One day SuperKevin woke up to a beautifully dull day in Boringville. He put on his boring cape, went downstairs to his boring kitchen, and ate some boring cereal. Two boring hours later the boring mailman came and dropped off some seemingly boring mail. SuperKevin put on his boring shoes and went out to his mailbox which was-you guessed it-boring! Inside were two letters. One was a boring electric bill so he could turn on his boring lamp and read his boring books. The other-SuperKevin blinked- Could he be seeing things? The other was a super-colorful square envelope addressed to:
SuperKevin
123 Snore Lane
Boringville, 12345


The return address said only “Miss Tearious” and the stamp had a picture of a ladybug on it. “What?” said SuperKevin. “This is Boringville, and the mail is supposed to be boring.” But he was so curious that he opened the envelope anyway. First a lot of glitter fell out. Then SuperKevin pulled out a purple shiny card. He opened it. It said:

SuperKevin,

You are on a quest! You must find the secret hideout by the end of the day. Here are three hints to help you on your journey.
1.
You must travel through Excitingville.
2.
You must talk to the people in Excitingville.
3.
I have enclosed a special watch. When you press the button on it, the Mission Commander will appear on the screen and give you some help. Her code name is “Grandma”.

Good luck!
-Miss Tearious

SuperKevin was excited! But he was a little nervous, too. What if this was a trick? He decided to go to Detective Matthew to find out. He put on his special watch and flew over to Detective Matthew’s office.
SuperKevin found Detective Matthew with his feet up on his cool detective desk, reading a comic book. “Hi, SuperKevin!” he said. “What can I do for you?” “Well, I got a strange letter in my mailbox today.” He walked over to the desk and handed Detective Matthew the letter. Detective Matthew said “Hmm, very unusual for Boringville…I’ll take a look at it. You can sit in that chair over there, it’s very comfy.” While SuperKevin sat in the comfy chair, Detective Matthew examined the card all over. “Well, this card doesn’t seem to be dangerous, but I’ll come along with you if you like!” SuperKevin said, “What a great idea!”
So they set off for Excitingville! On the way Detective Matthew said “We’d better check in with Grandma the Mission Commander.” “Okay,” said SuperKevin. He pressed the button on his special watch. A woman’s face appeared on the screen. She said “Good job, Super Kevin! You’re already in your way! Thanks for checking in with me.” “It was Detective Matthew’s idea.” said SuperKevin. Grandma smiled at them. “The first person you’ll meet will be a farmer. Good luck!” And then the screen went blank. “All right, SuperKevin! Let’s be on the lookout for a farmer!”

They walked along a sidewalk where every square was painted a different color! “Wow!” said SuperKevin. “Compared to Boringville, this is so, well, exciting!” He looked around at the lollypop trees and huge playgrounds. “Well, that’s why it’s called Excitingville!” Said Detective Matthew. “Oh, look, a farmer! And he looks worried!” SuperKevin and Detective Matthew ran over to meet him.

Chapter Two
The Farmer

“What’s wrong?” asked SuperKevin. The farmer wiped his brow and said “I was supposed to pick thirty potatoes, but I only picked ten and my glasses fell off somewhere in the field. Now I can hardly see, let alone gather potatoes. Who are you, anyway?” “I’m SuperKevin and this is Detective Matthew,” Said SuperKevin. “Who are you?” “You can call me Farmer Ray.” He said. Detective Matthew said “So, you needed thirty potatoes, and you already picked ten,” “Right.” said Farmer Ray. “Then according to my calculations, you still need twenty potatoes. Since there are two of us, we should each dig up ten potatoes for you!” “You’re so clever!’ said Farmer Ray. “Let’s go get some potatoes!” said SuperKevin.
With Detective Matthew’s quick math skills, and SuperKevin’s super speed, they had twenty ripe potatoes in a neat little pile in only one minute! “Wow, that was amazing!” said Farmer Ray. “Oh, and here are your glasses. I found them with my metal detector!” said Detective Matthew. “You boys are terrific, just terrific!” Farmer Ray said. “As a reward, please take this extra bag of potatoes.” “Wow, thanks!” Said SuperKevin. “Bye!” said Detective Matthew. “Bye boys, and thanks again!” Came the voice of the farmer as he loaded the potatoes onto his tractor.



