Smiley loved playing outside, watching the hummingbirds and dragonflies, and was even fast enough to catch lizards.  He never hurt the lizards; he just liked to look at them and feel them wiggle in his hand, because it tickled.  Sometimes he even liked to scare his sisters, who preferred Barbies to wiggly slimy creatures.    

Smiley liked to be by himself in his bedroom and just liked to lay in his bed and stare up at his ceiling. He watched a big fan that kept him cool summer nights, since his dad didn’t like to turn the air conditioning on too much. 

The fan reminded him of propellers on an airplane, and when he looked up he imagined all of the places he wanted to visit when we was old enough to go on airplanes by himself.  He knew it would be a long time, because his mom didn’t even want him to cross the street alone.

         Smiley really liked going to school, but he loved his geography class because they talked about all of the countries in the world and the yummy things that you could eat.  His teacher talked about places to see, like the pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in France, and all of the wild gorillas in Africa.  Smiley couldn’t make up his mind about which place he wanted to see first.

“Excuse me children before you go home today I want you to write down your homework for the weekend," said Mrs. McEvoy.  “Ahhhh,” “Ughhhh,” all of  the kids groaned but Smiley was quiet because he didn’t want to hurt his favorite teacher’s feelings.  He liked Mrs. McEvoy because she picked out fun chapter books for him to read.  Chapter books are books without a lot of pictures.  He read them because his teacher said he would have a stronger and larger imagination. 

“Ladies and Gentleman I would like you to talk to three adults about their careers, ask them 5 questions, and then write 1 page about a job you think you might like to do and bring it to school Monday,” said Mrs. McEvoy  

“Waaaaa,” Smiley thought to himself quietly, he liked asking people questions, but every time someone asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he never had an answer.  He liked to play outside with his sisters and friends, but he didn’t know what kind of job that was.

He was happy because he knew he could interview people in his family about their job. His grandma worked at a library and he loved books, so he would talk to her first.

“Hi grandma can I ask you some questions about your library job for my homework?”  “Sure Sweetie!”  “Do you get to read all the time at the library?” asked Smiley.  “Well I get to read, but there is a lot of work to do too, like organizing, cleaning, and showing kids new books.    

  “Do you ever get to go outside and play?” asked Smiley.  “Well I can eat my lunch outside, and sometimes I get to take a short walk during my break, which is kind of like when you go to recess,” said grandma.      

“Mmmm” thought Smiley, “I like books but I don’t want to be inside all the time.”  “Thank you grandma, I will see you later!" Smiley headed to his aunt Maggie’s work because she was nurse and he really liked helping people, so he thought maybe that would be a good career.

“Hi Smiley!,” said aunt Mags picking him and swinging him around for a hug.  Smiley thought he was getting too big for this, but it was still fun.  “Hi Mags, can I ask you some questions about being a nurse?”  “Sure!,” said aunt Mags.  “Is your job fun?” asked Smiley.     

“Well sometimes it is, like when I can hold little babies, but sometimes I have to do things that aren’t much fun,” said Mags.  “Like what?” asked Smiley.  “Well sometimes when people get older or really sick they can’t walk to the bathroom, so they have to go to the bathroom near their bed or in special diapers.”  “Bleeeck, I don’t think I could do that,” said Smiley.     

“Well when someone doesn’t feel good you want to help them, and it doesn’t seem like such a big deal,” said Mags.  “What else do you do to make them feel better?” asked Smiley.  “Well we give them medicine, sometimes we just sit and talk, and even read them stories or put music on for them to make them feel better,” said Mags.      

Smiley thought, “Well I could do that, but I don’t really like all of the machines beeping all the time, and it feels kind of cold in here, but maybe I could come cheer them up.”  “Hey Mags, maybe I can come play my piano for them sometimes.”      

“That would be great Smiley! I am sure they would appreciate it, and and I can pick you up,” said Mags. Smiley thought maybe there is something more adventurous that helps people outside, and I can still read.

Smiley decided to ask his cousin Tim about his career. “Hi Tim can I ask you some questions about being a firefighter?”  “Sure what is it for?” asked Tim.  “Well I have some homework to do, and we have to ask three people about their jobs and then write about one we want to do.  I figured you went on a lot of adventures at work.”    

“Well you are right Smiley, but its not always fun." "Sometimes it is very dangerous and firefighters get hurt, and their bodies can hurt for a long time when they get older."  But it is fun to help people and each day is an adventure,” said Tim.