Friendly Boy can’t sit still. Where there are friends to be made, he needs to make them. Church is a great place to make friends.
He sees the 12-year-old girl across the aisle. Without hesitation, he approaches. Noticing him, she gives him a shy smile. Friendly Boy employs his superpowers. He flashes his wide grin. It works. The girl’s smile broadens.
But Friendly Boy needs to practice his powers on more people to be sure they’re working properly. He makes a run for the stand, ignoring the fact that someone is speaking at the pulpit and many eyes are watching.
His plan is thwarted because Mom has superpowers of her own. She scoops Friendly Boy up and takes him to the foyer, despite his protests. Sometimes, Mom and Dad are immune to the power of Friendly Boy’s smiles.
Luckily for Friendly Boy, he and Mom aren’t the only people in the foyer.
He sees a familiar face—the woman who always has a pen and notebook when she sits in the chapel. He has used his smiles on her before and they always work. Not only does he broaden her smiles, he manages to compel her to give him a small wave and a mouthed “hi.”
Notebook Woman has something else that pleases Friendly Boy—a crawling baby. With Crawling Baby, Friendly Boy doesn’t even need to employ a smile. His very presence produces smiles and exclamations of delight. Testing his hold over her, Friendly Boy crawls away. Crawling Baby follows.
Yes! His powers are still working! He was worried when he couldn’t sway Mom, but it appears it was just Mom’s superior powers that saved her this time.
Friendly Boy sits with Crawling Baby, making her laugh as he sneakily takes her toys. She doesn’t mind.
This isn’t the only meeting of the day, though. Soon, everyone files out of the chapel, heading to their classes. Happy Boy and Sassy Girl have their own classes to attend and Mom and Dad separate, Dad going with the men while Mom goes with the women. It’s Mom’s turn to take Friendly Boy to class with her. He doesn’t mind; there are people to charm in either class.
It’s easy today. Friendly Boy quickly finds a little girl with toys to share. Toy Girl doesn’t mind letting Friendly Boy play with an extra car. For an added bonus, Toy Girl’s mom gives Friendly Boy some snacks. Employing a balance of smile powers and charm powers, Friendly Boy has a playmate, toys to play with, and snacks to eat.
Toy Girl leans forward, touching her forehead to Friendly Boy’s forehead in a sign of affection. When she pulls away, Friendly Boy returns the gesture. Another ally is made.
It’s soon time to go home. Once again, Mom resists Friendly Boy’s charms, giving the car he holds back to Toy Girl’s mom. He tries to fight her, but Mom only picks him up and holds him tightly, taking him out of the room.
Friendly Boy resigns himself to his fate. He made progress today. He gained allies and tested the strength of his abilities. Next week, he will come back stronger.
