Illustrated By:Jessica Ebner Copyright © 2006

Written By:Kelly Johns &

James Pottebaum

Copyright © 2006 by James Pottebaum and Kelly Johns

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,

without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Published by: Booksurge Publishing

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006909414

ISBN Number: 1-4196-5151-X

www.junkyardjunction.com

Dear Parents,

Change is something that we will all experience in our lives. It can be very difficult, especially for children, to adjust to change. Children often feel unsure, insecure, and anxious when presented with even the smallestchange. We wrote this story to teach children about the value of friendship, the importance of helping others, and how change can be a positive experience.

Your Friends,

Kelly Johns &James Pottebaum

Squirt lived in a small, but cozy tomato can behind the Ooey Gooey Pizza Shoppe in Sunshine City. One morning, while Squirt was in a deep sleep dreaming about the gigantic hot fudge sundae he had eaten the night before, the pizza cook came out of the restaurant and started sweeping the sidewalk.

Squirt woke up and jumped out of bed. He yawned and stretched and walked to his front door to see what the cook was doing. To his surprise, the broom swept up his house and dumped it into a garbage can.

“Stop! This is my house!” Squirt shouted as the cook put the lid on top of the garbage can. Frightened, he jumped back into bed and hid under the blanket. Suddenly, there was the roar of an engine and the rumble of big tires rolling down the alley. A garbage truck screeched to a stop behind the restaurant. A strong man jumped out of the truck and picked up the garbage can. He removed the lid from the can and dumped its contents, including Squirt and his house, into the back of the truck.

Squirt looked through the window of his house from the back of the truck as they drove for miles. The tall buildings of the city became smaller the further they drove into the country. The truck drove so far away from the city that the tall buildings seemed as though they were small enough to fit into his pocket. Just when Squirt thought that the ride would never end, the truck turned off the country road and into Junkyard Junction.

The garbage truck came to a stop. Squirt held on tight while the garbage truck rumbled and grumbled. The back of the truck tilted upward and slowly dumped Squirt and his house onto the ground. Squirt carefully came out of his home to see where he was. The garbage truck drove away, leaving him alone in an unfamiliar place. “What am I going to do?”

Squirt wandered around Junkyard Junction looking for someone who could help him. After walking for what seemed like hours, he came upon a white picket fence covered with beautiful roses. He leaned over to smell one of the blossoms. The roses’ sweet perfume tickled his nose and made him sneeze so hard that it knocked him off his feet. When he stood up, he was surprised to see that his sneeze had blown away some of the flowers to reveal a secret door.

Squirt knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knocked again, only this time much harder. The sliding window on the door slowly opened and a set of eyes appeared. “Password please?” asked the unseen voice. “What?” “I’m sorry, that is not the password,” replied the voice. “Would you like to try again?” “I don’t know the password.” “Wrong again,” the voice chuckled. “I’ll give you one last guess.” “I just need some help.” “Sorry, that’s not the password either.” The sliding window slammed shut. “Wait!” Squirt shouted. “I don’t know the password because I’m lost, but I really do need your help!” There was a moment of silence before the sliding window opened again. Squirt looked up at the set of eyes and asked, “What’s your name?” “Hugo.” “Have you ever been lost?” asked Squirt. “Yes,” Hugo responded. “It was scary.” Squirt began to sob, “Yes it is, and I am very scared.” Hugo felt sorry for the little stranger on the other side of the door. “Please don’t cry. I will let you in.” Squirt heard the lock turn, and the door opened slowly. Hugo stood in the doorway wearing blue overalls and an orange tie. He had friendly eyes and green fur. Squirt thought that he looked a little bit like a farmer. Hugo smiled. “Welcome to Junkyard Junction!”

Squir t breathed a big s igh of rel ief and walked through the door way. As Hugo led Squir t through Junk yard Junction, Squir t explained how he ended up in this strange place. Hugo l istened careful ly to Squir t ’s stor y and commented, “ That sounds excit ing.” “ I t was quite an adventure, ” Squir t agreed. “But what are you going to do now? Your house is on the other s ide of the fence where the mean old cat l ives. You need to move it to a safe place.” “Do you have any fr iends that could help?” “ I have a lot of fr iends!” said Hugo. “Let ’s go f ind them.”

First they went to find Bug and Sally Star. Sally lived in a big and beautiful doll house and Bug lived in the dog house in Sally ’s front yard. “Sally is a movie star,” Hugo explained, “and Bug is her biggest fan.” Bug was taking pictures of Sally when Squirt and Hugo arrived. “Good morning. I would like to introduce you to my new friend Squirt,” said Hugo. Sally struck another pose for the camera. “Did you come to get my autograph?” she asked. “Not exactly, we’ve come to see if you could help us move my house to a safe place.” “That sounds like fun, but movie stars don’t know anything about moving houses silly,” laughed Sally. “We should go to Betty and Belinda Booger’s house and ask them what to do. They know everything.”

