The Thing About Georgie

The narrator instructs the reader to find a piece of paper and write down their “thing.” The thing about Georgie is that he’s a little person, and the thing about Andy is that he’s Italian. The narrator wants the reader to choose their thing, write it down, and hide the paper for later.

Georgie, worried about his sibling eventually towering over him like Godzilla, decides that he won’t spend his money on his parents’ Christmas present this year. Instead, he plans to write them a poem. Georgie sits at his desk, specially made for him, and begins writing. He struggles through several attempts to start the poem. He can’t stop thinking about the new baby, whom he has dubbed “Baby Godzilla.”

The previous night, Georgie caught his mother reading a book on babies. She showed Georgie an illustration and explained how the baby is now six and a half inches tall. In the back of his closet, Georgie has a secret tape measure glued to the wall. He measures himself every year on his birthday, and he eventually noticed that his growth had slowed significantly.

Georgie measures himself at 42 inches, the same as in August. He makes another mark at six and a half inches.