Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle by Bob Pflugfelder

Author:Bob Pflugfelder [Pflugfelder, Science Bob and Hockensmith, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-59474-681-9
Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 2014-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

The door chime rang, and Lon Beetner looked up from the old Nikon Super Zoom 8 camera spread out in pieces on the counter in front of him. Four children were walking into his store.

Beetner sighed, then went back to his work, carefully wiping mildew out of the camera’s film chamber.

“Welcome to Beetner’s Cameratown and Stuff- Yourself Teddy Bear Workshop,” he droned. “You can get stuffed over there.”

He flapped a hand at the far corner of the store. Two spinner racks were covered with assorted furs, all with limp arms and flaccid legs and round, staring eyes. Between the racks was a contraption that looked like an oversized gum ball machine, except that a black plastic hose hung from the side and the clear globe on top was filled with tufts of puffy white cotton instead of small multicolored balls.

Written in blocky letters along the base of the machine were the words STUFFIN’ STATION.

“We’re not here for stuffed animals,” said one of the kids—a girl who looked to be eleven or twelve. She had blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair and an air of unshakable confidence people twice her age often lacked.

“Oh?” Beetner said.

Another kid—a boy who looked strikingly like the girl, though his hair was slightly darker and his face a little rounder and his expression not nearly so self-assured—stepped forward to show Beetner a disposable camera.

“There’s a picture on here we need. Fast,” he said. “Like, super fast. Like, right now, really. It’s an emergency. Can you help us?”

“Can I help you?” Beetner hopped off the stool he’d been perched on and straightened up to his full six feet six inches. “Can I help you?”

The boy nodded—and took a cringing step back.

“Kid,” Beetner said, “there is nothing I’d rather do today than help you!”

And he came around the counter with a huge grin on his face.

“Gimme, gimme,” he said, holding out a big hand for the camera.

The boy looked profoundly relieved as he handed it over.

“I see a bunch of kids come in, I think, ‘Great. I’m gonna sell a teddy bear today. Yippee,’ ” Beetner said with a roll of the eyes. He hooked a thumb at the Stuffin’ Station. “I only put that dumb thing in ’cuz my wife says, ‘Film is dead, Lon. Everything’s digital now, Lon. You need to diversify, Lon.’ But mark my words—film’s gonna make a comeback. And when it does, Beetner’s Cameratown is going to be ready!”

The kids looked around the store. The display cases were filled with old cameras and lenses and little boxes of film. Here and there were handmade signs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.