By Madison Nef
It was a cold, stormy day in the town of RedBrook. Puddles covered the roads, and people with umbrellas hurried home. But at RedBrook Middle School, students were bustling about. In 3 days, there was to be a science fair at the school. Now, many fairs were very small, but this one was being sponsored by MIT (Massachusetts Institute to Technology). Whoever won first place got a certificate from the college and a scholarship when they were older. But not all the students were bustling.
In the science lab in the basement of the school, two girls were sitting at a counter together. One of the girls was tall and wiry, with thick black hair and green eyes. She was wearing experiment goggles and gloves, and was working on a machine. The other girl is also tall, but shorter than the other girl and has brown hair and eyes. She is reading a sleuthing magazine. “Shirley, are you done yet?” asked the brown-haired girl. “Not quite, Dot,” said the black-haired girl, whose name was Shirley.
Dot sighed. She knew that this science fair was important to Shirley, but did she HAVE to spend their after-school time in the lab every day? “What are you building, anyway?” asked Dot, who had forgotten. “I am building the Shirley 5000. It is a helpful robot; all you have to do is program it with your list of chores, and it will complete them all,” replied Shirley, connecting some wires together. “I only have 3 more days to finish it, and I have to figure out why these wires keep glitching. PLEASE do not distract me because this is very complex work.”
“Alright, geez,” muttered Dot, turning back to her magazine. There was a very good article in it about recognizing clues, and how clues could look like other things at times. About 15 minutes later, she nearly jumped out of her skin when an electronic voice said, “I am the Shir-r-r-rley 5000. How ma-y-y-y I help yo-o-u-u?” “YES!” cheered Shirley.
“Look Dot!” she cried. “I am going to give it a command….” She said, breaking off her sentence as she pressed some buttons on the machine. “Y-y-y-es, mistress,” stuttered the machine, and it rolled over to Dot and gave her an uncomfortable hug. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” screeched Dot, who didn’t like anything that talked and moved when it was supposed to be inanimate. She frowned at Shirley, who was on the floor laughing.
“Come on, I’m going home,” grumbled Dot to her friend. “Ok ok, fine,” said Shirley, and she took her robot and put it on the top-most shelf in the lab. Since she was the tallest girl with access to the 5th grade lab, she was the only person other than teachers that could reach the top shelf without the step stool. After putting her robot away, she dashed out into the rain with Dot.
The girls lived next door to each other, so they walked home together. When they were 2 blocks away from their houses, Shirley suddenly stopped. “What’s the matter?” asked Dot. “I forgot my backpack in the lab,” said Shirley. “All of my homework is in there, and I DON’T want to break my average of A. I am going to go get it… wanna come with me?” “UGH… Sure,” said Dot.
The girls raced back to school and out of the rain. Shirley used her key to the lab, given to her by the principal himself, and went down to the basement. “I am glad we came back,” chuckled Dot. “I left my magazine here!” Shirley laughed as she grabbed her backpack. The girls raced up the stairs and headed home.
The next day at school, Shirley could barely wait for science. She wanted to show off her robot to her class; everyone, including Dot, had told her she wouldn’t be able to do it. Finally, it was 1:30. Shirley raced down to the lab, grinning. Her teacher, Mrs. Mickle, smiled and said, “What’s the big hurry?” even though she knew quite well that Shirley loved science and was ready to show off her project.
At about 1:35, the rest of the class trickled in, slouching themselves into chairs and slumping their projects onto the counters. Dot scooched in next to Shirley and asked “Well? Where is it?” “Still on the shelf…. I am saving it for last,” replied Shirley. “OK,” said Dot. After a boring talk about the fair, Mrs. Mickle finally called out, “Would anyone like to show off their science fair projects?”
Pandora Chesney’s hand went up first. Pandora was a short, heavyset blonde girl that was known for being popular and very bratty. She brought out a sparkly pink bag with fluffy feathers all over it. “THIS,” she began in a preppy voice, “is the ‘Super Bag 200 by PaNDorA’. All you have to do is press one of the buttons, either lipstick, compact, cellphone, or gum, and it will open up and a mechanical hand will give it to you. However, it still has a bit of a glitch… But don’t worry, it’ll be ready for the science fair!”