Squirt, Sally, and Hugo jumped into Sally ’s remote-control sports car. Bug picked up the remote control and started the car. “Do you have your seatbelt on Miss Star?” asked Bug. “Of course, let ’s go!” The car zoomed off. Bug ran as fast as he could behind the car, using the remote control to steer the car as they made their way to the home of Betty and Belinda Booger.

“SHHH, the sisters are sleeping,” whispered Cosmo the Coo-Coo bird. “Would you please wake them up?” Hugo asked politely. “It ’s very important.” “I’ll try, but you know that they do not like to be bothered when they are sleeping.” Cosmo took a deep breath of air, flapped his wings, and shouted “Coo Coo! Hey sleeping beauties! Wake up already!” The group of new friends could hear some strange noises coming from within the Coo-Coo clock. There was a thug, then a thump, and finally an “Ouch! That hurt!” “It sounds like somebody fell out of their bed,” Sally snickered.

The groggy and sleepy-eyed Booger sisters came to the door. It was obvious to the visitors that the ladies were not the least bit happy to be awake. “This better be important,” complained Betty. Belinda struggled to stay awake. “I was having such a nice dream.” “We’re sorry that we woke you,” Squirt apologized. “I need help moving my house.” “Ask Stanley the handyman for help,” suggested Betty. “That’s a great idea!” Hugo exclaimed. “Why didn’t we think of that?” Belinda yawned and stretched. “Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep.” Betty and Belinda returned to the clock to finish their naps and the group of new friends hurried to Stanley’s Service Station.

Stanley was busy mounting a propeller onto a toy airplane when they arrived. Bang! Bang! Bang! The noise from the hammer was so loud that the handyman didn’t hear the group approach him from behind. “Hello Stanley,” said Hugo. But Stanley didn’t respond. “Stanley!” Hugo called again, only a little bit louder this time. Bang! Bang! Bang! “Stanley!” they all shouted together as loudly as they could. Startled by the sudden noise, Stanley dropped the hammer onto his toes. “Melted ice cream that hurt!” Stanley cried out as he hopped around holding his sore toes.

“I’m sorry that we startled you,” Squirt apologized. “That’s okay. Welcome to Stanley’s Service Station, where you will always get service with a smile. How may I help you today?” “Would you please help us move my house?” “Moving huh? I have an idea. Give me a hand with this propeller.”

The group helped Stanley carry the propeller back to Squirt ’s house, which was still sitting where it had fallen when dumped from the garbage truck. Working together, they attached the propeller to the top of the tomato-can house. Squirt thought the contraption resembled something he had seen in Sunshine City, “It ’s just like a helicopter!” he shouted. Sally Star could barely hold back her excitement, “I’ve never flown before,” she confessed. Everyone climbed aboard. Stanley sat closest to the propeller because he was going to be the pilot. “ Time for take off. Hold on tight everyone!”

Stanley started twirling the propeller, and the house slowly started to lift off the ground. It climbed higher and higher until they were high above Junkyard Junction. They flew over the old oak tree, and then across the rose-covered fence. “I can see my house!” cried Hugo. “Me too!” said Sally. “And there’s Betty and Belinda’s clock. There’s Stanley’s Service Station!” Bug, who was busy taking pictures with his camera said, “I can see all of Junkyard Junction from up here!”

Suddenly, without warning, the propeller started to make some noise. First there was a clink, and then there was a clank. The propeller stopped twirling and for a brief second, the house was suspended in mid-air. “What’s wrong?” asked Squirt, trying not to sound too frightened. Stanley, who was so frightened that his knees were shaking, covered his eyes with his hands, “Get ready for a crash landing!” The friends held on tight to the tomato-can house as it twisted and turned wildly, falling faster and faster toward the ground.

CRASH! The house smashed into a black berr y bush. The passengers were tossed from the house and into the bush’s branches. The group, thankful that nobody was hur t, quick ly cl imbed from the bush and onto the ground. “ That was fun! Let ’s do it again!” shouted Stanley. Hugo, feel ing l ight-headed and dizz y, said, “No thank you. I would prefer to stay on the ground.” “Look!” yel led Squir t . “Now my house is l ike a tree house!” “ That ’s so cool!” exclaimed Sal ly.

Squirt was happy his home was now in a safe place. He was even happier to have made so many new friends in a wonderful place called Junkyard Junction.