer, was behind the wheel in his white lab coat. He was dabbing the sweat on top of his bald head with the tip of his skinny tie.

Ms. Yen climbed out of the van, leaving her door wide open.

“Now we’re air-conditioning the runway?” grumbled Mr. Raymo, sounding like Kyle’s dad whenever Kyle or one of his brothers left the back door open in summer.

Ms. Yen closed the van door and faced the seven contestants. “Welcome to Florida! Or should I say, welcome back, Ms. Ortega.”

Gloria laughed. “Good to be home in the land of high humidity!”

The air was so thick, it was like the whole state of Florida was sweating. Kyle just hoped it didn’t have BO, too.

“Please find a seat in the van,” said Ms. Yen. The side door had just magically slid open. (Or maybe Mr. Raymo had pushed a button on the dashboard.) Kyle grabbed a seat in the last row.

There was another illustrated, cartoonish map of the seven-hundred-acre Lemoncelloland theme park tucked into a webbed pocket on the seat back in front of him.

“Cool!” he said when he realized that the central focal point of the park, where Disney World had Cinderella Castle, was a towering replica of the Lemoncello Library with its gold dome.

“Hearty and splendiferous greetings to you all!” said Mr. Lemoncello from the twelve seat-back video screens in the vehicle. “Welcome to Lemoncelloland. The library at the center of the park is your key to exploring this magical place. Enter the library and choose one of a dozen exits. You can explore Booktopia. Or follow the pathways leading you into Gamesville. While in Booktopia, be sure you visit our fantabulous Fairy-Tale Castle, the Forest of Tall Tales, the International House of Mythological Creatures, and the Island of Dr. Libris, where books and classic characters come to life.”

The video showed dramatic clips of all these attractions.

“Want some exciting thrills?” the prerecorded Mr. Lemoncello continued. “You’ll find plenty of nonfictional excitement in Real-World World.”

What about Gamesville? thought Kyle. Tell us more about Gamesville, please.

“Or perhaps you’ll take one of the library exits leading into Gamesville, where life-sized games and larger-than-life challenges await. Are they fun? Hello? They’ve all been created by me, Luigi L. Lemoncello!”

“Gamesville is probably where they’ll announce the winner of this game,” said Soraiya.

“Well,” added Patricia, “this is the biggest game Mr. Lemoncello ever created.”

The van cruised under an arch of brightly colored fiberglass balloons supporting a giant “Welcome to Lemoncelloland” sign.

“Now please,” said Mr. Lemoncello, “get ready to let your imagination run wild while your driver looks for a place to park. You should be inside in a matter of minutes!”

The entry road led to a sea of lined asphalt the size of four shopping mall parking lots. All the spaces were empty.

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