It wasn’t like he was trying to take other people’s things or steal, G-d forbid. Stuff just stuck to him

Illustration: Marion Bellina

MR. Sticky Costume (Mr. Sticky for short) was round and usually cheerful. Usually. But not always — because he had a rather “unique” trait that was, let’s face it, odd, peculiar, abnormal, and annoying: Anything that came close to him got stuck to him. Like Velcro! Like Crazy Glue (it really was crazy!) It wasn’t like he was trying to take other people’s things or steal, G-d forbid. Stuff just stuck to him.

Everyone in his little town of Sillyville knew him as “the guy who took and never let go of anything.” It wasn’t meant to be an insult, but it didn’t exactly feel like a compliment.

One day, Mr. Sticky Costume was in the mood to get some fresh air, and decided to walk in the park. As he walked, his body picked up leaves and twigs and pieces of litter. It was going to be such a pain to declutter himself back at home! But he persisted. When he finally reached the park, he was so heavy with junk stuck to him, he could barely walk. Not only that, he waved to two different friends, and neither of them recognized him!

He sat down on a bench and began pulling off pieces of string, shoelaces, feathers, a random bunny slipper, and even a little girl’s headband. He couldn’t help it when a few tears rolled down his cheeks. And just as he was finishing off his front, he felt something on his back. Something heavy — and it was making an awful noise!

A stray cat had gotten stuck to him! As he tried to remove it, the cat clawed him and only got more stuck! Soon the cat was practically screaming, and Mr. Sticky felt like screaming, too. He finally asked a kind pedestrian for help. When he got home, he decided he wasn’t going to go back out again for a long, long, long time.