"Here's the break," Sunny said. "We'll need to weld in about a six-inch section of wire to jump the short."
"We don't have any copper in the lab," Tommy said. "We switched everything over to fiber years ago."
"There must be something." Sunny started searching around.
"How about a pencil?" Zoey asked. "Isn't the core graphite?"
"Yes, but graphite has too much resistance," Sunny said. "It has to be copper, gold, or brass. At least eight inches should do it."
I hesitated, but then reached in my backpack and pulled out the ruler that had belonged to my old teacher, Miss Brass, who died last year, saving us from aliens. "How about this? The edge, I mean. It's gold colored. Maybe it's copper?"
"Let me see." Sunny examined it. "Yes, this should work."
Tommy pressed a few buttons on the computer screen next to Walt's head. "Hurry. The human computer interface is almost online."
Sunny's face turned pale. "Someone is going to have to hold the ruler in place to manually bridge the gap."
"I'll do it." Old Tommy took the ruler out of Sunny's hand and walked over to the machine.
"Tommy, there's over a hundred million volts running through that thing," Sunny said. "An inch of wood won't protect you."
"Tommy!" Susie Jo ran over to him. "Even a stud like you can't stand that much voltage."
"I'll be fine. Remember, once the timeline is set straight, it won't matter anyway."
"That's just a theory," Sunny said. "We don't actually know—"
Old Tommy lifted his hand, and Sunny nodded. "Susie Jo," he said. "Please step back, my dearest love." Tommy and I exchanged sickened expressions.
"You're so brave, Tommy Traddles." Susie Jo hugged old Tommy, and then, as she turned, reached out and grabbed little Tommy. He tried to jump away, but even at three hundred plus pounds, she still moved like a moose in the rut. "Oh, Tommy," she cried, whispered something into his ear, and kissed him on the cheek before letting go.
Sunny walked up to the time machine controls. "Okay, you three on the platform."
It was really sappy, I know, but Zoey and I held Tommy's hands as we stepped on the platform. I only did it because I was worried Tommy's heart might give out from shock, and he'd die right on the spot.
You'd think traveling through space and time might be easier the second trip, but as soon as Sunny pressed the big red button, my stomach dropped out from under me, and I started stretching like a strand of leftover spaghetti.
When we got back, the three of us sat on our rear ends for a moment before even thinking about standing up. I wasn't dizzy exactly, but really lightheaded—and burnt out. I felt worse than that time I stayed up playing Duty of Heroes III for thirty-six hours straight.
"Hurry up guys, Sunny said not to risk running into ourselves." Zoey grabbed my wrist and started pulling.
"Wait a sec." I turned back to the time machine and sure enough, there were scorch marks on the machine, right where old Tommy had held the ruler. "We've gotta find that ruler."
"Even if it somehow made it back, we don't need it."
"Did you see those scorch marks? It must have made it back," I said. "We can't leave any evidence behind. We don’t want Night to figure out that the machine actually works."
"Hurry up." Zoey spat on the hem of her dress and wiped the scorch marks off the coil. "But if we don't find it right away, we have to go."
I found it on the floor and picked it up. "Here it is." The brass straight edge was black and partly melted. A bit of the wood was charred, but it was in better shape than I expected.
Standing up, I was face-to-face with another problem: Walt's head.
"What are we going to do about Walt Disney's head?" I said, trying to see past the frosted glass. "He's still here."
"Don't even think about it." Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and gave me an it's-not-too-late-for-me-to-beat-someone-up look. "You are not taking it with us."
"We can't leave him here. We know they'll figure out how to exploit him."
"Zack, that was a different timeline. Who knows what will happen now?"
I glanced over to Tommy, sure that he'd agree with me.
Tommy did, but not in the way I expected. "Zack is right. We can't let Night succeed. But we've got years to figure it out. We probably went at least ten years in the future, maybe a bunch more."
"Yeah, Tommy's right. We can get Sunny to help us figure out what to do," Zoey said. "Even sneak back here if we need to."
Walt seemed like a person to me now, a friend. It didn't seem right leaving him behind.
"Zack." Zoey looked me in the eye. "Step away from the head."
"Fine." Reluctantly, I turned away.
As we headed out the door, the sound of footsteps heading up the stairs sent us hurtling as fast as we could the other way.
*
We walked around inside the Matterhorn for a good ten minutes before finding an exit. Stepping out, we immediately spotted someone we knew.
"Sunny," I cried. Even from behind, her shock of kinky red hair couldn't be confused with anyone else.
"I thought you guys were never coming back." Sunny turned around.
"You have no idea how close we came." I smiled, genuinely happy to see her shorter than me again.
Seeing me, her expression changed from mild irritation to horror.
"Sunny, what's wrong?" Zoey asked.
"Zack, you're wearing a green leotard. Just a green leotard."
"Ohh, why didn't you guys have me change before we stepped into the time machine?" I tried to stand behind Zoey so no one could see me.
Chapter 23 – Big Ears, Big Secret
I couldn't believe I forgot I was wearing a torn-up Tinker Bell outfit.
"It's not like we had a lot of time," Zoey said, holding back a laugh.
"Or options," Tommy added.
"Easy for you to say. You're dressed like Alice and a pirate."
"Hey, I lost my sword, hat, and my ascot," Tommy protested.
"Shhh! People will start staring," I whispered.
"Did you say time machine? What the heck are you guys talking about?" Sunny asked.
"It's a long story," I told her. "So first, we've gotta get me some new clothes."
Everyone, even Tommy, chipped in to buy me something to wear. But even pooling our funds, all we could afford was a discounted Goofy sweat suit.
We were totally ready to go home and headed straight to our bus. The three of us looked out of place. No one sat near us on the bus ride home—which was fine, because Sunny was dying to hear what had happened.
