My name is Charlie Moore

Dedicated to most grown-ups.

I am Charlie Moore.  My parents are Alice and Peter Moore.  I live at 371 Auguste Villeneuve Lane.

I have superpowers.  I make myself invisible.  I fly and I can talk to animals.  I am 6 1/2 years old, and my best friends are Harold and Betty. I go to the school where my Mom is a teacher.  I have a few friends that I see at school and play sometimes at the park.  Do you like my picture?

Most of the time I'm at home having adventures with Harold and Betty, sometimes with Mom and Dad.  My house is pretty big and what I like the most in my house is the backyard, it's big and has lots of bushes to play in.  I have a fort made with Dad’s old camping tarp and wooden boxes that I found.  I pretend that I'm being attacked by aliens, and me, Harold and Betty save the fort from the bad guys.

I'm going to explain to you how I got superpowers and maybe, if you want to, you can get them too.  I have always wanted to have a real friend, you know?  The kind that is there for you when you need them, the kind that will help when you need them to.  Well…that's how I got the power of talking to animals.  I just wanted so much to have these friends and the kids at school have other interests.  Sometimes they are nice and sometimes they are really bad.  They make fun of me and they hit me.

I just wanted to have friends who were always going to be on my side all the time.  Betty, the spider, was the first friend I got.  She started talking to me and now we are always together.  She was the one who told me it was OK to talk to Harold my dog.  Now Harold is my best friend too!

The other night, when I went to bed, Betty was on the window.  I opened the window and brought her in.  She was crying, a little lonely and cold so I put her underneath the covers.  She told me that she missed her family and that she would like to go for a visit.  So there… since Lilly taught me to fly that day at the beach I decided to take Betty flying.  That night I dreamed about going to the Amazon.  The next morning we looked at the map to find out where we were going.  I put Betty in my pocket and flew to the Amazon.  The Amazon is quite hot and humid with lots and lots of trees.  The smell is fresh and humid with clean air. The jungle had so much noise, all of the animals talking and screaming at the same time.  Worse than when my parents take me downtown.

Everybody at Betty’s was friendly and they offered me all kinds of strange food.  They were so nice that I couldn’t refuse.  Some food was good and some very bad but I tried it all to be polite like my Mom always tells me to.  Betty was busy talking to her family and telling them all about home, she was eating and eating and running from one side to the other.  Finally she told me that it was time to go home and that she was so happy.  I put her back in my pocket and said good bye to everyone and flew back home.  When we got home, Mom was looking for me as always.  When I walked into the family room she was angry.

  "Where have you been?" she demanded.

  "Brazil!" I said proudly as I pointed to the map.

  "I took Betty home so she could see her family,” I explained.

  "Betty?” she said.  She looked at me with that face that she makes when she doesn't understand, with her arms crossed like she's expecting a miracle to happen!

  "Yes Mom!  You don’t know Betty, she's my best friend!" I exclaimed as I pulled Betty out of my pocket.

  "Charlie!!  That is a tarantula!!" she screamed.

Her eyes were like full moons and her face was not sweet any more.  I knew I had to do something to calm her down.

"Mother,” I said calmly, pretending to be one of the grown-ups.

  "This is my friend Betty, she protects me from bad guys and keeps me company when I'm alone at home.  Betty can talk," I continued.

Betty was in the palm of my hand watching Mom who was backing out of the kitchen with her hands over her mouth.

  "Nothing to fear Mom, I have known Betty for a few months.  Harold is her friend too," I reassured.

My Mom stopped in the hallway, she looked pale and couldn't talk. I put Betty on the table and went to hug her.

  "I love you Mom," I said rubbing my head into her belly, that was my favourite thing to do.  I smelled her sweetness and felt her softness.  She hugged me back and smiled.