Science Fiction for Young Readers, grade 4 up
Story by Terry Gibson ©

     Greg caught Tab as she was leaving 
the nurse's room at 3:30.  She broke into 
a big smile when she saw him; someone she 
didn't have to be on guard with.  "Hi," 
she said.  "Want to come to Mrs. Mallow's 
room with me?"
    "Okay."  As they walked, he asked, 
"Is it true that he was so mad at you he 
threw you on the cot?  That's what Maria 
said."
     "No.  Suddenly I fell."
     "Okay.  You look all right."
     "I wasn't hurt."  Tab sighed.  "But 
I'm in big trouble."
     "You don't even know how big.  You 
should have heard what the kids are saying 
in the yard."
     Her stomach flipped.  "What?"
     Greg quickly told her some of the 
ugly things he'd heard.
     Tab stopped dead still.  "Oh NO-OO!
It wasn't like that at all!"
     "I know.  You had another attack 
didn't you? And you had to hang on tight 
or you'd keep rising? And that's why he 
ran!"
     "Yes."  Tab could have hugged him.  
"And his head was the last thing I could 
grab...."
     "While you could still reach."
     Tabitha nodded, glad that she and 
Greggy were friends, not enemies as they 
used to  be.  She didn't say it, but 
could imagine how impossible it would 
have been...
     After a silence, he added, "Anyhow, 
we don't have a lot of friends out there."
    She sighed.  "I guess not."  Another 
sigh.  "What about Akim?"
     "Akim is a friend.  So is Elsbeth--"
He shook his head.  "It's tough for them.
They don't know the secret, and it looked
--well, you know.  But they don't say bad 
things."
     "Does it get them in trouble?"
     "Not yet."


     They found Mrs. Mallow marking books 
at her desk.  She put down her pen, and 
welcomed them both.  "I suppose this is 
about the--ah-- incident."
     "Actually it's about Mr. Player."
     "I don't listen to complaints about 
other teachers--"
     "Oh no, it's not a complaint.  
He SAVED me, maybe saved my life, even."  
Tab imagined floating
into the sky, as she would have done if 
her helper had been Maria.  Her eyes 
opened wide with horror.
     "It's just, the way-"
     "I know.  It looked peculiar."
     Tab smiled sadly.  "Peculiar for sure.
Greggy told me that the kids were saying...  
Uh, slutty things...  In the yard.  
About me."
     "Such as?"
     Tabitha looked helplessly at Greg, 
unable even to say the words. He 
hesitantly told what he had heard.
     The teacher's smile faded, and she 
looked down at her books.  
     "This is serious," she said.  "It 
could mean bad problems for Mr. Player.  
Their stories are untrue, of course."
     "Creepers!  Of course!"
     "Oh, absolutely!"
     "Then why--?"
     Tab explained, "They hate me.  
They're always saying awful things just 
to make me mad."
     "I must confess I had noticed that."  
Mrs. Mallow smiled.  "You handle it well.  
Was there something else?"
     "I feel awful about Mr. Player.  
I know he's supposed to act in certain 
ways, by the rules--I hope he'll be okay."
     "I hope so too."
     "And Mrs. Meander was so ANGRY!" 
Tab added.
     "Well, we can't turn back the clock."  
The teacher's worried look had returned.
"Mrs. Meander is responsible for 
everything that happens in the school."  
With a faraway look in her eyes, almost 
as if talking to herself, she went on, 
"But she ought to know Jeremy Player
after all these years of working with 
him... A fine and gentle person." With 
a shake of her head, she added, "And I 
trust his professional integrity 
completely.  He would never wrong any 
child--"
     Tab watched Mrs. Mallow's hands, 
twisting and untwisting a paper until it 
separated into shreds.  "You're worried 
too," Tab said.
     "Yes, Tabitha, I confess I am.  
I know that some people get a lot of 
entertainment out of making trouble for 
others."
     "But I didn't mean--"
     "Shush dear, I didn't mean you."
     "I want to tell him I'm sorry, 
but I don't know how.  I'm scared."


