Back for More!: I Told You So!, #4

By Mark Gunning

Don't these boys get it? How many times must they get into trouble before they catch on? Best friends William and Thomas are back at it again with even more action and adventure. The poor community of Itchygooney isn't safe when William has a plan. This time there's an attack drone, a ghostly rocking chair, a slam-dunking wizard, and a UFO. Will these boys ever be stopped? Let's hope not!

 

Back for More is the fourth book in the ongoing I Told You So series of humorous stories shared in short standalone bursts. If they were any longer you couldn't handle it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Itchygooney Books
• Release date: Jul 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781999200763

Mark Gunning

Mark Gunning grew up in Chippawa, Ontario where he spent most of his youth playing outside with his friends. They had many fun adventures together and this has helped create some of the stories you have enjoyed today. A teacher with the DSBN, Mark started his idea of writing children’s stories back in 2010 to share some of his stories with his students. It was in 2017 that he finally wrote his first book. He and his wife Stephanie, have three children, two cats, and two dogs named Ozzie and Chewie. Andy Thomson grew up in Crystal Beach, Ontario. When he isn’t enjoying time with his family, he can be found playing guitar or drawing. Andy met Mark while working together at Peace Bridge Public School in Fort Erie, Ontario. This is Andy’s first time illustrating for an author and is very grateful to Mark for the opportunity to create the images for his characters.

Book preview

Attack of the Drone

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We were sitting quietly in class when an announcement came over the PA reminding us of the monthly assembly coming up on Friday. Our principal, Mr. Pitts, was having a draw for one very lucky winner. Students had until Friday morning to enter their names into the draw. The chosen person was going to get a chance to fly a drone in front of the entire school on Friday. The entire class began talking quietly to one another about having a chance to fly the drone. Everyone was excited. Even our teacher Mr. Mousseau told the class he wondered if teachers could enter the draw as well. He looked just as excited as the rest of the class.

I turned to look at William and immediately saw him working on one of his plans on a piece of paper. I figured it had something to do with the drone or the assembly. I quickly reminded William what had happened at some of our previous assemblies. William had had some great so-called ideas, but unfortunately, things did not end quite as planned. This was a recurring theme, but William quickly reassured me that I worried too much and got back to his drawing. I waited patiently for William to finish so I could see what he was up to.

Carefully, William waited until our teacher was completely turned around facing the board before passing the plan over to me. Instantly, without warning, Mr. Mousseau spun around and stared directly at us. He gave us what we all called the ‘Mousseau stare’ and then turned slowly back around and continued writing on the board. I unfolded the paper and looked.

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Plan A showed William flying the drone towards Principal Pitts in front of the entire school. I was included in the plans and had my cell phone in my hand recording the events. However, I wasn’t quite sure what it was all about. I carefully folded the paper back up and passed it back to William without our teacher seeing it. I couldn’t in my wildest dreams figure out why he was flying the drone towards our principal. I figured there must have been an awesome reason why. I truly believed there was always an awesome reason why William did the things he did. That’s why he was my best friend.

For some unexplained reason, Mr. Mousseau spun around again and stared at the class for a moment and went back to writing on the board. It was like he had special powers or something to detect bad things happening.

William slid the first plan into his pocket and secretly handed me the next part. It was another one of William’s masterpieces, as it had Principal Pitts running for his life from the lunatic drone as the entire school broke into laughter.

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I must have been laughing out loud. Mr. Mousseau stopped writing on the board, spun around, and this time headed straight for us. I didn’t want to get caught with the second plan, so I initiated our secret protocol and shoved the entire plan in my mouth. (May I add that the plan looked better than it tasted.) William and I had promised each other that we would never let our plans fall into enemy hands, or shall I say an adult’s hands.

Mr. Mousseau walked over, crossed his arms, and stared at us without saying a word. The whole classroom went silent. All eyes were on William and our teacher. The best thing was this wasn’t the first time this had happened. The two of them locked eyes in an all-out stare down. If I were a betting man, my money was on William.

This standstill didn’t last as long as the entire class had hoped. Mr. Mousseau began blinking rapidly, part of a nervous twitch he had developed since having William and me in his class. William maintained his wide-eyed stare until, in defeat, Mr. Mousseau retreated towards the front of the class.

William was the only kid in the entire school that could fight off the dreaded ‘Mousseau stare’. It was like he had some magical power or something.

I turned around to see Zoey with