BACK INVENTD 7' An inventor's daughter uses his inventions Michaela had been waiting excitedly for her dad to finish his latest invention. So, when Michaela brought her charm bracelet down to the workshop to have her dad attach the new charm, she was a little disappointed. Instead of adding a new charm to the charm bracelet, her dad took off four of the charms, the camera charm, the glove charm, the squirt-gun charm and the globe charm. "Does this mean I don't get a new invention, Daddy?" asked Michaela. Her dad answered, "Oh, I have a new invention for you. But I was worried that there are already too many charms on the charm bracelet. The more different charms you have, the longer it will take for you to find the charm you need when you're in a hurry. Remember what happened when you tried to transport to the top of the tallest building in the city?" "Yes," replied Michaela, "The globe charm transported me back in time to a time when there were no tall buildings in the city. Instead of landing on the roof of the building, I reappeared hundreds of feet in the air and then I started falling like a rock." "How long did it take for you to find the helicopter charm and activate it?" asked her dad. "A few seconds." replied Michaela. "A few seconds is too long if you're in danger, isn't it?" asked dad. "I guess so. But if I have a new invention, how do I get it to work?" asked Michaela. As her dad attached a new camera charm that looked exactly the same as the old one, he explained, "I have combined the squirt gun charm and the globe charm and the camera charm and the glove charm with this new invention into one charm so it'll be easier to find." "How does it work?" asked Michaela. Dad replied, "Try it. You'll see." So, Michaela squeezed the "X" charm. The television picture in her left eye lens displayed the message: "All systems GO." When Michaela squeezed the camera charm, the lens showed a television picture of what she was looking at. "I can't see through anything. What happened to the see-through camera?" As soon as Michaela said the words "see through". The television picture showed what was on the other side of the wall she was looking at. And then a red "X" appeared in the center of the picture. "Oh! I get it!" exclaimed Michaela, "The command is see-through!" "That's right!" said dad, "Now, while you're in see-through mode, you can go wherever you can see." Michaela smiled and asked, "You mean I can go through that wall?" "Yes!" replied dad. Michaela aimed the "X" at the grass outside of the workshop and commanded, "Take me there". Immediately, Michaela disappeared from the workshop and reappeared on the grass outside. "Cool!" exclaimed Michaela as she aimed the "X" at the floor inside of the workshop next to her dad. "Take me there." she commanded. Immediately, Michaela disappeared from the back yard and reappeared inside the workshop. "Cool!" exclaimed Michaela. Her dad taught her how to activate the other inventions now controlled by the new camera charm and she practiced using them. Less than two days later, Michaela needed to use the new invention. While she was in class at school, Michaela heard her dad's voice in her earrings, "Michaela, we have an emergency!" Michaela immediately excused herself from class and ran out of the school. By now, her teacher didn't question why she was leaving class. She knew that Michaela was needed by the government for an emergency. While Michaela was running out of the school, she activated the charm bracelet and the camera. Then she commanded, "Bird's eye view." The television picture was now a bird's eye view of the school. Michaela commanded, "Airplane view. Satellite view." Michaela was now looking at the whole earth as if it was a globe. Her dad gave her instructions where to aim the red "X". It was a secret airplane hanger beside a large airport in a foreign country. Michaela commanded, "Take me there." Immediately, she disappeared from the front lawn of the school and reappeared on the roof of the airplane hanger 7000 miles away. Then she pointed the "X" at the roof she was standing on and commanded, "See-through." Michaela reported, "I can see several airplanes below. What now, Daddy?" Her dad explained, "Enemy agents stole one of our army's super-secret laser guns and they're going to install it in their newest, fastest jet plane. With that gun on that airplane, the enemy agents could blow up any building anywhere in the world. We need to get that gun back. Send us the television picture you're looking at now." With that, Michaela commanded, "Send picture." and immediately her dad and the army men with him could see inside of the enemy's secret airplane hanger. "Michaela, can you see that odd looking airplane in the corner?" asked dad. "Yes," replied Michaela as she moved her eyes until the "X" aimed at the odd-looking new airplane. "We need a close-up view of that airplane." explained dad. Michaela commanded, "Look closer. Send picture." "Oh no!" exclaimed dad. "What's the matter?!" replied Michaela, "Did I do something wrong?" "No, punkin. You did good. That's exactly the picture we needed. But we're too late. The stolen laser gun is already installed on the airplane." "What should I do?" asked Michaela, "Should I remove it?" "No." replied dad, "There are too many people in the hangar and it would take to long to remove it." "What should I do then?" asked Michaela. "One moment, please." said another voice, then there was a long silence. Michaela got nervous. "Michaela, sweety?" said dad after a long delay. "I'm here." replied Michaela. "As soon as the man at the nose of the airplane finishes installing the cover over the laser gun, we want you to fly the airplane out of there." Michaela swallowed hard and replied, "But I don't know how to fly an airplane!" "Michaela, you can do this!" exclaimed dad. "Tell me what to do. I'll do my best." replied Michaela. While Michaela watched the airplane mechanic below screwing down the cover over the lazer gun, she listened to dad's instructions. As soon as the mechanic finished and walked away, Michaela commanded, "Take me there." She disappeared from the roof of the hangar and reappeared on the wing of the airplane, then quickly jumped into the cockpit. Then, she commanded, "Normal vision. Send picture." The army men told her which buttons to push and what levers to pull. The engines in the airplane roared to life. Within seconds, red lights flashed all over the hangar and horns blasted. Someone pushed the big red button to close the big doors on the hangar to keep Michaela from leaving, but it was too late. The airplane was already outside. "Push the throttle all the way forward." said the voice in her ear. The airplane sped up and within seconds the airplane took off almost straight up. A few seconds after that, the airplane was out of sight of the hangar. It turns out that the airplane was easier to fly than she thought, because the way Michaela controlled the airplane was much the same as the way she controlled her inventions. All she had to do was point an "X" at where she wanted to go and push a button. Within an hour, she landed the airplane at a United States Air Force base and Michaela was a national hero again. ©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid email: bobsnook@fea.net BACK |