The Infinite Questions of Dottie Bing by Molly B. Burnham

Author:Molly B. Burnham [Burnham, Molly B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

29. What Do You Need a Railing For?

Dottie and Sam and Miles agreed to meet back at Dottie’s house in a half an hour.

As Dottie walked inside, Jazzy shouted at the top of her lungs, “Dottie’s home!”

“You don’t need to shout,” Grandpa Walter said. “Ima and I can hear just fine.”

Usually, Dottie’s dad met her with a snack, but he wasn’t here. Today it was Grandpa Walter and Jazzy and no snack.

“Now that Dottie is home,” Grandpa Walter said, “I’m going to have a little rest.”

“Bye-bye Ima!” Jazzy waved to the can.

“Where’s Dad?” Dottie asked.

“Out,” Jazzy said. “Grandpa Walter and I had a coffee date.”

“You drank coffee?”

“Yuck, no!” Jazzy made a face. “Warm milk.”

Jazzy stood up and did a little tap dance. “You’re never going to guess who I have been talking to.” Jazzy didn’t wait for an answer. “Ima!”

Dottie froze. Jazzy went on. “She sends her love and says she misses me. She misses you too. Also, she wishes she could have a cup of coffee. She really misses coffee. She says not to worry about her. She also thanks you for sharing your room with Grandpa Walter and says it would be nice if you let him paint it green. She says Grandpa Walter has always liked the color green.”

Dottie ignored the comment about painting her room. That would never happen. It took Dottie ages to pick out the exact color of blue that she wanted. She wasn’t changing it.

“You talked to Ima?”

“She’s got a lot to say and luckily Grandpa Walter hears it all because I can’t hear a word.”

Dottie felt a lump form in her throat—the alligator and his friends were back.

Dottie wanted to talk to Ima. She had so much to tell her. About Sam and the baby, about the tree house and Miles and about school and what she’d learned about dung beetles. In the middle of listing all the topics she wanted to share, she stopped.

Everything stopped.

Everything except one thought. Why could Grandpa Walter talk to Ima and not Dottie?

There were so many things she wanted to share but couldn’t. Her insides hurt like all the animals were scratching and poking and biting and jumping and squeezing all at the same time. Dottie wanted to run away from it, but it was inside her. There was nowhere to go.

And then Jazzy climbed into Dottie’s lap. “Can you finish the tree house now? I want somewhere to tap-dance.” Jazzy tweaked Dottie’s nose, so she’d pay attention. “TREE HOUSE!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

By the time Sam and Miles arrived a few minutes later, Jazzy was hanging upside down off a lawn chair and Dottie was staring at the platform.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked.

“Trying to decide what we build next,” Dottie said.

“That’s easy,” Miles said. “A railing.”

“What do you need a railing for?” Jazzy asked.

“To keep us safe,” Miles said.

“What’s it keeping us safe from?” Jazzy asked. Her eyeballs bulged from hanging upside down.

“From falling out,” Miles said.

“But your tree house is on the ground.

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