The Good, the Bad, and the Bossy by Caroline Cala

Author:Caroline Cala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HMH Books

Chapter Seventeen

Dot

I’m teaching him about selfie angles, read the text message. It was followed up with a photo of Pigeon and an uncharacteristically joyful-looking Aloysius, posing in front of his bookshelf. Dot stared at it for longer than felt necessary, searching for something, though she didn’t know what. She and Aloysius had never taken any photos together, and it felt a little strange to see him smiling with someone else.

The picture was the latest in a long line of happy dispatches Pigeon had shared from her day. Dot was surprised Aloysius would be into such documentation. He was way more interested in how mobile devices worked than in actually using them.

Dot remembered what Dr. Puffin had said, about the importance of letting go. Was this a chance to put that into practice? The last time she had worried about texting Pigeon about babysitting, her science project had blown up.

Complicated feelings aside, Aloysius seemed happy, and that is what mattered.

What was decidedly less happy was the miniature self-refrigerating hive coolant prototype. Dot had painstakingly constructed version 2.0, with a couple adjustments to prevent overheating. Nothing was out of place. It looked absolutely perfect. According to her calculations, it should have worked beautifully. And yet, when she tried to turn it on, nothing happened.

She had already made her invention work once, sort of. So why couldn’t she do it again?

“What is your problem?” Dot asked aloud, jabbing the contraption with her index finger.

“Did you say something, sweetie?” Dot’s mom poked her head in the bedroom door. Their bungalow was so small it often felt impossible to have any privacy.

“No, I was just talking to myself,” said Dot.

“Is everything okay?” Her mom squinted. “I’m sensing something is off with your solar plexus.”

“My solar plexus is fine,” said Dot. “I’m just having some issues getting this thing to work.”

“It sounds like you need to meditate,” said her mother, entering the room.

Dot made the conscious decision not to respond.

“What is it you’re working on again?”

“A thing for bees,” said Dot.

Her mom only meant well, but Dot had been very vague about her project for a number of reasons. The first was that, when it came to really important projects, Dot could be a little superstitious. She didn’t believe in talking about them until they were in a stable place.

The second reason was more practical. Dot’s mom was against any kind of air-conditioning, anywhere, ever. Throughout her whole life, no matter how hot it got, her mother’s solution to heat waves was to wear loose cotton clothing, turn on the ceiling fan, and “pay homage to the sun.” She loved to talk endlessly about how much she opposed anything that disrupted the cycles of nature. Even though Dot’s project was technically good for the environment, she had a feeling her mom would still have an issue with it.

“Bees have a really special role in the natural order,” said Dot’s mom, taking a look around the room. Dot knew she was snooping, one of her mom’s favorite activities.

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.