Spin the Golden Light Bulb

by Jackie Yeager

  “You can’t possibly think that you won’t be set to a higher standard? You come from the same school, so of course the judges will expect more from your team.”

  “That’s not fair! We just met each other last week on the Day of Brightness. We don’t have an advantage.”

  “Well, I would encourage you to change your thinking, Mr. Yates. It would serve you well in this competition.”

  I can’t think of one thing to say. We’ve been inside here only one minute, and we’re already on Andora Appelonia’s bad side.

  “Now, if I may please see your Golden Light Bulbs, I will give you your room assignments. Ladies, you’ll take the staircase to the right. The young girl at the bottom is Miss Seraphina Swing. She will take care of your travel cases. Gentlemen, please take the staircase to the left. The young man on the bottom, Mr. Gregor Axel, will do the same. At the top of the stairs, follow the numbered signs to find your rooms. An itinerary of events for the remainder of the day will be waiting for you.”

  We show our Golden Light Bulbs to her, and she hands us each a small golden card. Mine, Jillian’s, and Mare’s all say Room 1512.

  “Now children, you may be on your way. Good luck to you. I look forward to hearing many exceptional tales of the Crimson Five from New York State.”

  I smile as wide as I can, but my teammate’s faces tell me they’re feeling as much pressure as I am. We say thank you, and I walk with Mare and Jillian to the stairs. Seraphina Swing, a tall girl with purple lipstick and platform heels flashes us a smile. “Hi there, girls. I see you’ve met Andora Appelonia.”

  Mare giggles. “What’s up with her voice? It sounds like she swallowed sand paper.” Andora swings around in her chair. I shoot Mare a dirty look. Seraphina straightens her face and whispers. “It’s okay. I want to laugh at her sometimes, too. You can leave your travel cases here. I’ll see to it that they arrive in your bedchamber within the hour. I hope you’re in good physical shape. You have a lot of stairs to climb.”

  We begin the trek, and I’m sure my legs are going to turn into Laffy Taffy. When we finally reach the top, we see the boys. They take the down ramp to their rooms and we take the up ramp to ours. Ander waves to me as we pass. I feel better when he does it, like maybe the butterflies in his stomach are wide awake too. Soon our ramp levels out. The hallway is like a grand hotel! The doors are gold with red trim and a card hangs on each one. Written in fancy letters are the names of the girls staying in each room. Down the hall, we see our names on room 1512:

  The Champions from New York:

  Marianna Barillion, Kia Krumpet, Jillian Vervain.

  A smile builds from deep inside me as I reach for the golden door knob.

  THE BEDCHAMBER

  I push the door open and see a flurry of silver sparkles floating in the air.

  “What the heck?” asks Mare.

  We freeze, watching the sparkles fall like snowflakes. They land on our bed—or is it three beds? The center purple platform is one big circle shaped mattress full of pillows. Three beds spring out of it, almost like a peace sign or a star. So cool!

  The sun casts a bright beam onto the pillows as sparkles hover over them. I move closer, hold out my hand, and a silver fleck lands in my palm. “Look!” I say. “I caught a sparkle!”

  Jillian spins around and around, letting the sparkles fall all over her. Mare wrinkles her forehead. “What is all this?”

  “It’s raining sparkles!” I pour mine into her hand.

  Jillian sits down on the bed and runs her hand over the blanket. The sparkles float up and then settle back onto it. She squishes one between her fingers. “These look like they’re made of tin foil and glass. I wonder what they are.”

  I skip over to a huge closet. The inside is filled with three sets of round cubbies that stretch all the way up to the ceiling.

  I look at Mare. “What are those?”

  She tilts her head. “I think we put our clothes and shoes in them.”

  I feel stupid. “Oh right. They’re clothes cubbies!”

  We check out the purple bathroom next. We each have our own dressing tables. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Grandma Kitty was right. This camp is a castle.

