Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Springs into Action

1. A Thump in the Morning

THUMP-BUMP! THUMP-BUMP! THUMP-BUMP!
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes.
THUMP-BUMP! THUMP-BUMP! THUMP-BUMP!
Who was making noise so early on a Sunday morning? And right outside my window? CRASH! WaaaaaaaGH! It sounded like broken glass. And
somebody crying!
I grabbed my purple sneakers. There was no time to get dressed. Somebody at Starwood Park needed help-maybe even a hero’s help. And with my purple sneakers, I had Zapato Power! That’s super speed, the kind superheroes have.
ZOOM! ZOOM! ZAPATO!
I ran outside in my red and blue pajamas. My purple sneakers were smoking. I was ready to help.
“WaaaaaGH!”
“Ruff! Ruff!”
Gio, my next-door neighbor, cried while his little dog, Puppy, barked at a big hole in Mrs. Tran’s window.
“Did you break that window?” I asked Gio.
“My ball broke it when I bounced it on the wall.” Puppy agreed. “Ruff! Ruff!”
Gio is five. He only goes to kindergarten in the morning. He hasn’t had time to learn a lot of things-like how neighbors don’t like basketballs crashing into their apartments.
“Watch out!” I shouted.
Mrs. Tran hollered something in a language we didn’t understand and threw Gio’s basketball out of the hole in her window. The ball bounced on the sidewalk and rolled down the hill to the street.
“My ball!” Gio cried.
He chased after it, but the basketball was way too fast for him. And a red car was coming around the corner. If Gio wasn’t smart enough not to bounce a basketball off a window, he might not be smart enough to stay out of the street. It was time to use my super speed to save the day.
ZOOM! ZOOM! ZAPATO!
In one blink, I was at the curb, scooping up the ball, just as the red car sped by.
“You saved my ball!” Gio said, as he rushed up to me. “You’re
fast!”
I sure was. With my purple zapatos, I could save a ball from going into the street. I could save a puppy from a speeding car. I could even outrun a train. But I couldn’t save Gio from Mrs. Tran, his mother, and his sister, Maria.