     They discussed that for a while, 
and Mrs. Mallow said, "He's going to be 
away for a few days, I hear, but I'm 
sure he'll understand."
     Tab had her doubts about that, but 
didn't say so.  "I hope it'll be all right."
     "Yes.  It won't be easy.  But he's 
such a good man..."  After a pause, Mrs. 
Mallow said, "I do hope no harm will come 
of it."
     "And if it does?"
     "Then we must be completely truthful, 
and pray that the goodness of people will 
be stronger than the evil."
     "But what if the truth gets all 
twisted around until it isn't true anymore?  
Wouldn't it be better to say nothing at 
all?"
     "You ask hard questions, Tabitha.  
I think I'd advise you to talk it out with 
your mother, and get all the help you can 
get."  She smiled sadly.
     "Thank you, Mrs. Mallow."  
     They got up to leave.  Alone, the kids 
were silent for a few minutes before Greg 
said, "Well, you can't tell Mom you float."
     "I know.  She won't believe me."
     "But you're going to have tell her
something."
     "Mrs. Mallow said to tell the truth."
     "Mom will think you're lying."
     "Or crazy."
     They stayed quiet for a while, trying 
to think what to do.  Greg asked, "What if 
somebody tells Mom all those lies?"
     "Of course they will.  It's what 
everybody thinks, isn't it?"  Tab sighed, 
feeling helpless.  "They've condemned me."
     "Yeah, anything else doesn't make 
sense."
     "So, what about Mom?"
     Tab's face broke, and she hid it in 
her hands.  She knew.  Oh yes, she knew.


     Tab didn't know what went on while 
she was in the nurse's room during the 
afternoon.  As kids went in after the 
bell rang, they eagerly told their 
teachers what they had seen.  Lessons 
sort of got forgotten....
     Miss Longshanks who had been on 
yard duty with Mr. Player, had watched 
it happen, had hated to stay out on duty.  
She enjoyed the discussion.
     Ms. Tempest, who had seen it with 
her own eyes as she waited in the 
principal's office for a fax to come in, 
was delighted to hear all the details 
of what had gone on outside.  Serves her
right, she thought.
     Being human, after all, it was 
natural that at afternoon break, the 
teachers compared notes about Tabitha's 
boldness.  They were shocked that their 
colleague who surely must have known 
better, had permitted, perhaps even 
encouraged, shameless behaviour by a 
young girl.
     None of them remembered that 
things might not be as they seem.  
After all, weren't they reporting what 
they had seen?


     Neither did Tab and Greggy know, 
as they sat around the kitchen table 
after school waiting for their mother 
to get home, that in fifty homes, 
around fifty such tables, kids were 
telling their parents stories about 
Tab and her teacher.
     They could not have known that 
telephone lines got very busy, and 
that there would be many busy signals 
as shocked parents compared what they 
had heard.