Chapter Three
The Artist

SuperKevin and Detective Matthew followed the multicolored sidewalk for another two minutes. Then they noticed something. “Hey, look!” Said SuperKevin. Detective Matthew said, “The sidewalk squares are starting to have patterns and shapes instead of just colors.” They saw a purple square with a big, red circle on it. Then they saw a light green square with white corners. As they walked further and further, the squares got crazier and crazier! Blue and yellow stripes! Black with orange stars! Silver and Gold criss-crosses! Blue, yellow, purple and green checks! And finally, a white square with rainbow polka dots all over it! They looked at the next square. It was just plain cement. It reminded SuperKevin of Boringville. Standing in the middle of the square was an Artist! She looked very sad!
“Wow, did you paint all these?” asked SuperKevin. “Yes,” sighed the Artist.” But I have no more ideas, and this is the last square!” “Darn, that stinks.” Said Detective Matthew. “Could you show us some of your other work?” “Sure!” she said. “By the way, you can call me Amy the Artist. I could even paint your portrait!” Said Amy the Artist. “Cool!” said SuperKevin. “Wait, what’s a portrait?” Detective Matthew said “It’s a picture of you. When she’s done, it will look just like us!” And he was right! When Amy the Artist turned the canvas towards them, the boys almost fell off the bench they were sitting on! It looked exactly like them! SuperKevin said “Wow, how did you do that?” Detective Matthew scratched his head in wonder. So did his portrait. “Huh? Hey, wait a minute…” He said. “Paintings don’t move!” Said SuperKevin! And Detective Matthew said, “But mirrors do!”
Amy the artist sighed again. “You caught me. I can’t really paint portraits. I painted the canvas with mirror-paint so it would look just like you! But I do know how to sculpt, if only I had something to sculpt with…” “Hey,” said SuperKevin, “What about potatoes?” “Potatoes? That would be great!” She said. “But I don’t have any.” “But we do!” Said Detective Matthew! He handed her the sack of potatoes Farmer Ray had given them. “Perfect!” she said. “Thanks so much! And I think I have a great idea for my last square! You can keep the “portrait”. The paint has dried, so it is just like an actual mirror!” “Cool, thanks!” said Detective Matthew as he put the mirror in his backpack. They left just as Amy The Artist began to paint the last square. Can you guess what she was painting on it? Potatoes!

Chapter Four
The Monster

Back to the sidewalk! They kept walking until, suddenly, the sidewalk stopped! “What now?” said SuperKevin. “Well, this gives us another chance to check in with Grandma!” said Detective Matthew. “Oh, great idea!” said SuperKevin. He pushed the button on his watch again. Grandma’s face appeared. “Hello, SuperKevin! Hello, Detective Matthew!” Detective Matthew said “Hi, Grandma! We wanted to ask you something.” “Great! I love questions! What’s the matter?” she said. SuperKevin said “Well, the colored sidewalk just ended and we’re wondering where to go now.” Grandma said “Well! The only place you can go now is the Jelly Bean Forest. But there’s a catch. A scary monster named Calvin lives there! Be very careful and hope that he doesn’t find you! Well, that’s all I can say for now. Best of luck to you both!” “To the forest!!” yelled SuperKevin. “But What about Calvin the Monster?” said Detective Matthew. “We have to be brave! Grandma and Miss Tearious are counting on us!” Detective Matthew said. “You’re right! Let’s go!”

