Robyn Reports the Election- Chapter 1
“Is she awake?”
“I don’t know. Tickle her feet or something.”
“No way. You do it!”
“You’re her best friend.”
I slowly open my eyes. Through the slits, I see two blurry people. They are standing at the foot of my bed. Suddenly, one of them touches my toes. I try not to laugh, but I have really ticklish feet. I reach for my glasses. When I put them on, I see two of my reporters – J.P. and Corinna.
I am Robyn Zimmerman. I run my neighborhood newspaper, The Robyn Report. I have three reporters in all. The neighbors look forward to our weekly report.
I stretch and groan.
“What’s the problem?” I ask.
“You’re the problem,” J.P. says. “It’s Election Day. You were supposed to meet us at the library 45 minutes ago.”
I look at my clock. 8:15.
I jump out of bed. “How could you let me oversleep?” I ask. “This is horrible.”
Corinna grins. “And everyone says I’m the one who is grumpy in the mornings.”
I scrunch my nose. I am not in the mood for cute.
This is the biggest day of the year for a reporter. How could I oversleep? I guess I shouldn’t have stayed up until 2 a.m. I couldn’t help it, though. I was plotting my plan for Election Day.
I run into my closet and close the door. I grab the first thing I can find and throw it on.
When I come out of my closet, J.P. and Corinna laugh.
“What?” I ask. “This is not funny.”
“Take a look at yourself,” J.P. says.
I look in the mirror. I put my clothes on top of my pajamas. I go back into my closet and change. Then I throw on my favorite shoes.
Back in my room, I grab a notebook from the stack on my dresser.
“Do you have the camera?” I ask J.P.
He points to the strap around his neck.
“Corinna, do you have your tape recorder?”
She holds up her backpack. “It’s in here.”
Everyone is ready except me. Great. I’m supposed to be the leader.
“Okay. I’m ready,” I say.
“Um, Robyn,” Corinna says. “I think you might want to rethink your hair.”
I look in the mirror. My bright red hair looks like a bird’s nest. I sigh and quickly pick up my brush. Leave it to Corinna to notice my hair.
As I look into the mirror, I think of my grandpa. He was a reporter, too. He always says redheads have a sixth sense for reporting. My mom is also a reporter, and so is my sister. We’re all reporters, and we all have red hair. My grandpa is retired. He still gives me all his best tips, though. I put down my brush.
“Does this meet your approval?” I ask Corinna.
She grins. “You want to look good on Election Day, right?”
I giggle. “Sure Corinna. Whatever you say. Let’s go!” I say. “We’re already late.”
We take off for the library.
I started The Robyn Report when I was 7. Some kids learn how to read and write in first grade. Me? I learned how to type. Every weekend, I type The Robyn Report into my computer. Then on Sunday, we deliver it to the neighborhood. I charge 25 cents for each issue. This covers the cost of printing.
This week’s issue is a really big one. It’s so big that I’m going to do some of my reporting on my blog. All of the reporters are doing it these days. It lets people know what’s happening right away. Subscribers just go online and read.
I remember the assignment list in my notebook. I need all of my reporters today.
Wait a minute, I think to myself. Where are all of my reporters?
“Where is Logan?” I ask Corinna and J.P. I was so excited about Election Day that I didn’t notice earlier that he was missing.
“Who cares?” J.P. says.
I look back at J.P. That’s a weird thing for him to say. He and Logan are best friends.
I glance at Corinna for an answer.
She rolls her eyes. “You’ll see,” she whispers.
As we pass the park, I hear people yelling.
“We better check this out,” I say.
“What about the election?” Corinna says.
“We’ll be quick,” I say. “A reporter must investigate everything.” My grandpa taught me that. We walk closer to the voices. Soon, I see a big crowd. Many of the people are holding signs.
“What are they chanting?” Corinna asks.
I stop and listen.
“Down with Robyn! Fly away! Down with Robyn! Do not stay!”
I gasp. “What did I ever do to them?”