George and the Missing Puzzle Piece Arthur

# Every day you walk down the street Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart Listen to the beat

# Listen to the rhythm of the street Open your eyes! Open your ears!

# Get together, make things better By working together

# It's a simple message And it comes from the heart

# Believe in yourself For that's the place to start

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

-What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play And get along with each other

# What a wonderful kind of day, hey! What a wonderful kind of day, HEY! #

Hey, DW!

-Hey!

-Whoa...oh!

Hey, Carl.

What do you think?

That's a male lion.

You can tell because he has a mane.

Lions used to live all over the world,

but now they're only found in Africa and India.

Huh, I never knew that. But I meant, what did you think of my drawing?

Do you like it?

It's brown. I hate brown.

One of the reasons I like Carl is that he's really honest.

He's also an amazing artist.

See this train? He drew it completely from memory!

That's a steam locomotive, built in 1905

by the Great Western Railway Company in England.

It has pistons and a driving wheel and connecting rods and...

-Er, Carl?

-..and valve gears and volute springs...

-Carl! Hello!

Once you get Carl talking about trains,

it can be hard to get him to stop.

..and horn blocks and bogey pivots that depend on capillary action.

In the meantime, I'll tell you how we met.

Sorry, Wally. This part of the story doesn't involve you.

Ah, here it is!

The piece of the puzzle that started it all.

Now, once you've sanded both sides of the dovetail joint,

you're going to apply a little...

George, would you see if you can find some more glue

in one of the other classrooms?

Cool spaceship!

It's not a spaceship. It's the Golden Bullet X97,

the fastest train in the world. It can go 581km per hour.

Really? I never knew a train could go that fast.

It floats on a super-powerful magnet.

There's another really fast one in France, called the GB17,

but that runs on wheels.

I have a picture of it.

However, this picture is not entirely accurate,

because I made the windows too big.

You drew that?! Wow!

I'm George, by the way.

My name is Carl. I come here every Tuesday and Thursday with my mom.

She's getting me apple juice - in a box, not a bottle.

I like drawing, too. Hey, maybe we could hang out some time.

Hang out of what?

No, I just meant...

Wait, you're pulling my leg!

No, I'm not. I'm doing a puzzle.

-GEORGE LAUGHS

-That's pretty funny!

Ha-ha-ha!

Oh, sorry!

Well, maybe I'll see you later. I have to bring this to my dad.

Nice meeting you. Bye!

Now, surrender quietly, Rammy, or I'll...

Oh, giving me the stink-eye, are you? I'll show you!

Wally, quit kidding around. I need to clean up before bed.

Kind of tastes like chicken.

No! George! Not your dirty pants!

Anything but that!

Hey, if that's money, I should get it. I did all the work!

It's a piece of Carl's puzzle.

It must have fallen in my pocket when I bumped into the table.

Who's Carl? ..He's this kid I met today.

It was strange - I couldn't tell if he liked me or not.

What's not to like?

You're nice, smart and you're a ventriloquist!

Thanks, Wally!

I should bring this back to him.

Take me with you!

I've always wanted to go to your dad's woodworking class.

He could make me a friend!

A nice little ostrich! We could share bow ties!

Hey, Carl. Remember me?

You're George. I met you Tuesday.

You were getting a bottle of glue for your dad.

Is this the boy you were telling me about? Nice to meet you, George.

-I'm Carl's mom.

-Could I have some apple juice, please?

In a box, not a bottle.

Sure, sweetie. I'll be right back.

You didn't have a backpack with you last time. I like it.

Blue's my favourite colour.

Mine too! Hey, I bet you'll never guess what's inside.

Hiya, Carl! I'm Wally, George's dummy,

although we prefer the term mannequin.

Want to be friends?

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

-Carl? I'm right here.

-Ah.

What...what did I do wrong?

It's not your fault, George.

Carl has Asperger's syndrome.

-Ah.

-Sometimes he reacts this way to unfamiliar situations.

I...I didn't know!

Is there anything I can do?

Thanks, but not right now.

Carl, it's OK. It's OK. It's OK, Carl.

OK. Er...sorry.

All I did was show him Wally, and he got really upset.

His mom said it was because he had As-per-ger...

Asperger's syndrome?

Yeah! That was it!

My uncle has Asperger's. Here's a picture of him.

"Professor Keith Powers wins Crown City Physics Prize."

Wow. Is he a genius?

Sort of, but he has a lot of trouble being around other people.

-Why?

-His brain just works differently.

What's normal to us can seem really strange to him.

He described it like this...

Imagine you've crash-landed on an alien planet.

It looks like Earth, but there are lots of differences.

For one, a lot of people seem to talk really loudly.

Hey! How you doing? Nice to meet you!

I'm Francine!

And even though you speak the same language,

you sometimes have a hard time understanding them.

Good night for a banana fight, right?

Er, yes? No! I don't know!

And things that seem hilarious to you...

GEORGE LAUGHS ..aren't funny at all to them.

What's he laughing at? Is it my nose?

I have no idea.

But it was a joke, right?

Oh.

You wish the scientists back on Earth

had given you a guide book to this strange planet.

But they forgot to pack one,

so you have to try to learn things all on your own.

Maybe there's one thing in particular that captures your interest

and you study just that.

Hopefully, the people on the planet

begin to understand you a little better...

Hey, George! Nice...

Oops, sorry.

Nice painting.

Thank you, Arthur. You look very creamy today.

GEORGE LAUGHS

..and you might even learn to fit in.

But you'll always feel a little bit different.

Anyway, that's the way Uncle Keith explained it to me.

Here's your smoothie.

George, this is a bad idea!

Why? ..Because you really upset Carl last time.

No, I didn't. You did!

Oh, that's right. Blame the mannequin.

Well, what's going to happen this time, when he sees me?

He's not going to, Wally. You're staying home.

What? But...but this is a new bow tie.

I even put on a fresh coat of furniture polish!

Where is it? Where's the last piece?

Just relax, sweetie. I'm sure it's around here somewhere.

It's gone! It'll never be complete! This is terrible!

And it's all my fault.

-Hello, George. Are you looking for more glue?

-Carl! No.

I came to give you this.

It fell into my pocket.

I was going to give it to you the other day, but, well...

It's from the front car of the Golden Bullet X97.

I noticed it was missing so my mom and I made another piece like it.

However, this one will fit better.

Oh, I brought you something else, too.

If it's a wooden giraffe, I don't want it!

Don't worry, it's just a book.

Central Pacific Number Two.

The Trans-Iberian Express.

-Carl, can you say "thank you"?

-The Dome Car!

That's OK.

So there you have it.

That's how Carl and I became friends.

..and a steam funnel and a signal whistle.

Hey, Carl. Want to get some juice? In a box, not a bottle.

OK. It was nice to meet you.

I taught him that.

He taught me to speak quietly, be clear

and not to take it personally if he ignores me.

Now maybe he'll teach me how to draw a better lion!

# Every day you walk down the street

# Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day, hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day

# HEY! #