Itโs just that people tend to get all choked up about firecracker holidays, and they donโt see whatโs really going on, which like I say is the dads SWILLING beer and acting numb, thatโs the basic formula. Not that Grim ever SWILLS anything
drink rapidly, gulp
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boom
Lose 50 points!
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gold
Win 50 points!
Okay!
fairy
Take points!
5
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25
banana
Go to last place!
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25
โGram must be your grandmother,โ he says. โGrim would be, I suppose, a SOBRIQUET for your grandfather, based on his DEMEANORโ
I go up the BULKHEAD stairs into the back yard and find a place where I can check it out.
inclined, horizontal structure over the stairway to a cellar
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5
โOptimum darkness occurs at oh-three-hundred hours,โ he says, looking at the new watch his mom gave him, the kind that tells you what time it is in Tokyo, just in case youโre wondering.
most wanted, favorable, or desirable; best possible
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5
So mostly I just VEGETATE in the basement and pick my navel, to quote Grim, Mr. Belly Button Lint himself.
to be lazy, inactive; sit around
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20
โNow swear on your heart that the data you are about to receive will be DIVULGED to no one.โ
to disclose (something confidential or secret); tell, reveal
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boom
Lose 50 points!
Oops!
fairy
Take points!
5
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25
rocket
Go to first place!
Okay!
banana
Go to last place!
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10
โThe Blade and his gang,โ Freak hisses. โTheyโve locked on to us. Their TRAJECTORY is converging. Go to the left,โ he says. โMake it quick, if you want to live!โ
path of a moving object; route, course
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10
Okay, Iโm out there messing around and thatโs when I see the moving van. Not your MAINSTREAM, nationwide, brandname mover, either, just some cheapo local outfit.
normal, typical, ordinary, conventional
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15
I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and thatโs the truth, the whole truth. The UNVANQUISHED truth, is how Freak would say it, and for a long time it was him who did the talking.