Mom always thought Jungle Jim was creepy, but I liked him. He sold ice cream and said hi to every kid in the playground. Sometimes, when a bunch of us said hello at the same time, he twirled in circles howling, “HELLOOOO!”

We laughed hard at that. The kids did. The grownups acted like they didn’t trust him.

The truth about Jim came out when Allison disappeared from the playground.

Her Dad was frantic.

He screamed, “ALLLLLLISOOOON!”, twirling around like Jim.

“Daddy?” Allison was across the street. I bet she was staring at toys in Walgreen’s window.

She crossed back without looking.

A car turned the corner, fast.

Jungle Jim jumped into the street and fell into Allison hard enough to knock her away.

Now he’s in the hospital. He’ll be okay. Allison’s dad is using his vacation to sell ice cream for Jungle Jim.

I think that’s super nice.