  Through an archway, at the other end of the room, are walls painted in circles—pink, purple, and silver. There’s a round table and chairs and a bucket filled with notebooks and pens. I pick up one of the notebooks and see my name engraved on the cover. “This must be our work area. Look at these planning notebooks. We can get started right now!”

  Mare picks up her notebook and flips through it. “Get started? We don’t even know what our task is yet.”

  “Oh, right. That would help.” It’s not what Mare says when she talks to me exactly, it’s how she says it. I can tell she doesn’t like me very much.

  Before we can explore any further we hear a knock at the door. Jillian answers it and Seraphina stands there smiling. Her teeth are pearly-white, and her light brown hair reaches halfway down her back. I wonder how old she is.

  “Hi, again! I see you’ve found your bedchamber. What do you think?”

  “It’s beautiful,” Jillian answers. “The bed, the sparkles—”

  “Yeah,” says Mare, “but what are they?”

  “Those sparkles are actually the task solution created by the Colorado team who won the Piedmont National Finals several years ago.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask. “What was the task they had to solve?”

  “Their task was to create an object that could eliminate something negative.”

  “So they made floating sparkles?” Mare asks.

  “Yes, sort of. They’re Air Purification Sparkles—micro beads that purify the air. The materials inside them make them float.”

  I catch another sparkle and cup it in my hand before it can float away.

  “Wow,” says Jillian. “That’s really cool.”

  “I think so too. This next solution came from last year’s winning team from Tennessee. They had to create an object that could make light the work of a person. Watch.” She snaps her fingers and from out in the hallway, a small robotic monkey wheels in a cart filled with our suitcases.

  “No way!” I exclaim.

  “Yes, way,” laughs Seraphina. “Meet Mabel.”

  I kneel down to pet her, but I don’t know if I should.

  “It’s okay. She’s friendly. I’ll teach you lots of commands for her. She’s your assistant, well aside from me and Gregor. I’ve already met the boys. I stopped at their bedchamber on my way here. Ander is a bit of a talker.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Jax doesn’t say much. Maybe I can get him talking tomorrow.”

  “Are you our coach?” asks Mare.

  “I’m your preceptor. I’ve been through this competition before, and I’m here to help you any way I can.”

  First we get a sparkly room, and now Pretty Purple Girl is going to be our preceptor!

  She points to a bulletin board on our wall with her shimmering purple nails. “Now here is your itinerary for the rest of today. This will be changed every day by Swissa when she turns down your beds. She’s your chambermaid. She’ll also be here to wake you each morning so you don’t oversleep.”

  What? We have a chambermaid? Grandma Kitty really wasn’t kidding! I love Camp Piedmont already.

  Camp Piedmont Itinerary

  June 17, 2071

  6:00 p.m. - Welcome Dinner Reception ~ Dining Hall

  8:30 p.m. - Evening Announcements ~ Bedchamber

  9:00 p.m. - Lights Out

  Seraphina turns toward the door. “That gives you just twenty minutes to change for dinner. On the bottom cubby of your closets you’ll find your purple team shirt for today. You’ll also find your team’s wrist band with a message I’ve engraved for you. I want you to wear the wrist bands ev
ery day until the competition. I’m a big believer in team spirit. Our mantra is simple. Watch!”

  She presses a button near the door, and purple letters light up on the wall:

  The Crimson Five:

  Be Curious, Be Creative, Be Collaborative, Be

  Colorful, Be Courageous.

  “And if you don’t know what I mean by all that, don’t worry—soon you will.

  BALLOON MESSAGES

  We meet the boys in a living room outside Appelonia Dining Hall. Ander is sprawled on a couch, and Jax is sitting up straight in a chair. Gregor, our other preceptor, stands stiff beside the fireplace. When he sees us approaching, he reaches out his hand.

  “Hello, ladies, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Gregor Axel, and I will be helping Seraphina prepare your team for the competition.”

