by Kathy Sattem Rygg –
JJ sprawled across the floor of his bedroom sorting super hero action figures. A tickly tingle snuck into his nose. He waited, hoping it might go away. It grew stronger and stronger until, “ACHOO!” the tingle sneezed its way out.
He dashed into the bathroom for a tissue, but the box was empty. He spun the roll of toilet paper hanging on the holder and used the wad to dab his nose. “That’s better,” he said, sighing. Uh oh, now the toilet paper roll was empty, too.
“Mom! We need more toilet paper in my bathroom!” he yelled. His mother walked in with a full, fresh roll. She took the empty roll and was about to throw it in the trash.
“No!” JJ said, grabbing her arm. “I want that.”
“Why do you want an empty toilet paper roll?” she asked.
“Because I’m going to make something out of it,” JJ said. His mother shrugged and handed him the brown cardboard tube. JJ turned it over in his hands. Then he brought it up to face and held one open end in front of his eye.
“Hey, I can see you,” he said to his mother. He looked around the bathroom, peeking through the toilet paper tube. “I can see the shower, and the towels, and the soap. It’s like a telescope!” JJ went back into his bedroom, spying through the empty toilet paper roll. He could see all kinds of things up close. He could see his lamp, his bed, and even his toes on the end of his feet, especially if he wiggled them. Then he looked out the window. He saw the tree right by his house, but he couldn’t see anything beyond that.
“I bet if I made my telescope longer, I could see farther away!” JJ said. He ran into his parents’ bathroom. Their roll of toilet paper was only half gone. He spun it until all the paper was in a heap on the floor.
“Mom! You need more toilet paper in your bathroom!” he yelled. Then he took the empty roll and ran downstairs. He taped the second tube to the end of the first. He held it up to his eye and peered through the hole. Now he could see the couch in the next room. He looked out the window. He could see clear to the mailbox. His toilet paper telescope worked! He could see twice as far with two empty rolls of toilet paper.
JJ didn’t want to stop there. He wanted to find out just how far he could see. He went into his older sister’s bathroom. She had a full roll of toilet paper on the holder and a second one sitting on the shelf. JJ bit his lip. He didn’t want to empty two full rolls, but it was for a good cause. He spun the first roll on the holder and carefully folded the paper into a pile. He removed the empty roll and placed the full one on the holder. Then he spun that one until it was empty and folded the paper up neatly.
“Mom! Sissy needs more toilet paper in her bathroom!” he yelled. Then he took the two empty rolls and taped them to the ends of the other two. He went outside and held the toilet paper telescope up to his eye. He spied around his neighborhood.
“Wow! I can see all the way to Kenny’s house!” he said. “And I can see the playground at the park! And I can even see Mrs. Huggenberry playing with Pickles in her yard!”
But JJ wanted to test his toilet paper telescope even further. He wanted to see all the way to the moon! But his house didn’t have any more bathrooms. How was he going to get more empty toilet paper rolls? He went outside and set up the table and chair he used in the summer for his lemonade stand. He grabbed the cardboard sign he had that said, Lemonade 25 cents. He turned it over and wrote, Wanted: Empty Toilet Paper Rolls. He sat in the chair by the table and waited.
His friend Kenny rode his bike up to JJ’s stand. “Why do you want empty toilet paper rolls?” he asked.
“I’m making the world’s longest telescope,” said JJ.
“Cool. I’ll see if we have any empty rolls at my house.” Kenny rode away.
Next, Mrs. Huggenberry walked by JJ’s stand with her dog, Pickles.
“Are you collecting empty rolls of toilet paper for a project?” she asked.
“Yep. I’m making a toilet paper telescope so I can see all the way to the moon,” JJ said.
“Lovely! I’m sure I have some rolls at home I can donate.” She and Pickles walked away.
Word spread quickly throughout the entire neighborhood about JJ’s toilet paper telescope project. By the end of the day JJ had boxes full of empty toilet paper rolls. He took them all up to his room and taped them together, end to end. The telescope grew so long it went out his bedroom door and into the hallway. When he was finished building it, night had fallen. The sun had been replaced by a full moon. He opened his window and set one end of the toilet paper telescope on the ledge. Then he went into the hall and put the other end up to his eye.
“Whoa! I can see the stars!” he said. They twinkled like white Christmas bulbs. “And I can see the moon!” It shimmered against the black sky. JJ tilted the telescope up so he could see even higher.
“Hey, I see a rocket ship!” he said. “And astronauts in space suits are floating outside of it.” He pushed the toilet paper telescope a little farther out the window to get a better view. He noticed one of the astronauts held something in his hand. It looked like a brown cardboard tube.
JJ smiled. “Mom! They need more toilet paper in space!”
the end.
Question time:
1. What does JJ want to do with the empty toilet paper tubes?
2. How does he get more tubes from inside his house?
3. How does he get even MORE tubes from his neighbors?
4. What does JJ finally see through his toilet paper telescope?
