【正文】 by walking to Oscar‘s door. If he happens to be at the door, he will be so lucky, for it will be his only chance to ask me back. Here I e, Oscar, you lucky fella! (p. 14) Why were you not at the door? Maybe you were missing me and crying over the funny television programs. What a pity! This was your chance to be my friend again, but you blew it. Well then, let me ring the bell. No! Now you will think it is I who want you back. (p. 15) There‘s nothing I can do. Oscar, you lose me again. I guess you will have to play with Roger, if you don‘t mind getting trouble. Or, you can have fun with Ginger, if you can put up with his bluffing. And there‘s always Mike, your threeyearold brother, if you like pests. Poor Oscar, you are so doomed! See how many playmates now you have! (p. 16) I‘m glad I‘m home. What a dumb idea! Why do I waste time visiting Oscar‘s door? (p. 17) Come to think of it, maybe I‘ll call some friends to e over. I have so many friends! Well…… Jennifer went back to Waterville, Maine to see her grandfather that takes care of her. Too bad! How about Wallace then? But, he has an ant colony, and he always dumps his extras inside my collar. It‘s so disgusting! (p. 18) What about the new kid from the corner? I don‘t know if he tries out that stranglehold as a habit, or it just happened the four times I‘ve seen him? Anyway I still have Roger, Mike, and Ginger, if I am really hard up for friends…… Well, I think I‘ll call and give Oscar another chance! (p. 19) ―Hello, Oscar? Apologize now or…… What? Don‘t you remember? It happened one or two days ago…… Right! Didn‘t we have a fight and stop being friends? But, it‘s okay now…… just e over and play. My mom bought me a new train! ...... In five minutes? Okay! See you!‖ Oscar‘s mind is so full of me. He can‘t even remember we are not friends anymore. See? I am so right about it! Without me, Oscar is just like a tattered boat sinking into the sea! 2. Robert Fox I’m Not Oscar’s Friend Anymore Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Illustrated by Tony De Luna Translated for Han Sheng Magazine from Han Sheng‘s ―Best of World Children‘s Literature‖ For my best friend (p. 1) Oscar lives down the street from me. I made friends with him before I knew any better. A couple of days ago he said something not very nice to me. It was really nasty! I won‘t tell you what he said. Naturally, I didn‘t let him get away with it: I answered back right away. And then he said something even worse to me! After that, we stopped being friends. (p. 2) It only took us two minutes to make enemies. It‘ll take at least a million years to friends again! Get it? I said ―a million years,‖ but what that really means is ―it will never happen.‖ Oscar‘s really a jerk! If I had a pitcher of orange juice I‘d dump it right over his head right now. (p. 3) When we were still good friends I drew a picture of him. Hah! Now I‘m going to add a little something to it. One time we were playing ―points.‖ My score kept getting higher and higher – I had 265. And Oscar? He was stuck at 73. Serves him right! What‘s so great about Oscar? Every spring he gets poison ivy and smells like a stinky old bottle of calamine lotion! (p. 4) Another thing I don‘t get is why he always calls me at mealtimes. I listen to whatever he has to say, but who wants to eat cold food? (p. 5) Oscar, I‘ll bet you really miss me now! I‘ll bet I‘m the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning! Huh! Too bad I‘m not your friend anymore. Stick your head under the covers, go back to sleep, and have a nightmare about losing your best friend. Know what‘s worse than a bad dream? Ha, ha…a bad dream e true. (p. 6) Oscar, you‘ll probably leave the house in different colored socks today, one yellow and one black. That‘s because you won‘t be able think of anything but me. Who knows? It might be noon before you realize you‘re wearing your Tshirt inside out. Ha, ha! You‘ll get so mixed up thinking about me you‘ll brush your teeth and b your hair without your mom telling you to. What a hoot! (p. 7) You‘ll have to watch TV by yourself, Oscar! Won‘t that be something? How e the cartoons aren‘t as funny as they used to be? (p. 8) The doorbell rings and Oscar jumps up and runs to see who‘s ther