     Tab had a sick feeling in the pit 
of her stomach that told her it was 
going to get a lot worse before it got 
any better.  She could just imagine 
how they'd all be laughing at her.
     "Greggy," she said, "What am I 
going to do? I can't tell anybody 
about floating until I can show how 
it's done.  That's the only way they
will ever believe me."
     "But--"
     "I know. I HAVE to know how to 
stop an attack before I can show it.  
Somehow I have to find out what to do."
     "Fast.  Like today.  Think."
     "I've been thinking."
     "No, seriously.  Like what starts 
it; maybe something like it would end 
it.  Think."
     "We'd have to be able to test it 
safely. Like in my room..."  Tabitha 
was not about to take any more chances 
in the open air.
     "Okay.  After supper.  Game?"
     "Game," she said.  After supper
--even if she floated there all night, 
it had to be done.  Tab set about 
getting supper ready.  That's when 
their mother came home.  Smiling, with 
doughnuts.
     Why wasn't her mother angry?  
Hadn't they called her?  Tab kept 
looking at her mother as they ate, 
unable to believe her good luck.
Could it be that nobody would?
     Then the phone rang.  Here it 
comes, Tab thought.  Her face was 
down, and she didn't dare raise it.  
"Yes," she heard.  Silence, and then,
"I see."  Was it someone from school?  
A teacher maybe?  Or--  "Yes, that'll 
be fine.  I'll be there."  Tab still 
didn't know.
     Worst of all, she didn't dare ask.  
Strange, though.  Why wasn't her 
mother chewing her out?  Tab tried to 
eat, but the food stayed dry in her 
mouth.  Would she ever get past this 
meal?  And why didn't her mother say 
something?
     At last, supper was over.  
Nothing had been said.  Without delay, 
Tab got up, cleared the table, scraped 
the plates... and escaped, still
without knowing who had called.
     It was Greggy who asked.  "Mom, 
who was it that called?"
     "What--"
     "Who phoned?"
     His mother looked blank, then 
smiled.  "Oh. Just a curriculum 
committee meeting.  Why?"
     "Oh, nothing.  I just wondered."  
Inside, his joy was turning cartwheels.  
Just wait till I tell Tab!  "Gotta go, 
Mom," he said, and raced upstairs.
     Meanwhile, the message to phone 
Tabitha's school still sat unseen in 
Mrs. Gray's mailbox in the staffroom.  
It was a message that would not please 
her at all.
     After the jubilation of Greggy's 
news, it took a while for them to quit 
kidding around and get to work on the 
main problem.  "I still can't believe 
nothing happened," Tab said.  "I was so
scared!"
     "I know.  Want to be scared 
tomorrow?"
     "No way!"
     "So, how do you end an attack?"
     "I know how to start one.  The 
word."
     "Okay." Greggy went for a pencil 
and paper.
     "Here, you take notes."
     Tab wrote the word UP.  "I think 
it would work with longer words like--"
     "Don't say it yet.  Let's 
brainstorm ways to stop an attack."
     "Let's make a list.  'Stop.'  And 
'Quit.' There must be a dozen words."  
She wrote them down.  "Okay.  How about 
ways I've stopped it before?  Like when 
you got the skipping rope--"  She wrote 
down 'rope.'  "And the feeling of 
RELIEF when I felt your rope idea 
working."  She wrote down 'relief'.
     "How about things you've said?"
     "I can't remember."
     "How about things that others said?"
     "I didn't pay attention."
     Greggy snorted.  "I can't 
believe this.  You didn't pay attention."
     "I was all upset--oops!"  Tab rose 
just a little above her seat, allowing 
the comforter to plump up again.  "I 
guess I did it, eh?"
     "I guess so.  Okay, Stop."
     "Nothing happened.  I'll stroke it 
off."
     "Quit."
     "Nothing.  Good thing I didn't go 
up very-- Oh-oh."  Tab smiled wryly and 
added, "High."
     "High, low."
     "Why did you say hello?"
     "I used the opposite of 'high' but 
I see it didn't work."
     "Opposite.  Greggy, what's the 
opposite of 'up'?"  Tab went rather 
high now, but well within arm's reach 
when Greggy stood.
     "Down," he said very softly and 
Tab moved lower.  "Down, down, down!"
     "You DID it!  That's the word!  
Up," she said jubilantly, and rose 
promptly into the air.
     "DOWN!" he sang out, and saw her 
fall, whump, onto her bed.
     "Aha! Say it softly, and it works 
slowly.  Be loud and look out world!  
Thanks, Greggy!"
     "UP!"
     "Greggy!" she said from the ceiling. 
"That's too loud.  Get me down!"  And 
down she came.
     "Up."
     "Down."
     "Up."
     "Cut it out, Greggy, you'll make 
me seasick.  Down.  But isn't it 
wonderful?"  Tab hugged her brother, 
even though he was not the hugging 
kind, and he didn't seem to mind at 
all.  "I'm so glad," she said, still 
holding his hand.  "Now nothing can 
harm me anymore."
     Too bad she was mistaken.

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