I sat on one of the counter stools. This apartment had a counter between the living room and the kitchen. The sink was on the kitchen side, and on my side were two stools you could spin around on. But besides that, this apartment looked pretty much like our last one.

My mom wasn’t there. Maybe she was still at her new job.

I put Ms. G.’s book down and spun around a few times. Then I picked up my phone. It’s not really my phone. It’s my mom’s old one, with cracks in the screen that look like a bunch of fancy tree branches. But my mom needs to be able to get in touch with me when she’s at work, so she lets me use it.

I turned it on and made sure I had Speak Screen going.

“Hi,” I said. “How are you today?”

“I’m sorry,” the nice phone lady said in her super-polite robot voice. “I’m not sure what you’re asking me.”

“How…are…you?” I said more slowly.

“I’m happy to be alive!” she said, which was weird because it’s not like she’s really alive.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” I asked her. I love that one.

“Search me,” she said.

Sometimes you have to ask her more than once, but don’t worry. She doesn’t get mad or upset if you ask her the same thing over and over again, the way some grown-ups do.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” I tried again.

“Because the little chicken-shaped light was green.” That one’s funny.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“Maybe the chicken is standing still, and it is the road that is crossing under it.” That one’s weird.

I picked up Ms. G.’s book and looked at the title. “Hey, do you know what’s Bridge to—”

And even though I hadn’t figured out that whole long and complicated name, the nice phone lady knew exactly what I was talking about. She found a movie of it, which was good. Watching the movie is even better than getting someone to read you the back cover, unless it’s the kind of movie where they made a lot of changes.

I clicked and swiped two fingers down to hear all about it. The phone lady talks real fast and says a lot of stuff you don’t need, but I could pick out the most important parts. She said the story was about two lonely children who created a magical forest kingdom. That made sense. It explained all the trees.

“Is there a video?” I asked.