Forces of Nature

by Nate Ball

  “Yeah,” Olivia said. “Too bad it doesn’t have one of those red dots that says ‘You are here.’”

  “It’s simple,” Amp said, studying the map with great interest. “Zack, because of your poor sense of direction, you obviously led Olivia out into this empty space on the map. Now look at this small compass rose here.”

  “What’s a compass rose?” Zack asked.

  Amp pointed to a triangle with an N on top of it. “It’s a small graphic, icon, or symbol that tells you which way is north,” Amp explained. “Most maps have them.”

  “Cool,” Zack said, nodding his head, impressed. “So if we just go north, we’ll run right into campsite thirteen.”

  “Exactly,” Amp said, lifting his chin in the air.

  “Knuckle bump,” Zack said, holding up a fist. “Who’s my alien?”

  Amp made a small fist, and bumped his tiny knuckles off Zack’s. They both opened their hands afterward and made the sound of something blowing up.

  “Uh, fellas,” Olivia said, “how are we supposed to know which way is north?”

  Zack stared at Amp. Amp stared at Zack. Silence filled the air.

  Amp’s look of triumph faded away and his puffed-up chest seemed to deflate. “Oh, I didn’t think of that. Olivia is right. Without a compass, we’re no better off.”

  Just then, the same far-off animal noise filled the air.

  They all looked in the direction the sound had come from.

  “Well,” Zack sighed, “we better think of something fast before we get eaten.”

  “They’ll probably start with you, Amp,” Olivia said, nudging Amp with her index finger. “You’re like an appetizer.”

  Don’t Drink That!

  “Okay, on three you guys point in the direction you think is north,” Zack said. “One, two, three!”

  Each of them pointed in a completely different direction.

  “Oh my,” Amp said.

  Zack and Olivia were sitting on the ground, legs crossed, facing each other. Olivia had put the sheet of paper with the map on the ground between them. Amp now paced around on top of it. Zack petted a sleeping and exhausted Smokey. Olivia sipped from her water bottle.

  “I know the sun sets in the west,” Olivia said, “but with all these trees and those heavy clouds, who knows which way that is.”

  “I once heard that moss will grow on only one side of a tree,” Zack said, “but I forgot which side, and none of these trees have moss on them.”

  “I’m not used to not having any of my tools,” Amp said, nervously wringing his tiny hands. “I shouldn’t have come. You were right, Zack. I’ve made a mess of everything.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m used to it,” Zack said, slapping a mosquito into the back of his neck.

  “Think! Think! Think!” Amp said, pounding a little fist on his forehead.

  “Can I have a sip?” Zack asked Olivia. “My tongue feels like a dead weasel.”

  “Don’t let it touch your lips,” Olivia said, reluctantly handing over the bottle. “Just sort of waterfall it.”

  “Afraid of my cooties?” Zack asked.

  “No, your gross diseases,” Olivia said, throwing a pine needle at him like a dart.

  Zack held the bottle up and studied the remaining water.

  “What? Are you checking for backwash?” Olivia said, offended.

  “No,” Zack said, “but you can never be too careful.” He tipped his head back, holding the bottle a few inches over his open mouth.

  “My grandpa has a compass,” Olivia said. “I should have brought it with me.”

  “WAIT!” Amp shouted. “DON’T DRINK THAT, ZACK!”

  Zack froze. The water was just an inch from the opening of the bottle. His mouth hung open. “Why?” he grunted.

  “We need that water to make a compass,” Amp said.

  “How can you make a compass out of a water bottle?” Olivia asked.

  “Can I just have a teeny sip?” Zack said, licking his lips.

  “After we use it to make a compass,” Amp said. “I promise.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Olivia said. “How does a bottle of water tell you which way is north?”

  Amp walked in circles on his paper stage. “Zack, do you remember I once told you the Earth is like a giant magnet?”

  Olivia’s hand shot into the air like she was in class. “Oh!”

  “Yes, Olivia,” Amp said, impressed at Olivia’s enthusiasm.