  Seraphina grins. “Gregor, I present to you the girls from our New York team: Miss Marianna Barillion, Miss Kia Krumpet, and Miss Jillian Vervain.”

  “It’s Mare. Not Marianna.” Mare whispers urgently.

  Seraphina corrects herself with a smile. “Excuse me. Mare Barillion.”

  Gregor bows while we stand there awkwardly. I try hard to think of something to say, something that will make me sound smarter than everyone else on my team, but I just stand there quietly. Gregor doesn’t seem to mind the silence, though. He doesn’t even change his expression. He seems kind of weird, like he just stepped out of a museum case or something.

  We make our way into the dining hall, a colorful room filled with banners that say: dream, create, explore, and imagine. My favorite kinds of words! The round tables each hold a sign shaped like a ball. We find the New York table and sit down together. I pick a seat next to Ander, and Seraphina sits next to me. I scan the rest of the room packed with teams from every state and bite my thumb nail. There are so many kids here and all of them must be really smart, maybe smarter than me. They probably have cool ideas too, like the floating sparkles and robotic monkey assistants. Maybe one of them has already thought of how to build an underwater bubble bike. Maybe they have the same idea I have to make flying suits for treetop scavenger hunts.

  Ander leans over and whispers, “What’s with Seraphina? Did she eat too much grape juice for breakfast?”

  I wrinkle my forehead. “What do you mean?”

  “Her nail polish and lip stuff—all purple.”

  I smile. “I love her nail polish.”

  “Maybe we can borrow some to solve our task. You know, mix some with rusty metal to make recycled paint.”

  “Ha! Finally, someone is thinking about this competition.”

  We talk until a million bells ring out, drowning every other sound in the dining hall. Master Freeman and Andora Appelonia stand up like soldiers at the head table; five grown-ups flank them on either side, wearing jumpsuits. They look like they’re going to leap out of an airplane.

  The bells fade away and Master Freeman bellows, “Welcome, State Champions, to Camp Piedmont on this prestigious campus of Piedmont University. You have accomplished a great deal to earn your place here. I commend your efforts and applaud your achievement!” Balloons drop from the ceiling. One lands perfectly in each of our laps. Mine is yellow. I touch it and it pops, just like everyone else’s. It’s a symphony of pop, pop, popping. The balloon pieces float away and somehow drift behind a curtain near the head table—as if on cue, a breeze got rid of the mess. I look down in my lap and see a message written on a slip of paper.

  Don’t be afraid of change.

  Have the courage to believe in what you can achieve.

  I look at my teammates to see if they’ve gotten messages too. Before I can ask, Master Freeman bellows again, “You’ve each been given a message that’s for you and you alone. Do not share what it says with anyone. It was chosen for you especially based on your psychological evaluations and is for you to study and understand. When the right time comes, you will know how to use it.”

  That’s strange.

  I memorize my message and tuck the paper into my pocket.

  “All two-hundred and fifty of you have proven your ability to think through problems in many areas, to think creatively, and to think spontaneously. Now, you must do the same with four teammates. You see, it takes great talent to work with other people, and in this competition, those who form the strongest unions with their teammates will achieve the best results.”

  I knew it! We do have to spend time bonding as a team.

  “Later tonight, you will learn what task you’ll be challenged with in this competition, but first, we celebrate with a feast chosen especially for you by Andora. Tonight, we also remember her late husband, Lexland Appelonia, the Founding Father of the Piedmont Organization. He saw the value of creative thinking, teamwork, and children. And so with that, I urge you to nourish your body, which will, in turn, nourish your mind and creative energy.”

  The ball at the center of our table starts spinning, slow at first and then practically at warp speed. I feel dizzy watching it. When it stops, it breaks apart like flower petals into seven sections. Each one holds a different type of food. The flower slowly rotates, and as it does, each petal slides the food onto our plates! I wonder if this gadget is something a past team invented for the finals too.

