The Clumsy Number Seven

by Daniel Errico

In the Land of Numbers there was no one clumsier than Number Seven.

He fell down when he walked down the street.

He was always dropping things.

One time he tried to climb a tree, and he looked more like the Number Eight (remove one empty space here) than the Number Seven by the time he was done.

All the other numbers made fun of him for being so clumsy.

One day King Ten decided that he would hold a talent show.  All the numbers were welcome to perform.

Number Seven knew that if he won the talent show, nobody would see him as clumsy anymore. 

He decided that for his act, he would ride a unicycle across a tight rope while juggling beach balls. And he would do it over a small pool filled with an alligator. 

It was the most difficult act that anyone had ever heard of.

Some of the other numbers started writing him” get well “cards right away.

He Number Seven practiced all day for a week. 

He had to get it perfect if he was going to impress everyone. 

The problem was, he wasn’t very good.

He tried riding across a really thick rope at first, but that was too hard for him.

He juggled oranges instead of beach balls, but they kept falling.

He didn’t want to practice with a live alligator, so he used an inflatable one instead.

On the night of the competition, the other numbers put on a great show.

Number Four sang a beautiful song.

Number One did a card trick that fooled everyone in the audience.

Number Three put on a magnificent play.

When it was his turn, Number Seven was nervous.

“Here goes nothing,” he said.

For a moment he was doing great, he juggled the beach balls and rode along the tight rope. 

Even the alligator was even impressed.

Then he lost his balance. 

He dropped the beach balls and started to fall with his unicycle.

When he fell, the beach balls went flying, and he splashed straight into the water.

The alligator bounced out of the water and onto the unicycle, and started peddling. 

Then the beach balls dropped right into Number Seven’s hand.

It was the greatest act that the King had ever seen, and the crowd roared.

There was no question that Number Seven had won the talent show, and everyone realized they were seeing him all wrong.

He was never called Clumsy Number Seven again, but they did call him Lucky.