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

     While they did the supper dishes, Tab 
and Greg were planning.  "I just got an 
idea that'll work even better!" Tab 
grinned as she scraped the last plate and 
put it into the dishwasher.  "It could  
even be a lot of fun for us."
     Greggy saw her excitement, and waited.
     "Don't tell them anything."
     "Huh?"  So?
     "SHOW them.  Akim's idea, but anyhow-- 
Every day, have funny things happen to 
people, a few at a time.  Let them see for 
themselves what happened to Mr. Player." 

                         
     "What's with Muff,  still sitting by 
the front door?  Mom, are you expecting 
anybody?"
     "No Greg, but maybe Muffet is."
     "Mom," Greggy said as they settled 
for the Wednesday evening's TV, "Tab and 
I are going to help set things right.  We 
have a plan."
     "A loose plan, actually," Tab added.
"It'll depend on what else is happening, 
and how many people are there to see it."
     "How--"
     "You'll see.  Don't worry."
     "I'll worry, but someone has to do it.
Good luck."
     Muffet stood up and stretched.  A 
quiver of satisfaction travelled the 
length of his body as he waited, looking 
intently at the door.
     Someone rang the doorbell!  They 
hadn't heard anyone drive up... Who...?
Greg ran to answer, and called out, 
"Mom, it's Mr. Player!"
     They quickly made him welcome.  
Silently Muffet moved to Jeremy Player's 
side, and reached up a gentle paw tap 
him on the leg.  Invited, he jumped into 
the lap as soon as it appeared.  
     "This is getting to be the only 
place where I really feel at home," 
their visitor said.  "With such a great 
welcoming committee, even!"


     Tab stood up suddenly as they 
heard a soft beep-beep-beep.  "How's 
this?" she asked when she returned from 
the kitchen with hot muffins and some 
coffee.  "It's a mix," she said.
     "Actually I came over to commune 
with your cat," he said, "but you can't 
beat fresh muffins."
     "Why Muffet?" Greg asked.
     "He just seems to have a way of 
helping me over the rough times." 
     After that, TV was ignored until 
someone thought to turn it off.


     No one knew where the hours went, but
suddenly it was bedtime for kids.  Having 
said goodnight, they left their mother 
talking with Mr. Player downstairs.  Out 
of sight at the landing, Greggy put a hand 
on Tab's arm, and with a finger to his 
lips, he whispered, "Stop.  You can hear
every word clearly if you listen."
     "That's eavesdropping," Tab objected 
softly. "It isn't polite."  After a moment, 
she whispered, "Right.  Want to stay?"
     "Shhh!"  He did wonder though what it 
had to do with eaves, the edges of roofs....
or with falling.
     Their mother was saying, "You know, I 
wish I had taken Tabitha seriously when she 
tried to tell me about this."
     "I don't think it would have helped."
     "Might have saved you some grief, 
though."
     "I doubt it.  Have you heard the 
latest?"
     "About?"
     "My situation.  Besides being relieved 
of my classroom duties, a policeman came 
and took a statement.  What's even more 
scary, I have an appointment with 'Hatchet' 
Saxon tomorrow morning, and get to meet my 
accusers in the afternoon."
     "Oh, no!  Where?"
     "Mrs. Meander's office."
     The hushed tones made it hard to hear, 
but they picked up that a lot of parents 
had put pressure to get rid of him.
     Tab had a sick feeling about what the 
parents were thinking, horrid doubts...   
Why else would they be complaining?  She 
tapped Greggy's hand, and with sign 
language, asked him to follow her into her 
room.
     She shut the door and Gregory said, 
"That's what he was talking about the other 
day, wasn't it?  About being 'terminated'?"
     "I think so.  He's in trouble, and 
it's my fault."  Tab smiled sadly.  "I must 
do something to help him....  Like in the 
science fair."
     "But that's too late."
"The science fair is Monday," she said.  
"What do you mean 'too late?'  I'll give 
them a real show!"
     "No, I mean he needs help before the 
meeting tomorrow.  What can we do by then?"
     "Something with--uh--rising and 
falling.  Leave it with me.  I'll watch 
for chances to do funny things.  Things 
to make them flip out."
     "And I'll get into a fight or 
something so they'll have to send me to 
the office."
     "You what?  A fight?  What good'll 
that do?"
     "Well, can you think of a better 
excuse to be at the office while they're 
at the meeting?"
     "No, but--"
     "Maybe it'll divert them, maybe let 
Mr. P. know he is not alone...."
     "Maybe I should get into a fight too.  
Should be easy; there are enough people 
who hate me.   But it isn't FAIR," she 
protested.  "Greggy, he did nothing wrong!"
     "They don't know that."
     "Well, just watch!  We will show them 
how wrong they are.  Just you watch!"
     Greggy smiled.  "Let's practise your
takeoffs and landings.