  “I remember this: The earth has lots of melted iron inside,” Olivia said. “And iron is magnetic. All that iron makes the Earth one big magnet.” She smiled at Zack.

  “Show-off,” Zack said. “But it’s molten iron, not melted.”

  “Same difference,” she said snootily.

  “You are both right,” Amp said, nodding. “The Earth is like a giant magnet hanging out there in space. And just like every magnet, it has two opposite poles.

  “A north pole and the south pole,” Olivia said.

  Zack groaned. “I remember all this. One pole has a positive charge and one pole has a negative charge.”

  “Exactly,” Amp said, snapping his fingers. “The north has the positive charge. Now all we need to do is suspend a magnetized needle in water and it will point to the way we need to go.”

  “Sounds great,” Olivia said, “but we don’t have a needle.”

  “Well, then it’s time to get creative,” Amp said, rubbing his hands together.

  “Attention Erdian Council . . .”

  Amp was speaking into his tiny wrist recorder.

  “Not again!” Zack growled. “I’m getting eaten alive by mosquitos and will soon get eaten by bears or werewolves! Can you please do that later?”

  Amp cleared his throat and turned his back to Zack.

  “Humans have a general understanding of magnets and the Earth’s own magnetosphere, but are completely untrained in using the resources around them to help themselves.”

  “You know we can hear you, right?” Olivia said.

  Amp looked back at Olivia and continued.

  “I must teach the children how to think for themselves, be creative, and apply their general scientific knowledge in a practical way. Will report on the results later.”

  Amp turned back to the children, raised his little chin, and smiled.

  “You won’t report anything if we all get eaten first,” Olivia said.

  Junk Pile

  Following Amp’s instructions, Zack and Olivia emptied the contents of their pockets.

  They had Olivia’s water bottle, a dime, two pennies, a small plastic container of mints, a message from a fortune cookie, a paper clip, a rubber lizard, a cheap pair of headphones, a plastic hair clip, pocket fuzz, the paper wrapper from a sugarless piece of gum, and four slightly smashed and dusty gummy bears.

  Amp picked up one of the gummy bears and began nibbling on its head as he looked over the humble stockpile. “Not much to work with here,” he said, talking with his mouth open.

  “Don’t smack,” Olivia said, frowning.

  “This pile of junk is no help,” Zack sighed.

  “We’re sunk,” Olivia said, her voice sounding higher and tighter than it had all day. “It’ll be dark soon. Really dark.”

  The light was indeed starting to fade. Zack glanced up. The clouds he could see between the treetops were now turning a dark violet.

  “We can do this,” Amp said, biting a foot off his gummy bear.

  “How so?” Olivia asked.

  Amp dropped the gummy bear, brushed off his hands, and handed the paper clip to Zack. “Quick, twist that around till the small, straight end breaks off.”

  “What’s it for? To pick your teeth?” Zack asked.

  “That will be our compass needle,” Amp said. “It’s the most important part of the compass we’re about to make. That paper clip is made of steel wire, so we can magnetize it.”

  “I thought iron was the best metal for a magnet,” Zack said, recalling a bit of informa
tion about his science experiment from so many weeks ago.

  “Yes, pure iron is best. But that steel is an alloy of mostly iron and a little bit of carbon. Perfect for an improvised magnet.”

  “Improvised?” Zack said.

  “That’s just a fancy way of saying Amp’s making this up as he goes,” Olivia said.

  Zack finished twisting off the end of the paper clip and held it up. “Which way is north, paper clip?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Amp said, shaking his head. “I can see I have more to teach you about science and about thinking on your feet.”

  “But I’m sitting on my butt,” Zack said, confused. “Do you mean you need to teach me about thinking on my butt?”

  “Seriously?” Olivia said to Zack. “What’s next, Amp?”

  Amp took the lid off the round, plastic container of mints, which looked like a miniature green hockey puck. He then flipped it over with his foot, sending a dozen tiny white mints scattering into the dirt.