  While we eat our feast, Gregor and Seraphina ask us questions. Seraphina turns to Jax. “So, Jax, how was your aero-bus ride this morning?”

  He gets red in the face. “It was good.”

  “I’m familiar with the bus you rode in. I hope it was more than good.”

  Jax looks at his spoon. “Oh, it was. I checked out the engine and the jet propulsion system at all the scheduled stops. I was amazed to see the bus lift off the ground like our scooters back home. The driver showed me how it can switch from driving on the ground on regular roads to driving above it on the expressways. At first, I couldn’t see how the system could change like that with just a flip of a switch, but the more I saw, the more I realized that the system is really simple. I can’t wait to use something like that for the competition—if we need to use motion to solve our task.”

  That’s the most I’ve heard Jax say all day.

  Gregor leans forward on his elbow. “Yes, of course, it is very simple. I have many more tricks to teach you in that area should you be inclined to hear them.”

  “I’m inclined. I mean, yes, I’d really like to learn whatever you can teach me.”

  Mare laughs at Jax, but this time I don’t give her a dirty look. I feel like laughing too, but then I see the expression on his face, and I feel bad. I’m glad I held it in.

  Seraphina smiles. “You’re right, Jax. Your task may require knowledge of mechanics and that certainly will help. When I was in this competition, my team used the concept of motion to create our solution.”

  “How long ago was that?” I ask.

  “I was here six years ago when I was in sixth grade.”

  I put down my fork. “Are you eighteen?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “How did you become a preceptor?”

  “If you are able to achieve the status of Threeble, you have the choice of positions here at Camp Piedmont. I chose preceptor.”

  “What’s a Threeble?” Jillian asks.

  A Threeble is a person who has studied at the Piedmont Inventors Prep School for two years and then has trained at a Camp Piedmont job for three years after that. Only the brightest students receive jobs.”

  I feel like a sponge as I listen to her talk, soaking up everything she says. She must be really smart.

  “What was your camp job?” asks Mare.

  “Oh, I had three different ones. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about me another time though. For now I have more questions for each of you.”

  “But what were the other choices,” asks Ander.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Instead
of being a preceptor, what were the other choices?”

  “That’s privileged information. You only learn that if you become a Threeble.”

  Ander laughs. “If? I’ll become a Threeble for sure, so why don’t you save me some time and tell me right now?”

  Seraphina laughs. “Nice try. Why don’t you do your best to become a Threeble. That way I won’t waste my time if you don’t.”

  Ander jumps out of his chair. “Oh, that sounds like a challenge to me!”

  Gregor pulls Ander back into his seat. “You must sit down. We have rules to follow during dinner.”

  Ander looks over at the head table and slinks back into his chair.

  Jillian yawns. “What state are you both from?”

  “Why, New York State of course!” Seraphina replies. “You can only be a preceptor for your own state.”

  The lights dim and the bells return. In a flash, the centerpiece petals reach out, scoop up our dishes, and they disappear into the spinning food flower. Almost just as fast, Master Freeman opens his arms and a large screen rolls down behind him. “State Champions, I now present the official task of the Piedmont National Finals!”

  At his announcement, the butterflies in my stomach wake up. Andora opens a scroll, and a hundred circles dance on the screen behind her as her voice crackles into the microphone. “This year, each of our fifty state teams is challenged to find a solution to the following task:

  Our home, the Earth, is shaped like a circle.

  Your task is to create an object that transforms three times into something else, and then transforms back to its original position . . . creating a circle effect. The object you create must answer a question that is universally asked, but has not yet been answered by mankind. Your solution must include elements from each of the six academic categories and 1 original language. Your presentation to the judges may not exceed twelve minutes.

  What? I shove my thumb nail into my mouth. We have to use strategies from all six categories? This task is not fair—it’s impossible! I rattle off each category in my head: Art Forms, Communication, Earth and Space, Human History, Math, and New Technology. How are we going to use all six? My brain feels like it’s going to explode right here at the New York table.