So they headed for the Jelly Bean Forest! “Wow, now I can see why this is called Jelly Bean Forest!” said SuperKevin. Detective Matthew said, “Yeah, Jelly Beans are everywhere! On the trees, on the flowers; even the squirrels are wearing jelly bean necklaces!” Then they heard a low growl. “Was that your stomach, SuperKevin? These jelly beans look delicious!” “No…” said SuperKevin. “Then it must be…” They said, “CALVIN THE MONSTER!!!” Sure enough, another huge roar filled the air and a big, green, furry, angry, hungry, scary MONSTER leapt out of the bushes. “We need to scare it away!” yelled SuperKevin. Detective Matthew did some quick thinking. He thought, “Nothing could be scarier than his face, so we have to show it to him!” He quickly pulled the mirror from Amy the Artist out of his backpack and held it up to Calvin’s face just as he let out another mighty roar!
Well guys, that roar ended up as a “Yelp!” when he saw his scary face. He ran away whimpering. SuperKevin gave Detective Matthew a high-five and said “Great job! What a great idea!” Then he said, “What’s that?” Inside Calvin’s giant-sized paw print trail, there were hundreds of little crumbs! “Sandwich crumbs to be exact!” said Detective Matthew when he looked at them through is magnifying glass. “He must eat a lot of sandwiches!” “Hey, let’s gather them up!” said SuperKevin. “Sure, why not?” said Detective Matthew. They spent the next few minutes picking up crumbs, and a few jelly beans too!

Chapter Five
The Pet Shop

Not much later the boys came across a pet shop. “Let’s go in there!” said SuperKevin. Ding-a-ling! went the bell as they pushed the door open to go inside. They saw a sweet old lady sitting behind the counter. She looked sad. Detective Matthew said “Hi! Is something wrong?” “Hello,” she said. You can call me Pet Shop Granny. I’m sad because I just ran out of bird food, and my bird looks so hungry!” The boys looked at the beautiful orange canary. He did look hungry. He wasn’t flying around or anything. Pet Shop Granny said “The worst part is, he doesn’t even sing.” “That’s too bad.” Said Detective Matthew.
SuperKevin said, “Yeah. What other pets are here?” Pet Shop Granny said, “Well, there are puppies, goldfish and iguanas, and also kittens, birds, and rats. Oh, and there’s a stable out back for llamas and unicorns. “Wow, that’s amazing!” said SuperKevin. The only pets in Boringville are pet rocks.” Pet Shop Granny said “Would you boys like to stay for lemonade and sandwiches?” Detective Matthew snapped his fingers. “Pet Shop Granny, we have a whole backpack full of sandwich crumbs! Would that make good bird food?” Pet Shop Granny said, “That would be perfect! Sunny would love that!”
SuperKevin put some of the bread crumbs in Sunny’s feeding dish, and the rest in a big plastic bag which he handed to Pet Shop Granny. “This is wonderful!” She said. “How can I ever repay you? What if I gave you a goldfish to take along?” And she put a neon orange fish in a plastic bag and handed it to them. “Take care, and thanks again!” she said as they walked out. “Wow, thanks!” said Detective Matthew. As they started walking out, Sunny began to sing the most glorious song! Pet Shop Granny smiled a delighted smile at them. Ding-a-ling! Went the bell.

Chapter Six
The Fairy

Detective Matthew led the way through the Jelly Bean Forest, While SuperKevin trailed behind, carrying the fish. “You know, SuperKevin?” Said Detective Matthew. “I think this is the most fun day I’ve ever had in my whole life! SuperKevin said “This is the ONLY fun day I’ve had in my life! Living in Boringville is pretty boring. I’m having the best day ever!”
Soon they came to a crystal clear pond. In the middle of the pond was a big rock. In the middle of the rock was a pond fairy. In the middle of the fairy’s face was a frown! “Hi! Is something wrong?” called SuperKevin. The fairy flew over to them. “I’m Karen the Fairy. I’m just lonely because there isn’t anyone to play with here. There are plenty of animals in the forest, it’s just that none of them can swim. There’s deer, bunnies, even monsters!” she shuddered. “Well, guess what we just happen to have?” said Detective Matthew. “What?” said Karen the Fairy. And SuperKevin said “A goldfish!” “Really?” she said. “You’d give me a fish friend?” The boys nodded. “You guys are the best! Here, let me show you something.” She led them to the other side of the beautiful turquoise pond, to a neat little garden. In it were six pretty flowers. One was red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue, and one purple.
Karen the Fairy gently picked the bright purple flower and handed it to them. “When you squeeze it, it shoots a beautiful stream of water into the air.” She had SuperKevin squeeze it, and the shining arc of water hit the sun and made a beautiful rainbow! “Thanks!” They said. “No, thank you!” Said Karen the Fairy. Detective Matthew undid the twisty-tie on the plastic bag and set the fish free into the pond. He smiled and swam around. Karen the Fairy gave a cheerful wave as the boys started off. They heard splashes and laughter behind them. They emerged from the forest and saw…

