"Don't worry," Gibi winked, "I have a garden out back. It rained last night."
Cascão's eyes lit up. "A MUD PUDDLE? Be still my grimy heart!"
Cascão held up the comic. "I was reading it when the portal sucked me in!"
Mônica stomped her foot. "Not without my comic book! Cebola—I mean, Cascão was holding our new issue of Turma da Mônica Jovem . It has a fold-out poster of Do Contra!" gibi da turma da monica
Mônica stopped and looked around. "This isn't the Limoeiro. And you're not Cascão. Where's the rain?"
"No, I mean—" Gibi started, but was interrupted by a shivering, scared-looking boy tumbling out of the portal. He had a single strand of hair on his otherwise bald head and was clutching a comic book.
"The door is closing," she simplified.
Suddenly, a high-pitched voice echoed from the portal. "BLUE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Mônica had no idea what that meant, but she saw Gibi holding up her phone. She leaned in, and click —Gibi captured the perfect shot: Mônica, holding the graphic novel, looking tough but happy, with a muddy Cascão trying to climb back into the portal.
Gibi’s eyes sparkled. "You mean… you’re missing a comic book ? I have a solution." She ran to her shelf, grabbed a special hardcover edition of Mônica: Lembranças , and tossed it to Mônica. "Here. It's a graphic novel about your childhood. It even has the story of how you got the Sandals of Strength." "Don't worry," Gibi winked, "I have a garden out back
Cascão looked at his own clean arms in horror. "This place has no mud! I feel… naked!"
Mônica caught it with one hand. For the first time, she smiled—a real, warm smile. "You… have a book about me?"