Frank Stein Jr. Throws a Party

There once was a little boy named Frank Stein Jr. He lived with his mom, Sally, his dad, Frank Stein Sr., and his little dog, Mutt. Frankie, which is what he liked to be called, was a nice boy. He went to school, listened to his parents and his teachers, and played nice with the other children.

But Frankie was different. He didn’t live in the suburbs with the other children. He lived in the country, in a small, cozy home, in the middle of no where.

He had green skin, and bolts in his neck, traits passed down from his daddy. And he walked with a slight limp.

The kids at school were mean to Frankie. They made fun of him for being different, even though he couldn’t help it.

This made Frankie sad. He would come home alone, while other children would hang out together and play.

One day, Frankie came home upset, and his mom noticed.

“Frankie, what’s the matter?” She asked.

“The kids at school make fun of me.” Frankie told her.

“Why would they do that? You’re a very nice, smart boy.” Frankie’s mom said.

“Because I look different than they do,” he said.

“Frankie,” she sighed. “Everyone looks different. It’s a part of life. If everyone looked the same, you wouldn’t be able to tell one person from the next.”

“Hey, your right Mom!” Frankie exclaimed.

Sally smiled at Frankie. “Everyone is different. Don’t let it bother you.”

“Alright.”

“I know!” Frankie’s mom exclaimed. “Halloween is in a few days. Why don’t we throw a Halloween party. Maybe then the other children can get to know you better.”

“Ok!” Frankie said, shaking his head excitedly.

So, Frankie made invitations for his classmates while his mom and dad decorated the house and made spooky treats for the kids to eat. The house really looked spooktacular, and everyone accepted Frankie’s invitation to come to the party.

When the kids started arriving, Frankie answered the door, and everyone said hello to him. And when he handed out the ghost decorated cookies his mom made, everyone thanked him. But no one talked openly with him.

“Time to play a game!” Frankie’s dad called.

Everyone gathered around Mr. Stein, he handed out bits of paper and pencils.

“What are these for?” Joey, one of Frankie’s classmates asked.

“Everyone is going to write down one thing, on each piece of paper that I gave you, that is different about them from everyone else in this room. Then we’re going to put all of the papers in a hat and everyone will draw three papers each. One person at a time will read the papers out loud, and we will have to try and guess who the person is.”

“That sounds like fun!” Brianna exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Joey said, already writing his down on the papers Mr. Stein had given him.

The children put the papers in the large hat Frankie’s dad put in the middle of the circle everyone had formed, and, one at a time, Frankie and his classmates picked out three papers each.

Going around in a circle, the kids each read their papers and had to guess who wrote it. Some kids wrote that they had blond hair, brown hair, green eyes, dark skin, liked to help cook dinner, or liked to play sports.

But, everyone realized that were different. When it was time for Frankie’s classmates to go home, they all thanked him for the party, and apologized for being mean.

Joey was the last kid to leave. “I’m really sorry, Frankie. Can we be friends?”

“Yes!” Frankie said, excited to have an official friend.

“Cool,” Joey said smiling. “You should come over to my house tomorrow then and we can play.”

“Ok,” Frankie said, closing the door to the cool October night.
Turning around he saw his mom cleaning up the leftover goodies. He ran to her, hugging her.

Sally laughed. “Did you have fun?”

“Yes. Thank you mom.”

“Your welcome dear.”

That night, everyone went home happy. No one’s feelings were hurt, and friends were made. And, best of all, everyone was different.