Page 8

Inside the bus were not seats, but gigantic kitchen appliances with food-people just like Richie! There was a bagel-and-cream-cheese girl and a cinnamon-toast girl giggling in a giant toaster. A pickle girl was jumping from shelf to shelf in a ten-foot high see-through refrigerator. There were even hot-dog twins swinging from the rack of a giant electric grill. As he hopped toward the back of the kitchen-bus, a large slice of pizza said, "I think you belong over there."

Richie looked in the direction where the cheese-oozing pizza boy was pointing. His eyes met a colossal deep fryer that was bubbling with hot oil. It was irresistible.
Richie hopped as fast as he could and jumped right in. It felt great. The sizzling snaps of his crispy skin bathing in scorching oil were music to his ears.

After he was settled in the fryer, the kitchen-bus left. All of the food people were enjoying the ride. Some had even begun talking to each other.

Page 9

Suddenly, however, the oil cooled down and the bubbling stopped. The kitchen-bus came to a halt.

Some of the food people yelled, “Hey, what happened to my flames?”

The pickle girl yelled, “It’s getting too warm in here!”

Richie was really angry that his burning bubbles were gone, and, as he opened his mouth to speak up, a large, shadowy figure climbed aboard the bus.

Page 10

“My name is Mr. Snozirohwen,” the man said in a whispery voice. “I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the New Horizons School. After you make your way off our bus, please enter the auditorium.”

The food people exited the bus and hopped, rolled, or dragged themselves into the school auditorium. Richie was directed to a seat next to a melting chocolate-bar boy.

Page 11

“Are you hot?” asked the chocolate-bar boy, whose steady streams of chocolate beads were beginning to form a puddle below him.

“No, I’m not,” replied Richie, still annoyed that he had to leave the deep fryer. “But maybe if you take your wrapper off, you’ll cool down.”

Page 12

Richie soon noticed a package under his seat. He opened it and inside was a note and a smaller package labeled “lunch.” The note read:

Richie,
Welcome to the New Horizons School. Your teacher is Mr. Ecnalab in classroom 10. We hope you have a great experience.

Regards,
Mr. Snozirohwen

Page 13

Richie hopped over to Room 10 and immediately found his seat. It was a special, custom-made chair fashioned from a cardboard container that french fries come in at fast-food restaurants. He felt right at home.

Soon other food-people joined him in the classroom. A hamburger boy sat in the chair that looked like a bun! A pizza-slice boy sat in the pizza-box chair, and a chicken-wing girl sat in a container filled with bleu cheese.

Everyone was happy and excited.

Page 14

Then, Mr. Encalab entered the room. He was a short man with big glasses and a serious expression. His desk held the largest computer Richie had ever seen. It had five different monitors, a small satellite dish, and numerous wires twisting around the mainframe. He gave directions for everyone to keep their box lunches in their laps. Although Richie thought this to be very unusual, he complied.

The next thing Mr. Encalab said was, "Richie, are you ready for your lesson?"

Page 15

Before he could answer, Mr. Encalab flipped a switch, and Richie fell through a hole that had opened up in the bottom of his french-fry-box seat. He tumbled through a windy chute before coming to a stop beside a door. His lunch followed and landed in his lap. Richie could feel a small bruise forming on top of his french-fry head.

The door opened.

Richie scooped his lunch with his tiny right arm and walked through. As soon as he did, the door slammed behind him. Richie tried to open it, but his french-fried hands were no help at all.