At first, Sunny wasn't sure she believed us, but I think the fact she was destined to become some sort of celebrated professor helped convince her.
*
With the new school year, things got back to normal pretty fast.
Sunny, Tommy, and Zoey were all waiting outside of third period history, which was the only class all four of us shared. "Hey, guys," I said. "Did any of your see a new kid at school, a pretty big guy?"
"Nope," Tommy replied.
"What's that?" Sunny asked, pointing to the box under my arm.
"Oh, it's just a gift—I mean a thing. It's nothing, really."
"Is it a present for our two-year-four-month-and-three-week anniversary?"
"Umm, no. Sorry," I said, trying to figure out when that meant Zoey and my fake anniversary was, but I quickly gave up. "It's for Tommy, actually."
"For me?" He sounded worried.
"You brought a gift… for Tommy?" Sunny asked. "Maybe our Zack got mixed up with a Zack from another dimension?"
"I wish." Zoey made pouty lips.
I ignored them and handed the box to Tommy.
"Is it safe?" He turned it over like he was examining it for a fuse.
"It's fine. If you don't want it—"
"No, no." He pulled it close. "I was just asking."
Sunny and Zoey stepped back too, still not convinced it wasn't going to explode when he
opened it.
Tommy tore the box open. "It's a new set of mouse ears," he cried.
"And check out the name." I pointed to the front. "I had my Mom embroider them. Made sure it didn't look like Tammy."
"Wow, thanks."
"No big deal," I said. "You don't have to put them on now, really… It's okay."
Susie Jo started quickly waddling over as soon as Tommy put the ears on.
"Here she comes," I warned him.
"Ooo, maybe I'll still get to beat someone up." Zoey smiled.
"Nice mouse ears, twerp," Susie Jo said.
"I've been waiting for this," Tommy said under his breath.
"Hey, Suz." Zoey waved.
"They fit you 'cause you're as small as a mouse," Susie said. "Get it? Small as a mouse, 'cause he's wearing mouse ears."
We all looked at each other.
"That's not really a pun," Sunny said.
"And it's not very funny," Zoey added.
This, of course, only made Susie mad. "I'm going to take those stupid ears and stuff—"
"Spotted Snuffy," Tommy said calmly.
Susie Jo froze like a statue, the blood draining from her face.
Then Tommy leaned over and whispered something into her ear.
The blood ran back, turning her cheeks as red as two huge apples. Slowly, silently, she turned around and walked away.
"Tommy, what did you say to her?" Sunny asked.
"And what's a Spotted Snuffy?" I added.
"I can't say," replied Tommy as he adjusted his mouse ears and walked into class. No matter how we pleaded and prodded he wouldn't tell us his secret. But I can tell you this: After that day, we weren't bullied by Susie Jo ever again.
* * * * *
Dysgraphia Awareness
What is Dysgraphia?
In simple terms, dysgraphia is the inability to get thoughts from the brain written onto paper correctly. As my editor can attest, dysgraphia can result in some pretty gnarly sentences.
For example, take the sentence, "I really like to read funny books." A dysgraphic child might write the sentence as, "I like read to red funny books."
When handwritten, the sentence may appear sloppy, and the words may slope up or down the page.
The hardest thing for most parents and teachers to understand is when someone with dysgraphia re-reads the offending sentence, his mind may tell him it's written correctly. That is, when a dysgraphic person proofreads a messed-up sentence, he may (depending on degree and type of dysgraphia) actually see, "I really like to read funny books."
Until the errors are specifically pointed out, a dysgraphic student may not be able to see his errors or omissions, and simply asking the child to repeatedly re-read the sentence will only result in frustration for the student and instructor.
What are signs a child may be dysgraphic?
Some common symptoms include:
- Poor spelling
- Messy handwriting
- Uncomfortable pencil grip, or pain when writing
- Writing on an upward or downward slant
- Trouble forming letters (common examples include: reversing letters, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters, or mixing cursive and print letters)
Read more about what to look for: https://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/what-is-dysgraphia
What can I do if I suspect my child might be dysgraphic?
Unfortunately, many educators aren't trained to properly identify the signs that a student may be dysgraphic. If you suspect your child may have this or any other learning disability, you can request to have your child tested by an expert trained to identify learning difficulties through your school district.
In the U.S., federal laws require that schools promptly acknowledge and comply with your request for testing. In fact, if your child's school doesn't have trained personnel available, they must pay for or arrange for an outside expert to complete this testing at no cost to you.
In many other countries, schools are required to make needed accommodations and offer special assistance to children with learning disabilities. In the U.S. this is done by a formal evaluation process with results in a written Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
While many schools work hard to assist students, some prefer to ignore these obligations or provide as little assistance as possible. There are child advocacy groups that can assist parents in getting the help their child needs. These groups may contact the school on your child's behalf, attend meetings with you, or in extreme cases, file formal complaints against the district.
Just remember, the time you spend securing the correct diagnosis and assistance for your child will go a long way to ensuring that he or she has the proper tools to be successful, not only in school, but in life. Your child is worth it!
Here are several websites with information and advice on getting your child the help they deserve:
https://www.education-a-must.com
https://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-rights
Outside the US:
https://www.mencap.org.uk
https://www.ldworldwide.org
* * *
About the Author
MJ lives in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains with his wife and two daughters. Due to a freak childhood incident at his school library, MJ never developed an interest in adult literature.
When not reading or writing books for kids, he runs a video arcade company building retro arcade machines just like he played as a child. MJ is available as both a court approved zombie expert and for FEMA certified "zombie safety" school lectures.
He’s currently working on his next novel, the second installment in the Super Zombie Juice series.
* * *
Front Matter
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owners of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status and trademark owners of any product referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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