Next, Rose Neret raised her hand. Rose was a quivery little redhead with brown eyes. She was very small, very shy, and also got picked on a lot. She was also very passionate about science. Next to Shirley, she was the best in the class. She pushed out a large silver machine and smiled. “This is called ‘the Knit It’. All you have to do is enter the yarn of your choice, and press what you want it to make, and voila! You have a new hat, or mittens, or even a stylish new scarf.” She put in a small red ball of yarn, hit a button, and after a minute, out came a cute red scarf. She bowed and went back to her counter, taking her machine with her.
A few more people went, and finally it was Shirley’s turn. She grinned and turned to her class. “What you are about to see is a do-it-yourself robot that I like to call ‘The Shirley 5000’. Enter your list of chores, turn her on, and find yourself kicking back to relax!” With that, Shirley went to the shelf to get her project. But it wasn’t there!
Shirley gasped. Where was her science project?! “Um, uh, I actually seem to have misplaced my project. Come back later,” said Shirley, in awe. The class stared at her awkwardly. She blushed and returned to her counter. Dot said, “WHAT HAPPENED?!” “I don’t know!” said Shirley. “I put it there yesterday when we left… somebody must have taken it!”
After the class had finished, Shirley and Dot stayed behind to look for Shirley’s project. “Where did you see it last?” asked Dot. “Well, I had put it on the shelf, then I had run out with you. When I went back to get my homework, it was still there… I must have forgotten to lock the door when I left!” she exclaimed.
Dot looked around the shelf for clues as to where the project was. Shirley looked around the stepladder. “Who would even want my project?” asked Shirley. “Uhm, ANYONE?” said Dot. “You’re the best in class, and anyone in the science class would want that scholarship. So to get it, they’d have to knock the best person out of the competition. Right?” “Right,” said Shirley.
Shirley started looking around the shelf for clues as to where her project might have gone, but saw nothing. She climbed down and found Dot searching around on the floor. “Man,” Shirley said, “I’ll have to mention this room to cleaning- that shelf smelled of some kind of chemical…. Probably Rose spilled another test tube…. But anyway- Dot, what did you find?”
Dot held up a small, shiny black button. “It caught my eye. I was getting the step-stool to come and help you look up on the shelf, when I saw a glisten in the corner. So I looked, and- voila!” Shirley carefully examined the button. “It looks like it came from a lab coat….” She trailed off. “What’s the matter?” asked Dot. “Nothing. In fact, I have good news. Each lab coat has the student’s name on it…. So all we have to do is look at the coats and we’ll know who was snooping around!” exclaimed Shirley.
The two girls raced towards the supply cabinet. Dot threw open the doors and Shirley grabbed an armful of the coats. The girls each took a pile and started going through them all. Shirley finally gave a squeal of joy. “It’s Stanley!” she gasped. Dot looked at her. “Who’s Stanley?” she asked. “You know, the dorky kid who sits in the back of the room and chews on his pencils?” said Shirley.
“Ohhh,” said Dot. “I’m going to go find him,” said Shirley. “You coming?” “Sure,” said Dot. The girls ran up the stairs and scoured the halls for Stanley. Finally, they found him in the computer lab, practicing computer encoding. “Oh, hi,” he said when he saw them. “What do you two want?” “What I want to know is why you were snooping around the lab near my project!” said Shirley. “What would I want with your project?” asked Stanley calmly. “Oh, I don’t know…. Maybe you’d want to get a certain someone kicked out of a certain contest?” snapped Dot. “Well, don’t get to big in the britches, because I am not even entering!” huffed Stanley.
Shirley and Dot were shocked. They had been so sure that they were on to something… But it had all turned out to be a false trail. “What a waste of time!” grumbled Dot. “I know,” sighed Shirley. “We better get another lead soon.” With that, the girls proceeded through the rest of their school day, and finally, at 3:30, went home.