  “Hey!” Zack protested. “Those are mine!” He picked a few out of the dirt, blew them off, and popped them in his mouth. “I’m starving!”

  “So gross,” Olivia said, shaking her head.

  Zack grabbed two of the dusty gummy bears and threw those into his mouth, too. “I could eat a real bear right now. I’m so hungry.”

  Amp flipped the green mint container back over with a grunt. “Okay, Olivia, now break open one of those headphones. There should be a small magnet inside.”

  Without hesitation, Olivia broke open one of the earpieces by smashing it on a nearby rock, easily splitting the plastic in half with a loud crack!

  “Hey, my headphones!” Zack howled. “Could we stop destroying my stuff, please? I’m the one who contributed the lizard!”

  “That rubber toy is of no use,” Amp said, “but most speakers—even headphone speakers—have a small magnet inside.” He took the tiny black piece of metal that Olivia plucked from the speaker and studied it. “Zack, rub this side on the paper clip, but only in one direction. And lift it away from the paper clip after each stroke. We need all the magnetic moments in that steel pointing in one direction. Count the magnet swipes out, all the way to one hundred.”

  “So the north end of our magnet will point to the north pole, right?” Zack said, feeling proud of himself for getting it.

  “No, not exactly,” Amp said simply. “While the north pole of the Earth is indeed the geographic north, it is actually reversed when it comes to this planet’s magnetic poles. They’re opposite. So the Earth’s northern pole is actually the southern pole magnetically. Get it?”

  “My brain just exploded inside my skull,” Zack said quietly.

  Olivia nodded. “So the north pole of our paper clip magnet will point to the southern pole magnetically, which is north geographically?”

  “Exactly!” Amp cried, clearly impressed by Olivia’s grasp of magnetism. “Remember, opposites attract when it comes to magnets.”

  “Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight,” Zack growled, rubbing the magnet over the paper clip again and again.

  “Okay, Olivia, please pour some of your water in here,” Amp said, pointing to the now-empty plastic mint container.

  Olivia carefully filled it with water.

  “Now we need something to float our paper clip on,” Amp said, picking up the paper gum wrapper and studying it.

  “How about a flower petal?” Olivia said, picking up one of the flower petals she had dropped earlier.

  “Perfect,” Amp said. “Lay it flat on the water. Understand, this planet’s magnetism is actually quite weak, so we need to remove as much resistance as we can, so the paper clip can swing around easily. There will be very little friction in this setup.”

  Olivia placed the petal on the water surface. It floated perfectly. “So pretty,” she said.

  “One hundred!” Zack said, holding up the paper clip. “Done!”

  “Okay, now look, the southern end of our magnet has a little bend in it,” Amp noted, pointing to the piece of metal. “The northern end is the perfectly straight end. So, Zack, gently place our pointer on this floating petal.”

  Zack dropped the piece of paper clip onto the petal and the three of them stared at their tiny contraption. Then, as if by magic, their tiny paper-clip-and-flower-petal boat rotated slowly and pointed directly at Zack.

  “Whoa,” Zack whispered. “That’s amazing.”

  “It worked,” Olivia said, her eyes fixed on their makeshift compass. “But still, which way is north?”

  “What do you mean, which way is north, Lost ’Livia? It’s clearly pointing that way!” Zack gestured in one of two directions the compass was pointing.

  “But what if it’s that way?” Olivia demanded, pointing in the opposite direction.

  “Olivia’s right, Zack,” Amp said. “Our paper clip didn’t exactly come pre-magnetized with its north pole painted red for us. We do know that one end is pointing north, and the other is pointing south—we just don’t know which is which. We need another reference to give us a clue.”

  “I’m out of clues,” Zack said, rubbing his eyes as the sun emerged from the low hanging clouds to illuminate the horizon before disappearing below it. Olivia looked in the direction Zack was rubbing his eyes.

  “The sun!” she exclaimed. “It sets in the west!”

  “But it’s gone already,” said Zack. “We’re still stuck with a compass with the accuracy of a coin toss. We’re sunk.”