     Next morning at school, Tab looked 
for a way to show them how she floated.  It 
came more easily than she had hoped when at 
9:15 the school nurse came to weigh and 
measure the students.  Tab settled down to 
work until her turn.
     After a while, Miss Longshanks read, 
"Willy Gallant, Elsbeth Gordon, Tabitha Gray," 
and the three stood to go.  Tab walked 
toward the nurse's room without comment, 
until Willy said, "What a drag."
     "A bore," agreed Elsbeth.
     At last Tab added, "A hazard."
     They laughed because of Willy's weight
problem, and he took it with good grace.  
Going past the outer office, she saw Mrs. 
MacPherson typing, but with the inner 
office door closed, there was no sign of 
any meeting being held.
     Now, here's my chance.  Ah, what a 
feeling of power she had!  When she let 
it rip, there would be consternation all 
around.
     Mrs. McLean, the nurse, said softly, 
"Now, Willy, please step up here so I can 
measure you."
     It had been so soft that Tab rose up 
only a little, not enough to be noticed.  
"Downer," Tab whispered.
     "Thank you, Willy.  Elsbeth next."
     Then it was her turn.
     "Tabitha?"
     She stepped over.  "Up here?" she 
asked softly, and knew that her feet had 
cleared the floor.
     "This can't be right," the nurse said.  
She checked the record, and looked again.  
"You can't have grown this much in only a 
year!"
     "Maybe I'm standing straighter."  Mrs. 
McLean just shook her head, and said 
dubiously, "I'll write it down...."  At 
the word, Tab felt her feet touch the floor, 
but no one noticed.  Good, she thought.  
"Are you sure it's right?" Tab asked.
     "Yes, but I'll check again."  She 
frowned, and said, "That's funny.  I could 
have sworn...." She looked, and Tabitha was 
standing arrow-straight.  "Oh well, this is 
more realistic." She erased and adjusted the 
record.
     "Now your weight.  Willy?"  Mrs. McLean
tactfully said nothing as she adjusted the 
hundred on the balance scale.  "Thank you."  
Then as she wrote down Willy's weight, she 
said "Elsbeth."
     "Ah," she said as she wrote it down, 
"I'm glad to see your weight is up a bit."
     Tab floated again.
     "Thank you, Elsbeth.  Now, Tabitha."
     Tab slid into position, but with no 
contact.
     "I don't understand," the nurse said.  
The scale hadn't moved from zero.
     "Zero!  That's DOWNright--" (CLUNK)
"silly." Now the pressure on her feet was 
hard and heavy.
     "It seems to be registering now.  But 
wait--" She hesitated, looking at Tab's 
slender form and estimating the possible 
max.  "Surely it couldn't be..."  She moved 
the hundreds.  At last, she tried it, and 
the balance arm swung free at over 230.  
The nurse shook her head as if to clear it.
Tabitha was tall but much too slim for that.
     "My weight is UP--" (CLUNK) "--isn't 
it?" Tab asked.
     "That's funny.  It showed much too 
high; now it has changed again."  
Exasperation.  Some days she hated this job.  
"I can't write that nonsense down." (CLUNK)  
"Now.  It must have been stuck..." Her 
practised hands shifted the weights back 
and forth.  "But it's not..."
     "What's it up " (CLUNK) "to now?" Tab 
asked innocently.  She watched her 
classmates who were staring at the scale, 
but they hadn't caught on.  "I suppose it's 
still acting up."
     Once again, the balance kept changing, 
ending off askew, for again she weighed 
zero.
     "It has never done this before."
     "I didn't expect it would be DOWN so 
far." (CLUNK!)  It registered well over a 
hundred sixty, and climbing.  "Are you going 
to write something DOWN?"
     The nurse kept adjusting the hundred.
Visibly confused, she muttered, "They said 
these balance scales are supposed to last 
forever."  For a moment, Tabitha felt sorry 
for poor Mrs. McLean; her hands were shaking 
so much she dropped her pencil.
     Elsbeth by now couldn't suppress her 
giggles. "It does seem to have its ups--" 
(Clunk) "and downs--" (CLUNK) "today."  Her 
new set of giggles infected all three kids, 
but the nurse remained deadly silent.
     "I think you need a checkup" (clunk) 
"Tabby," Elsbeth choked out.
     "Or the scales do," Tab added.  "They 
shut down" (clunk) "like they're alive."
     "Yeah," Willy agreed.  "It's a real 
clunker." Then slyly, "Do you suppose my 
weight was wrong too?"
     Elsbeth really roared at that.  "Dream 
on! Corrupt" (clunk) "scales!"  She had no 
idea what was causing it, but it was too 
much.
     "Sit down" (clunk) "Willy, before you 
fall down."  Tab's weight was 300 plus.
     "Sure is some kind of foul-up" (clunk) 
Willy said.  "I think it broke down." (Clunk.)  
He had no idea either.
     "I'm sorry," the nurse said at last.
"There's no point trying to complete your 
class with this malfunction."  Her voice 
shook badly.  "I'm going to tear up" (CLUNK) 
"all the results."
     "It's upsetting all right," Tab said.  
"I don't know about you, but I am fed up 
with all of this."
     Tab was floating well above the scale 
now after so many "ups", and the nurse who 
clearly saw the empty space below her 
dangling feet, felt she had cracked up, and 
stammered, "T-tell your t-teacher--not to 
send down--" (CLUNK) Her eyes widened at 
the thought of it, and as desperation 
tinged her voice, she squealed, "...a-any 
more students!  Please, go.  GO!"
     "Chalk it up to poltergeists," Tab 
said as she floated higher.  She adjusted 
it with "It just broke DOWN."  (Clunk.)
     The kids stood, held as much by the 
strange antics of the inanimate scale as 
by the look of sheer terror that was 
spreading across the face of their school 
nurse who grabbed her purse and darted into 
the outer office where she caught the
secretary in midword on the telephone.  As 
if pursued by demons, she barged right 
into the principal's office and slammed 
the door behind her.
     The kids never did find out what Mrs. 
Meander thought of that, or what Mr. Player 
or the superintendent made of the hysterical 
story she told.  Only Mr. Player had reason 
to smile.

TAKE ME TO