Mr. Scary was very upset.
He wrung his hands.
He paced the floor.
Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.
"The vegetable parade is supposed to start in twenty minutes," he cried.
"A hundred people will be coming, and they are expecting a parade.
What am I going to do?"
Suddenly Mr. Chen stood up.
"I'm a magician," he said.
"Maybe I can help you."
Mr. Scary scowled at him.
"Can you make vegetables reappear?" he asked.
"No," said Mr. Chen.
"But I can put on a fabulous magic show.
I brought along some of my props."
"My dad is a great magician!" said Jenny.
"People love his tricks," added Josh.
Mr. Scary was still frowning.
"Are you sure you can entertain one hundred people?" he asked.
"Yes," said Mr. Chen.
"Well, okay, but your show had better be good!" said Mr. Scary.
"I'll go to my room and get my magic things," he told Mr. Scary.
"Just one thing:
do you have a chicken I can borrow for my first trick?"
Mr. Scary looked surprised, but he nodded.
"Yes, we have chickens here," he said.
"They lay fresh eggs for breakfast."
"A chicken?" I thought.
What was Mr. Chen going to use a chicken for?
I hoped he wasn't going to make chicken soup!
I heard Mr. Chen whisper to Josh.
"Can you come upstairs with me to get Bunch?
I'll need him for my last trick."
Josh went upstairs with Mr. Chen.
Mr. Scary left too.
Mr. Scary came back a few minutes later, carrying a chicken.
"Cluck! Cluck!" squawked the chicken.
Families were beginning to file in for the vegetable parade.
Mr. Scary walked to the front of the room.
He was still holding the chicken.
"I have an announcement," he said.
"We will not be having our family vegetable parade today."
"Boo!" someone yelled.
"What a shame," said a woman in a blue hat.
"I wanted to learn how to make vegetable soup."
"I was really excited about the vegetable parade," added a little kid in the front.
"I wanted to see the celery march into the soup pot!"
Mr. Scary held his hand up for silence.
"I know how disappointing this is," he said.
"But instead of a vegetable parade, we are having a magic show."
By now more families had come into the Lake Lounge.
They heard Mr. Scary's announcement.
"Yay! A magic show!" cried a little girl in pigtails.
"That's so cool!"
said a tall boy sitting in the back.
"I love magic shows," said a red-haired woman.
I agreed. A magic show was much more fun than a vegetable parade.
But Mr. Scary looked surprised that people were excited about the magic show.
Soon Mr. Chen came back with his big suitcase of magic things.
Josh came with him, leading Bunch on his leash.
Mr. Chen quickly set up his first trick.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," he said, "I am going to begin with a spectacular trick."
"What is it?" called the tall boy in the back of the room.
Mr. Chen took the chicken from Mr. Scary.
"For my first trick, I am going to pull this chicken's head off!" Mr. Chen exclaimed.
The audience gasped.
Mr. Chen grinned.
"And then," he went on, "I'm going to stick it right back on again."
"Hooray!" I shouted.
"Whew!" said the little girl with pigtails.
"Squawk!" said the chicken.