The Amazing Mexican Secret (4 page)

Four days later, the applause was building at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City. The great matador Carmen del Junco waved hello to her fans as red roses flew from the stands to dot the ground at her feet.

An announcer's voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
“¡Y bienvenido Stanley Llano!”

“That's me, Flat Stanley!” realized Stanley. He was stationed behind a wooden slat door at one end of the ring. He put on his biggest grin, pushed open the door, and trotted out.

The crowd leaped to its feet.

Carmen took his hand, and Stanley gave a dramatic bow. In his new satin spandex jumpsuit, he looked like a giant piece of shiny red paper folding itself in half.

“You know, it is a myth about bulls and the color red,” Carmen had said when she presented the outfit to him as a present. “Bulls can't see different colors at all. It is movement that makes them charge.”

 

 

Carmen now took Stanley's other hand as the bull rushed into the ring.

A hush fell over the crowd as everyone took their seats.

Carmen winked at Stanley, just as she had before rescuing him on the steps of the Mayan temple. Then she grasped his other hand, lifted him off the ground, and gave him a little shake. The bull did not look very happy to see Stanley. Its muscles rippled. Its hooves thundered in clouds of dust.

Stanley gulped and squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, a hysterical shriek pierced the air. “STOP THAT BULL!”

I know that scream
, thought Stanley.

He opened one eye. With a shrug, Carmen calmly lifted him onto her shoulders and stepped aside to let the bull pass.

“YOU KEEP THAT BULL AWAY FROM MY SON STANLEY!”

And then Stanley saw: His family was in the front row! Mrs. Lambchop was standing on top of a seat, waving her hands like a trapped octopus. Everyone in the arena was staring at her. Arthur looked the most horrified of all.

“Mom? Dad? Arthur?” said Stanley. “What are you doing here?”

“You think you can go away for a whole week without calling?” cried Mrs. Lambchop.

“Your mother is right, son,” Mr. Lambchop said. “We were worried about you.”

Carmen shuffled slightly to let the bull pass again.

“Of course, we were worried!” Mrs. Lambchop cried. “Our boy Stanley is about to get gored by a bull!”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Well, I think what you're doing is neat, Stanley,” he said.

“Thanks, Arthur,” said Stanley. It sure was good to see his brother.

“Mom, is it okay if I finish just this one bullfight?” said Stanley. “Please?”

“Yeah, Mom. Please?” chimed Arthur.

“I promise,
Señora
Lambchop,” said Carmen. “I will keep Stanley safe. He is a very special boy.”

Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop exchanged looks. Then, slowly, Stanley's mother climbed off her chair and sat down.

A few moments later, Stanley's toes lightly brushed the bull's back as it rushed beneath him. He squeezed Carmen's hands joyously.

Everyone in the stands went wild—even Mrs. Lambchop.

 

“Stay back, matador!” cried Carlos. He was standing on Stanley's bed, holding Stanley by the feet like a giant knife and swinging him at Arthur, who stood a few feet back on the floor. “Or I will chop you in half like an onion with the flat American!”

“Oh yeah, Mr. Big Chef?” said Arthur. He grabbed Stanley's hands and tugged.

“Ow!” said Stanley.

“I will never let you beat me!” cried Carlos, tugging back. “Never!”

“That's what you think!” challenged Arthur.

“Arthur,” Mr. Lambchop appeared in the doorway. “Haven't I told you no playing tug-of-war in the house? You're going to stretch out your brother.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “We're not having a tug-of-war, Dad. We're playing chef and bullfighter.”

“Well, that's good,” said Mr. Lambchop, “because I've just received
our photographs from Mexico.” He flipped through the pile in his hand and held up one so the boys could see.

It was Stanley being swung through the air by Carmen del Junco as an enormous bull passed inches beneath him!

“Whoa,” Carlos said.

“I told you it was cool,” said Arthur.

Stanley felt his cheeks turning red. He went over to his bulletin board. He pinned the photo right next to a piece of paper on which he had written, “The secret is not the ingredient. It is what you do with it.”