The next day in science, Mrs. Mickle called up a girl. “Everyone, this is Gemmy, and she has been held back 3 grades. She has been absent due to a broken leg. However, she has been working on a project for the fair. Now, I am going to give everyone this class to get ready for the fair Saturday. You may re-test your projects and add the finishing touches to them, so that they are good.”
Everyone reached into their counters and pulled out their projects. Shirley sat with her head in her hands, upset that her project was still gone. She only had two more days to find it, or else she would be disqualified. Suddenly, a tall, rat-faced boy rose from the back of the room and brought a small device to the front of the room. Mrs. Mickle cleared her throat and said, “Everyone, this is Basil, and he didn’t get to show his project yesterday because he had misplaced the remote to it. Basil, please tell us a little about your project.”
“Well,” Basil began in a nasal voice, “I call my invention ‘the Hack-a-Tron’ because it can literally hack into ANYTHING. It could hack into the computer code, the classroom, the school files- and if I keep practicing with it and experimenting with it until I am older, hopefully it will be able to hack into the human brain. The reason you didn’t see it yesterday is because I had misplaced it and it’s controller…. But today I found them on my desk, underneath some college plans.”
Suddenly, Rose let out an ear-splitting screech, that abruptly brought Basil’s monologue to an end. No one minded that much; but they DID mind getting their brains blown out. “What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Mickle. “M-my Knit-It!” she said. “It just malfunctioned, and when I checked it, I found that the battery was gone! That battery is one of a kind, my own prototype….” Mrs. Mickle shook her head sadly. “Class dismissed,” she said, and everyone scrambled to get out the door.
But not everyone. Shirley and Dot stayed behind with Rose to ask her about her project. She explained that she had stored her project inside of her counter, which she kept padlocked for fear of thievery like this. Shirley and Dot walked over to the counter to look around. The lock was open, but there were no signs of force or damage of any kind. However, the padlock was VERY greasy. Dot swiped her finger on it and sniffed. “BLEH!” she yelled. Shirley sniffed carefully, and then said “HEY! That’s the smell that was on the shelf!” Dot frowned. “But why would anyone want a battery?” “My battery is made up of many different parts,” said Rose. “Anyone would want it if they were fixing something.”
That night, Shirley sat in her bed, going over the facts of the case. The chemical smell definitely had something to do with it, but where did it fit in? It was the only connection between the two cases. The only reason anyone would want to steal her robot was to eliminate competition and the same for Rose. What was it she had said the battery was good for… oh yeah. Fixing things. But who the heck would need their brand new science project repairrrrrr…. HOLD ON A MOMENT! PANDORA! “However, it still has a bit of a glitch… But don’t worry; it’ll be ready for the science fair!”
But how would Pandora access the projects? Shirley turned the thought over in her mind. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. Pandora had been absent that day! And also the day after Shirley’s project disappeared! And then she thought about Basil: “The reason you didn’t see it yesterday is because I had misplaced it and its controller…. But today I found them on my desk, underneath some college plans.”
That would explain how Pandora got access to the projects! All she would have had to do was take the controller, then sit back and let the machine hack into the classroom and cabinet! And the chemical smell…. She had said something about a glitch… and since it was a purse designed to make perfume, lipstick, and chewing gum, she wouldn’t be surprised if it had a bad smell!
That would also explain the missing battery- she probably wanted it to help her fix her glitch! Now all Shirley had to do was get a hold of Pandora’s project, and make sure once and for all that her suspicions were correct. She fell asleep as the plan glazed over in her mind.
When Shirley got up in the morning, she got dressed and took her mini tape recorder with her. She knew that the only evidence against Pandora she had was in her mind, and that she’d look like a fool getting up and accusing her without proof. So what she decided to do was tape her conversation with Pandora, that way, if she confessed, she’d have it on tape.
