Flat Giulia Goes to Florida

Hello! My name is Giulia. This is is a book about many things I did when I was flat, but first I'll tell you how I got my nickname Flat Giulia.

I was walking in a park, I can't remember where, but I saw a playground, I didn't know where I was going so I just began running towards the playground, but then I felt a little stuck, and I realised since I didn't know where I was going, I had accidently got stuck into to little walls which where about the same height as me.

I tried to continue going forwards out of the walls and when I finally had gotten out, the next thing I knew was that I was, as skinny as a toothbrush. No. make that as thin as a toothpick? No, wait a minute I thought, "I'm flat!!!" So this is a book about all the things I did when I was flat.

Things I realised I could do when I was flat. "Mom, please, but I mean PLEASE can I go to Florida?" I said hoping that my mom would say yes. My uncle, aunt, and 2 lovely cousins live in Florida, and I love my aunt and uncle.

But my mom broke my thoughts "What do you mean? Hey, wait a minute, you're flat! Are you O.K? Should I call a doctor? Or no maybe even an ambulance or even a..."

"Mom, I fine" I said. "I got flattened by 2 walls that I tried to go through at the park, but I'm fine see? So I showed her that I was fine, and there was no need to call a doctor.

"What are you talking about?!" my mom asked. Oh yeah. Whoops I forgot to say what I mean I remembered. "You see..." I said in a more calm, less excited voice. "I'm flat right?" I asked.

"Well..."

"Mom!" I interupted "I'm considered flat right?"

"Well... I guess"

"So if I'm flat," I started saying again "I'm flat enough to fit in an envelope" I started saying again. I paused to see if my mom was understanding.

"Keep on going" She said "Say you put me in an envelope, and address the envelope to Florida..." I said. I paused for about three seconds. "Then," I continued "You put some squashed foods and drinks, and wish me a nice trip!" I finished.

My mom made an interesting face. Then she made a suprised face as if she'd realised what I was saying, and said "Perfect idea! Let's do it straight away! You call your cousns, aunt and uncle, when you're done, say goodbye to the family, and then, in the enveope, I'll get that squashed suitcase, that you squashed when you were a baby, I'll prepare the food and your and clothing, and I'll wish you a happy flight!" She smiled.

So we did exactly and I set off. It took quite a long time but I had everything I needed. So when I arrived...

Day 1

My first night, in Florida, I woke up very early. I guess it was jetlag. Anyway , My cousins and aunt and uncle weren't awake, so I spent some time playing, with Toby, (the cat) and Al (the greyhound dog). Al was adopted when he got retired after his career.

Then, Laura woke up and played with me until it was time for her to go to school.

She took me with to her school with her brother Tyler, who is my cousin. Their school is called Spring Creek Elementary School. Laura is 1st grade. Tyler is 8 and is in 3rd grade. I visited Tyler's class first. They were studying multiplication. The class seemed exiced when they heard my story, so they all wanted to have their picture with me in it.

Next I visited Laura's class. She was working on a reading book assignment. After school, Tyler and Laura went to the library to pick up their books. They showed me the library, quickly, but then they took me outside to wait. The sun was shining brightly. I guess I still had jetlag because while I was waiting, they told me they found me asleep on a big cabbage palm. So they gently picked me up and drove me to their house. When we arrived back there they put me into my bed and I slept.

Day 2

Today, in the morning, it was Aunt Belinda's turn to show me around. Aunt Belinada works at an airline (continental) at the Fort Myers Airport.

First, I visited Aunt Belinda at the ticket counter. Aunt Belinda said i fitted well together with the "Continetial" sign, so I tried it. It's comfortable after we'd issued a few tickets to some tourists, and then, Aunt Belinda started heading for the gate, so she could show me around there too.

I met Aunt Belinda's friend Libby when we were heading for the gates, at one of the company's commuter planes. These are 19 seaters, that fly between Fort Myers and Tampa. The trip is supposed to take about 40 minutes. At that time, it was getting to the afternoon, so before we visited Aunt Belinda's friend, we went and had lunch at Burger King. It was yummy!!!!

Then we started heading for the gate, so we could see Aunt Belinda's friend, Libby. We watched her and talked with her for quite a while.

It was about 4:20 pm, so we decided we would go see another of Aunt Belinda's friends. She brought me outside to meet the 1st officer and the captain of a flight. Then, Aunt Belinda took me to another friend of hers. His name is Allen. We stayed with him for a bit, and at one point, Aunt Belinda thought I had been loaded in a bin, but then she found me in Allen's pocket.

Then we decided we should go back inside. Just as we were leaving, there was a jet just pulling in. I decided to check out the cockpit and the crew. I went in and met the commander and a pilot in the cockpit. They wanted me to go back with them to Newark, but I said I hadn' seen the beach yet!!! So we returned home, had dinner and went to bed.

Day 3

Saturday was my last day. It was a beautiful morning so we decided to go to the beach after breakfast. After breakfast we drove to one of the many Beach Accesses along Bonita Beach.

The beaches are open to anyone even if there are houses along them. Every mile or so, there has to be a public access to the beach. Usually they build a wooden bridge through the outlying vegetation of sea grapes and sea grasses so as not to disturb the ecological system that holds the sand in place.

We realised it was quite late, it was about 12:30, so we decided to have lunch. Then, Laura and I played on the beach. We dug in the sand, made sandcastles, and chased sea-gulls and pelicans. We saw the wild dolphins that often come in close to the shore chasing schools of fish. At that point, I decided the dolphins might as well take me for a ride.

After about half an hour, when I came back, Aunt Belinda said I'd dissapeared again, but I just said that the dolphins took me for a ride! In fact, it was quite choppy and a little scary, but I felt no fear with my new friends, the dolphins.

At that time, it was about 3:45, so we decided to go to one of Aunt Belinda's friends that had a pool, so that we could relax and play in the pool. We had a lot of fun there.

It was about 4:45 when we decided it was time to go to Tyler's baseball practice. I wanted to hit a few hits at the end, but I had trouble holding the bat. I got rather dirty with the red sand of the infield tough!!

Then we realised I had to go. We all helped each other, by putting me back in an envelope , waved goodbye.

I hope I can visit Aunt Belinda, Uncle Birt, Tyler, Laura, Al and Toby soon!