BACK INVENT8 6' An inventor's daughter uses his inventions The phone rang. "I'll get it, Mom!" shouted Michaela as she ran into her bedroom and picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Michaela, I need to speak to your dad right away." said the man's voice. Michaela immediately recognized his voice. It was the army captain who bought her dad's inventions. "I'm sorry, Captain, daddy just went down to Radio Shack to buy some transistors." Michaela replied. While she was speaking, Michaela heard someone pounding outside. She walked over to the window and looked out. The captain sounded nervous. He said, "Michaela listen to me. This is very important. Those enemy agents who tried to kidnap your dad are back in the country. We think they're going to try to blow up your dad's workshop!" Michaela out the window at the workshop. There was a man in dark clothes at the door. He had a hammer in his hand. He was pounding on the door of the workshop. Michaela exclaimed, "He's here! I've got to go!" Michaela dropped the phone and ran over to the closet and pulled out the special baseball cap that her dad made for her and put it on. "Activate!" Michaela commanded. The hat beeped and a little red light went on over her nose as Michaela ran back to the window. By the time she got back to the window the man in dark clothes was gone. Michaela commanded, "Mover!" and a tiny Television screen folded down over her left eye. Michaela turned her head until the little red "X" on the screen pointed at the lawn in front of the workshop door. Then Michaela commanded, "Move me there." Immediately Michaela disappeared from her bedroom then reappeared on the lawn. She looked at the door where the man was pounding. "He nailed the door shut!" exclaimed Michaela, "Why would he nail the door shut?" Michaela looked through the window into the workshop. There was a large steel box with a blinking red light and a radio antenna lying on the work table. Michaela knew that all her dad's inventions were much smaller than the steel box. So, this box must be the bomb that the captain on the phone was talking about. Michaela commanded, "Shrink me!" Immediately she shrank to the size of a dime. Then she walked under the door and commanded, "Grow me." Immediately she grew back to normal size and walked all around the table examining the box and looking for a switch or a plug to turn the bomb off. She couldn't see any clocks or timers on the bomb and there was no way to turn it off. Michaela knew that the radio antenna on the box meant that the bomb had a remote control. And the man in black who nailed the door shut was going to set the bomb off with a remote control. Michaela commanded, "Shrink me!" Immediately she shrank to the size of a dime. Then she walked under the door and commanded, "Grow me." Immediately she grew back to normal size. Then she commanded, "Helicopter!" Immediately, the hat lifted Michaela off the ground up to five hundred feet off the ground. She flew over the streets of her neighborhood looking for the man in dark clothes. After a few seconds, she saw him walking away from the house. "Take me down!" she commanded when she was right over his head. But he was looking back constantly. So, he saw Michaela coming down. He started running away. Michaela commanded, "Take me up!" and flew up to five hundred feet high. As the man ran, he pulled the remote control out of his pocket. Michaela flew down to take it from him, but the man saw her coming. He flicked the switch and a light on the remote control came on. If he pushed the button, she knew the bomb would go off, but all Michaela could do was to kick the remote control out of his hand, then she kicked him in the shoulder. Fearing another kick the man picked up the remote control and ran faster. After running another two blocks away, he pushed the red button on the remote control. Michaela expected to hear the bomb explode. But nothing happened. Michaela figured that by running away from her, the man had run too far away from the bomb and was now out of radio range. He pushed the button again and again, but nothing happened. Suddenly, he turned around and ran back toward the bomb. Michaela had to stop him before he got back into radio range. So, she commanded, "Manipulator!" Immediately the picture on the tiny TV screen showed a red "X". Michaela moved her head until the tiny "X" on the screen pointed at the remote control. Then Michaela commanded, "Pull!" The remote control came flying out of the man's hand and into her hand. The man turned and ran away. Michaela decided not to follow him, but to go home and get rid of the bomb. As she flew back toward home, she examined the remote control. There was a switch and a little red light on it next to the push button. So, Michaela flipped the switch. The light went off. The bomb was now safe. By the time Michaela flew home, the army captain was there. He had kicked the workshop door open and carried the bomb out onto the lawn away from the workshop. He pointed at the bomb and asked, "The light just went off. Did you do that?" Michaela showed him the remote control as she landed and replied, "Yes. May I have the bomb?" "Yes, of course!" he replied. She took the bomb and commanded, "Take me up!" She flew back toward the enemy agent. By the time she caught up to him, he was already at the harbor and was climbing on board a boat. Michaela dropped the bomb on the deck of the boat. When the enemy agents heard the bomb crash on the deck, they all shouted in a foreign language and jumped into the ocean. Michaela flipped the switch on the remote control. The little red light went on. Then, she pushed the big red button. The boat blew up. The captain had is army men pull the enemy agents out of the ocean and throw them in prison. ©2007 Bob Snook. 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