In school, Shirley cornered Pandora next to her locker and said, “May I see your project for a moment please?” “Sure,” said Pandora. Shirley took one sniff of the purse, and knew that her hunch was correct. She flipped on her recorder in her pocket and began. “Pandora, I know you stole my project, and a part of Roses’. Your pocketbook’s smell was everywhere where the crime was committed, and you were absent the days the crimes occurred. I spent all of last night putting the clues together, and they all point to you.”
Pandora smirked. “Bravo, Shirley, bravo!” she laughed. “Yes, yes, I did do it, but unfortunately for you, you’ll never catch me. You don’t have an OUNCE of evidence against me. People will think you are crazy, I’ll win the science fair, and you won’t be able to stop me. HA!” she said. Shirley smiled and said, “Thanks. You just made my public accusation SO much easier.” She held up her recorder and laughed as she walked off to science class.
In the middle of science, Shirley raised her hand and stood up. “I know who has been stealing the science projects, and I have proof!” Everyone gasped, they couldn’t believe it! Shirley said, “Pandora is the culprit, and if you don’t believe me, I have her full confession right here on tape!” Everyone gasped again. Mrs. Mickle said, “Pandora, is this true?!” “Yes, it is,” mumbled Pandora, hanging her head. Mrs. Mickle shook her head. “Pandora, give the girls back their projects IMMEDIATELY!” Pandora nodded sadly and pulled the battery and the robot out of her counter. “Here you go,” she said sadly.
Pandora was not disqualified from the competition, but she WAS given a month’s after-school detention. Shirley was very happy to have her project back- and just in time for the fair, too! Rose, however, couldn’t enter the fair because her battery was broken. Dot and Shirley felt very bad for her.
Dot and Shirley decided to have a sleepover the night before the science fair. Dot helped Shirley pick out what to wear: a cute jean skirt with a clean white t-shirt and black flat shoes. Then, the girls stayed up watching monster movies, telling secrets, listening to music, and snacking before falling asleep at 12:00 midnight.
In the morning, Shirley got up bright and early to get ready for the fair. She took a shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth and ate a nutritious breakfast of sausage, eggs, and a yogurt before getting into her outfit. Then, she woke up her mom, dad and Dot. Dot was rather annoyed at Shirley, as she was used to getting up late on Saturdays. However, when reminded about the science fair, she got ready fast.
By 11:30, Shirley was at the science fair. She went over to her booth and set up her board, telling about her robot, and set her robot up with it. She also put up a sign that said: TRY IT NOW! GIVE THE ROBOT A COMMAND OF YOUR OWN! She couldn’t wait for the fair to open at 12.
Soon, more and more people started to come, and at 12, the judges arrived. There were three: A kind, fair skinned lady with blonde hair name Claire, a heavyset man with a big black moustache and large front teeth named Joe, and another young woman with darker skin and black hair that had a rather large nose named Joan.
Slowly, the judges walked from table to table, nodding, whispering among themselves, and taking notes. Shirley watched as Claire went towards Pandora’s table. She heard her giving her cheesy little speech. “…yes, push that button and it will give you lipstick,” said Pandora with a smile. But when Claire pushed the button, instead of lipstick, the metal bag shot out a glob of hair, chewy gum, and lipstick right into Pandora’s face.
Shirley couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Pandora’s face. It was SO funny. But Shirley quickly put on her business face again, because the judges were heading towards her table. She smiled politely as she told them about her machine, and Joe tested it out. The judges smiled at her, wished her good luck, wrote down their notes, and moved on.
The clock ticked, and time flew by. Finally, Claire got up onto a podium and spoke into the microphone: “And the winner of the RedBrook Middle School Science Fair (sponsored by MIT) is….. Shirley Holmes, with her invention “The Shirley 5000, a Do-It-Yourself Robot”. Congratulations, you have won a scholarship to MIT when you grow up!” Shirley quickly accepted her award, and felt the happiest she had ever felt. As for Dot, she was very happy for her friend….. but mostly, she was happy to only be spending an hour in the musty school lab for classes.
The End
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