Chapter Seven
The Clown


A very discouraged clown was sitting on a bench in the town square of Excitingville. “Hi,” He said. “I’m Eric the Clown, but I’m considering being Eric the Plumber. “Why?” said SuperKevin. “Nobody thinks I’m funny! I’ve tried everything! I tell jokes, I sing silly songs, and I even juggle pineapples!” He said with a frown. Then he demonstrated. He juggled three, four, five pineapples at once, all while standing on a big red ball! The boys laughed and clapped. Eric the clown stepped off the ball. He said “Why were you laughing?” And SuperKevin said, “Because you were funny!” “But none of the other kids think I’m funny.”
Then Detective Matthew said, “Maybe it’s because they’ve seen you do it before. We just saw it for the first time, and thought it was great! But if those kids have seen you do it over and over again, it might get a little old. What you need is a new act!” Eric the Clown said “That would be awesome! What should I do?” SuperKevin said “How about squirting people with a flower? We even have one you can use!” He handed the purple flower to Eric the Clown. He took it and squirted himself! Some nearby kids noticed and started laughing. Eric the clown beamed. He squirted himself again and acted surprised that he was all wet. More kids laughed.
Soon he had a little crowd around him. He started squirting the kids around him and they loved it! Soon they were all squealing with laughter! Eric the Clown stopped squirting long enough to say “Thanks, guys! Here, take this special treasure map!” He threw them an envelope and then went right back to squirting. “Cool!” said Detective Matthew. “Bye!” yelled SuperKevin! And they set off once again.

Chapter Eight
The Ending

“So, I’m guessing this map leads to that secret hide-out.” Said SuperKevin. They looked inside the envelope. Inside was a funny-looking treasure map which SuperKevin held. There was also a newly sharpened pencil, which Detective Matthew held. “The first thing on the map is a tall, purple building!” said Detective Matthew. “Ooh, there’s one!” shouted SuperKevin. Detective Matthew said “Oh no! There’s another one” “How do we know which one to go to?” Said SuperKevin. Detective Matthew said “Let’s look at the map. The building on the map has a big antenna on it!” Only one of the purple buildings had an antenna on it, so they ran towards it. It had exactly 99 floors! “Let’s take the elevator, not the stairs…” said Detective Matthew. SuperKevin pressed the 99 button and they zoomed up, up, up! Until they heard a “ding!” and the elevator doors opened.
In front of them was a door that said “TO THE ROOF” “Let’s go!” said SuperKevin. They pushed it open and found themselves on top of the building where they could see for miles! Detective Matthew used his pencil to check off the purple building. Then they saw the zip-line and got on it! They zoomed so fast that SuperKevin’s cape stuck out straight behind them! When they landed, they were at the top of a giant slide! Detective Matthew paused to check the zip-line off the map. Then they slid down the slide! It had lots of fun twists and turns, and even a loop-the-loop! When they jumped off, laughing from the excitement, they landed on a boat! They were floating on the Ocean at Ocean City New Jersey! While SuperKevin steered, Detective Matthew checked off the slide. Finally SuperKevin said “Land ho!” Detective Matthew said “That’s not land, silly! That’s the hideout! And it’s floating on the middle of the ocean!”
They leapt out of the boat. They were just about to knock when Miss Tearious opened the door! “Congratulations!” She cried. “You made it! I’m so proud of you. Come on in! I’m Miss Emily Tearious!” When they walked in they saw everyone they had met on their journey! Karen the Fairy was admiring a sculpture of a frog that Amy the Artist had made with her potatoes. Eric the Clown was making Farmer Ray laugh by pretending he had a potato for a nose! Grandma the Mission Commander was petting a beautiful potato-brown bunny on Pet Shop Granny’s lap. Even Calvin the Monster was there, eating a huge plate of potato salad sandwiches! Turns out, he was a vegetarian. Miss Tearious said “Everyone! Look who’s here! They made it!” Everybody clapped and cheered. Eric the clown honked his nose! She said, “They’re just in time for dinner! We’ll have a celebration!”
Do you know what they had for their celebration dinner? I think you do…
POTATOES!!!