My mood got worse as the day went on.
Molly, Josh, Jenny and I huddled in front of the fire.
Meanwhile Oliver was skipping and singing around the apartment.
"My hands are cold and so are my feet.
You can call me Pioneer Pete!"
I put my hands over my ears.
"Will you stop making so much noise, Oliver?"
Oliver stopped. He looked surprised.
"Iggy," Mom said sharply. "Oliver was just having fun."
Everyone stared silently at me.
I could tell they agreed with my mom.
"Well, having no heat is no fun," I complained.
"And now no one needs my Amazing Attitude Adjuster.
Maybe I should just throw it away!"
"What's an Amazing Attitude Adjuster?" asked Jenny.
"It's my new invention.
It helps people get a good attitude," I said.
"Maybe we should try it on you," said Molly.
"Yeah!" Josh added. "Just to see if it works, I mean."
I stared at them.
Were my friends saying I had a bad attitude?
"Come on, Iggy," Molly coaxed me. "It'll be fun."
"Okay," I finally agreed.
"But I didn't invent it for my own attitude."
In my room I showed Josh how to use the attitude adjuster.
Then we brought Molly's telephone and pad of paper into the living room.
Josh handed Oliver a scarf.
"Blindfold Iggy so he can't see anything."
Giggling, Oliver stood on the couch and tied the scarf around my head.
"Now Iggy will dial a telephone number on Molly's telephone," Josh said.
"Jenny, you write down the number Iggy dials."
After I dialed, Oliver took off my blindfold.
Then Josh added up the numbers I had dialed.
"Twenty-eight," said Josh.
"Molly, turn to page 28 in the joke pad and read the joke out loud."
Molly flipped to page 28 and began to read.
"Why did the skeleton go to the party alone?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he had no body to go with!" said Molly.
Everyone laughed, even me!
We took turns using the Amazing Attitude Adjuster all afternoon.
The more we played, the better I felt.
We had so much fun that the day flew by.
We were startled when a knock came at the door.
It was Uncle John and Aunt Julia.
They were back from their cruise.
"Guess what?" Oliver ran to his parents.
"What?" Aunt Julia hugged him.
"My shoes got burned, and the furnace broke," said Oliver.
"It was so much fun!"
Uncle John laughed and looked at Aunt Julia in amazement.
"I can't believe it!"
Oliver nodded. "We got our attitudes adjusted too.
I can't wait to come back to Iggy's apartment again!"
After Oliver left, I got my invention ready for the Inventor's Hall of Fame.
First I had to take a picture of it.
Then I had to write down how it worked.
My mom helped me mail everything to the Hall of Fame.
If my invention was good enough, it would be included in the Hall of Fame forever!
Two weeks later I got a letter back.
I sat down next to the radiator in our kitchen and tore it open.
Our furnace was fixed now, and the warm radiator was making cozy hissing noises.
"Dear Iggy," the letter read. "Your Amazing Attitude Adjuster is amazing!
Your invention has earned an honorable mention in the Hall of Fame."
"Mom?" I asked. "What does 'honorable mention' mean?"
"It means that your invention earned special praise," she answered. "Congratulations!"
So I got an honorable mention.
But I did not make it into the Inventors' Hall of Fame.
Not yet anyway.
Just wait until you see what I'm going to invent next!