  “It’s OK, all we need is a general direction of where west is,” said Amp. “Which side of the compass was the sun setting on?” he asked.

  “Left side,” said Zack.

  “Ooh!” Olivia shouted. “I remember now! Soggy waffles!”

  “What?” Zack and Amp exclaimed together.

  “This is no time to ruminate on odd dietary interests.” Amp frowned.

  “Speak for yourself, SweeTart breath.” Zack chuckled.

  “No, I’m remembering the directions from the compass rose. Never Eat Soggy Waffles—north, east, south, and west, in clockwise order. If we point our left arms west, we’ll be facing north—and we’ll know which end of the paper clip we should follow home!”

  “Brilliant!” Amp squeaked.

  “Huh?” said Zack.

  “The end of the paper clip with the tiny bend in it, that’s north!” Olivia shouted.

  “Attention, Erdian Council . . .”

  Amp was speaking into his wrist recorder again.

  “Mission accomplished! I have shown the humans the importance of a basic understanding of science, creative thinking, and using the materials around them in new and unexpected ways to achieve their goals. This is Scout—”

  Olivia grabbed Amp up before he could finish his report.

  “C’mon, let’s go!” she shouted as she ran past Zack in the direction their tiny compass had pointed. “Last one back is a rotten egg!”

  The movement and excited voices woke Smokey from his dog dream. He sprang up and shot after Olivia, barking as he went.

  “WHOA! WHOA! Hey, you took the water bottle!” Zack called out after Olivia, but she didn’t stop. Zack licked his dry lips, spun around, plucked the petal and piece of paper clip out of the mint container, and quickly drank the compass water. “Aaaah,” he said, savoring every drop of the mint-flavored water.

  He jumped to his feet, then stuffed the parts of the compass, their paper map, and the tiny magnet in his back pocket. He ran after Olivia and Amp.

  “WAIT FOR ME!” he screamed as the last remains of the light quickly faded.

  Lost and Found

  They hadn’t run more than ten minutes before they saw the bright glow of lights ahead.

  Zack was just feet behind Olivia, and they were both breathing hard from navigating at full speed through a nearly ink-black forest.

  Zack heard voices ahead. “We did it,” he gasped as a tree branch snapped back and slapped him rudely in the face.

  He ra
n into Olivia. She had stopped suddenly when she pushed her way through the last scrubby bush.

  Zack peered over her shoulder and saw that campsite number thirteen was now a hive of activity.

  There were easily thirty people standing around. Six green ranger trucks and five county sheriff jeeps were parked at odd angles around the campsite. All the bright headlights and several floodlights on tripods forced the kids to shield their faces while their eyes adjusted to the brightness.

  Zack could see several rangers leaning over a large map draped over the hood of one of the jeeps. One by one they looked up at the kids.

  The buzz of voices steadily grew silent as the stunned crowd all took notice of the two mud-covered, panting kids who had entered the circle of light. Everyone froze. The only noise was the squawk of the police radios inside each of the vehicles.

  Zack looked down.

  Olivia was secretly holding Amp behind her back in a fist. She was nudging Zack so he’d take Amp. She was squeezing him too tight. It looked like his head was about to burst. Staying hidden behind Olivia, Zack took Amp from her hand and in one smooth movement stuffed his alien friend into his pocket.

  Zack released a big sigh of relief; there was no way Amp’s invisibility could work on this many people at once.

  Smokey barked a greeting and that seemed to snap the crowd out of their stunned silence.

  Zack’s mom, dad, and brother burst out of the crowd and ran to them. Zack could see Mom had been crying and she had a large orange blanket wrapped around her. They all collapsed into a giant family hug with a laughing Olivia smashed in the middle. Mom was weeping in relief and Dad wiped tears from his face with the back of his hand.

  “We thought you guys were goners,” Taylor said.

  “Oh, hush, honey,” Mom sniffed. “Thank goodness you’re both safe!”

  “And Smokey, too,” Taylor said, falling to his knees and hugging the dog. “We thought you’d run off with the bears, old boy!”