Evan ducked his head to keep from banging it on a low tree branch. He took several big steps toward the street.
“Oh!” He stopped and cried out when he felt himself step on something. He heard a cracking, then a crunch beneath his enormous sneaker.
He turned to see Kermit raise both hands to his face. “Oh, no!” Kermit shrieked. “You squashed Andy! Evan—you squashed Andy!”
Evan gasped and jerked up his foot.
Kermit let out a high-pitched laugh. “Gotcha, Evan!”
Andy came running over from the driveway. “That wasn’t funny!” she scolded Kermit. “That was a really dumb joke, Kermit. You scared Evan to death.”
“I know!” Kermit laughed, very pleased with himself.
Evan let out a sigh of relief. He bent down to see what he had stepped on. Conan’s skateboard. It lay crushed and splintered, flat on the grass.
He turned angrily to Kermit. “No more stupid jokes,” he thundered. “Or I’ll put you up in the tree with Conan.”
“Okay. Okay,” Kermit mumbled. “You think you’re tough just because you’re so big.”
Evan held up a pointer finger. “Careful, Kermit,” he warned. “I could knock you over with one finger.”
“Conan is still yelling for help back there,” Andy reported.
Evan smiled. “Let’s see who’s hanging out at the playground. Maybe we can surprise some other kids.”
Evan crossed the street, taking long, heavy strides. He felt as if he were walking on stilts. This is kind of cool, he told himself. I’m the biggest person in the world!
He passed by the neighbors’ basketball hoop, which stood on a pole at the curb. Hey—I’m at least six feet taller than the basket! he realized.
“Hey—wait up!” Andy called breathlessly. “Don’t walk so fast!”
“I can’t help it!” Evan called back.
A small blue car rolled by, then squealed to a stop. Evan could see a woman and two kids in the car. They were all staring out at him.
A little girl on a bike turned the corner. She started pedaling toward Evan. He saw the look of surprise on her face when she spotted him.
She braked her bike hard, nearly toppling over the handlebars. Then she wheeled around and sped out of sight.
Evan laughed.
Another car screeched to a halt.
As he started to cross another street, Evan turned to see who was in the car. He didn’t watch where he was going.
A loud crunch made him stop.
With a gasp, he peered down—and saw that he had stepped on a car.
“Oh, no!” Evan cried. His sneaker had crushed in the top of the car—as if it were made of tinfoil.
Evan backed away in horror. Was someone inside?
He dropped to his knees to stare in the window. “Thank goodness!” he cried when he saw that the car was empty.
“Wow!” Kermit exclaimed, walking around and around the smashed-in car. “You must weigh at least a ton, Evan!”
Andy stepped up beside Evan, who remained on his knees. “Be careful,” she warned. “You’ve got to watch every step.”
Evan nodded in agreement. “At least I think I’ve stopped growing,” he called down to her.
As they reached the playground, Evan saw several kids shouting and pointing excitedly at a tall maple tree on the corner.
What’s going on? Evan wondered.
As he lumbered closer, he saw the problem. Their yellow kite had become stuck up in the tree.
“Hey—no problem!” Evan boomed.
The kids screamed and cried out in surprise as Evan stepped up to them. They all backed away, their faces tight with fear.
Evan reached up easily and tugged the kite loose from the tree limb. Then he leaned down and gently handed it to the nearest kid.
“Hey, thanks!” A grin spread across the kid’s freckled face.
The other kids all cheered. Evan took a bow.
