Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst

"Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday" by Judith Viorst

Realistic fiction is a made-up story that could really happen. Do you know anyone like Alexander?

I'm Alexander and for some reason, I just can't hold on to money. The only things in my pockets are a few bus tokens. My brothers, Anthony and Nick, are the opposite. They always seem to have more money than they need. It is totally unfair that they can hold on to their money as my money disappears without a trace.

On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. They gave each of us a dollar. Well, I was rich, not rich enough to pay for college, of course. But I did have one whole dollar, and I had a plan. I planned on saving it because I wanted to buy a walkie-talkie.

As you know, plans do not always work out. Dad and I went downtown and I bought some bubble gum. That cost me fifteen cents, or three nickels. The clerk gave me three quarters and a dime in change.

Later I bet my brothers that I could do some amazing tricks like jumping from the top of the stairs without falling. Wrong! I even bet my Mom that she couldn't guess which hand held a marble. She guessed right, and now I was out another fifteen cents. I was down to 70 cents. That's just seven dimes.

Well, my brothers thought this was a good time to tease me. I had a few choice words to say to them, but I should not have said them. Dad fined me for those words, and I was out another ten cents. That was just my first fine of the day.

All day long, money slipped through my fingers. It cost me more than ten cents to borrow a snake from my friend Eddie. Then I went to a garage sale. Who could resist a one-eyed stuffed animal or a deck of cards with only two cards missing?

That's when I knew I had to put the rest of that dollar away or I would have nothing left to save. Oops! It was too late. My dollar had vanished. I looked everywhere for more money but found none. I guess it is just how my life is supposed to be. I will be spending it with nothing but bus tokens in my pockets though once I was rich.

From Alexander, Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday. Text copyright © 1978 by Judith Viorst. Reprinted with permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. All rights reserved.