Stanley smiled. He felt as if he could still hear La Abuela's laugh. He
could still feel the grasp of Carmen's hands. He could still smell the secret ingredient.

 

 

In fact, it was as if that smell was wafting right down the hall and into his room.

“Lunchtime!” Mrs. Lambchop called.

Stanley, Arthur, Carlos, and Mr. Lambchop stampeded for the kitchen.

 

THE END

Besides being the third largest country in Latin America, Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers in the whole world!

 

Each of the three color stripes in the Mexican flag is deeply symbolic: The green stripe represents the ideals of victory and hope, the white stripe symbolizes purity, and the red stripe symbolizes the blood sacrificed by Mexico's heroes.

 

Mexico is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region named for the vast amount of
volcanic and seismic activity it contains, and is home to many active volcanoes, such as the Citlaltépetl (also called Orizaba) and the Popocatépetl.

 

Though Spanish is Mexico's official language, there are sixty more indigenous languages spoken in this country, such Huastec, Maya, Mazahua, Mazatec, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Otomí, Tarastec, Totonac, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Zapotec.

 

Every year on November 1, Mexicans celebrate a national holiday called “Día de los Muertos,” or “Day of the Dead,” in which they honor loved ones who have passed away. Festivities include decorating their houses
with pictures of those who have passed and eating treats shaped like skulls and skeletons!

 

Mexico is the original home of chocolate!

 

The border between Mexico and the United States is the second longest border in the world (second only to the border between Canada and the United States), and it spans about 1,933 miles.

 

Mexico's capital, Mexico City, is the second largest city in the world by population, with a population of about 18,131,000 people.

A Flat Boy Can Do Almost Anything!

Stanley Lambchop is an ordinary boy. At least he was, until the night his bulletin board fell off the wall and flattened him. All of a sudden, Stanley can slide under doors, mail himself across the country in an envelope, and fly like a kite!

But flatness has its serious side, too. Sneak thieves have been stealing paintings from the Famous Museum of Art, and Stanley knows he's the only one who can stop them. Will the robbers discover Stanley's plan before he foils theirs?

Have You Seen Stanley?

One morning, after a dark and stormy night, Stanley Lambchop is nowhere to be found. But wait…what is that boy-shaped lump underneath his bedsheets? And where's that giggling coming from? It's Stanley and he's…invisible!

At first there are great adventures for an invisible boy to have. Stanley becomes an unseen helper in a bike race, on a television show, and even fighting crime! But then Stanley starts to miss being seen, and wonders if he will stay invisible forever….

Stanley Lambchop Is Out of This World!

The United States has received a message from distant planet Tyrra:
Will you meet with us?
The President wants to send someone who is friendly, but also someone brave, adventurous, and clever—who better than Stanley Lambchop?

The whole Lambchop family bundles into the
Star Scout
spaceship with Stanley as Chief Pilot to voyage to far-off Tyrra. But do the Tyrrans simply want a friendly meeting? Or did they lure these intergalactic visitors for another, secret reason?

Stanley's Back and Flatter Than Ever!

Stanley Lambchop thought he was back to being a normal, round boy for good—until one morning when, out of nowhere, he seems to have gone flat.
Again.
While being half an inch thick has its interesting points, Stanley can't help wondering why he can't just be like everybody else.

But when disaster strikes downtown and one of Stanley's classmates is trapped, Stanley discovers that being different can definitely come in handy. After all, sometimes it takes a flat hero to save the day.

Stanley's In For One Magic Ride!

Stanley Lambchop doesn't realize that the old lamp he's found is magic—until he rubs it and a genie appears! Of course the genie grants Stanley wishes—fame, superpowers, a magical pet, you name it.

But the more wishes Stanley makes, the stranger life becomes. Now Stanley's adventure is a mess that will take more than just a wish to undo!

Can Stanley Save Christmas?

Stanley is astonished when a girl tumbles down the chimney two nights before Christmas. It's Santa's daughter, Sarah Claus, and she's come for help! Santa says he's not going to deliver any presents this year, and now it's up to the Lambchop family to change his mind. They're off to the North Pole—but will they be in time?