Toy Invention
Contest.”
STRANGE FLIGHT
23
“Code sixteen. Code sixteen,” the airport security guard yelled as he grabbed Vincent’s shirt with one hand and Vincent’s duffel bag with the other. Five or six security
guards immediately surrounded Vincent.
“Please step over here, sir,” one of the guards said.
Sir?
Vincent thought.
I must be in big trouble if they’re calling me “sir.”
“What’s wrong?” Vincent asked.
“Please step over here, sir,” the man said again. He pushed Vincent down in a chair and carefully placed his duffel bag on
a stainless steel table. Now there were over a dozen airport security guards gathered around Vincent’s bag whispering to each
other.
“Excuse me, miss, are you with the boy?” the man asked Stella, who was still standing in line waiting to go through the metal
detector.
“Yes,” Stella said. Stella didn’t need to ask what the fuss was about. She knew.
“Please step to the side, miss.”
Stella took a seat next to Vincent. A crowd of people had gathered, and they were all staring at Vincent and Stella.
One of the guards stepped forward and asked Vincent what was in his bag.
“Oh.” Vincent realized that his homemade invention might have looked suspiciously like a bomb when it was x-rayed.
“It’s just a kite,” Vincent said as he stood up. Two large guards quickly shoved Vincent back in his chair.
“No, no, no, guys, you got this all wrong. It’s just a toy. Really. I entered the Whizzer Toy Contest and I’m taking my kite
to New York,” Vincent said.
“What kind of kite has all those wires?” the guard asked.
“A windless kite,” Vincent said proudly.
“A windless kite?”
“Yeah, a windless kite. As in, it doesn’t need any wind,” Vincent said, confident that the guard would understand.
“Yeah, right,” the guard said.
“No, really. I’ll show you,” Vincent said as he started to stand up, only to be shoved back in his chair by two burly guards.
“Frank, why don’t you check it out,” the guard said to the man standing closest to the bag. Everyone stepped away from Frank.
Frank carefully unzipped the bag.
“Yeah, it kind of looks like a kite,” Frank said.
“All right, kid,” the guard said, “let’s see this windless kite.”
Vincent cautiously stood up. He walked to his bag and took out the kite and the spool of speaker wire.
“You may want to stand back a little,” Vincent warned Frank.
Vincent laid the kite on the floor and walked backward, letting out about ten feet of speaker wire. He looked up and noticed
that a large crowd of people had gathered around him. There were now over a hundred people waiting to see his windless kite.
Most of them looked worried. So did Vincent.
“Here it goes.” The crowd winced as Vincent pushed the green button. Vincent winced, too.
The kite started hissing. Then a few sparks jumped from the guitar string to the shiny kite, and it soared high up into the
air as if it had caught a strong breeze. The crowd gasped. So did Vincent. The kite was glowing blue along the edges. Vincent
let out more wire and the kite soared high in the airport terminal. The crowd was getting larger. One little boy turned to
his dad and asked if Vincent was magic.
Suddenly the kite darted to the left. Then to the right. The kite became a silvery blue blur as it darted here and there.
The crowd started clapping. People were taking pictures. They thought Vincent was putting on a fantastic aerial show. But
Vincent knew something had gone wrong. Something had gone horribly wrong.
The kite was now diving toward the crowd, and the applause turned to screams as people dove out of the way. Vincent pulled
hard on the speaker wire and the kite soared back toward the ceiling. Lightning shot from the tail of the kite to the airport
lights high above the people. The lights burst. Vincent quickly gave the kite slack and it reversed course, darting back toward
the
Contest.”
STRANGE FLIGHT
23
“Code sixteen. Code sixteen,” the airport security guard yelled as he grabbed Vincent’s shirt with one hand and Vincent’s duffel bag with the other. Five or six security
guards immediately surrounded Vincent.
“Please step over here, sir,” one of the guards said.
Sir?
Vincent thought.
I must be in big trouble if they’re calling me “sir.”
“What’s wrong?” Vincent asked.
“Please step over here, sir,” the man said again. He pushed Vincent down in a chair and carefully placed his duffel bag on
a stainless steel table. Now there were over a dozen airport security guards gathered around Vincent’s bag whispering to each
other.
“Excuse me, miss, are you with the boy?” the man asked Stella, who was still standing in line waiting to go through the metal
detector.
“Yes,” Stella said. Stella didn’t need to ask what the fuss was about. She knew.
“Please step to the side, miss.”
Stella took a seat next to Vincent. A crowd of people had gathered, and they were all staring at Vincent and Stella.
One of the guards stepped forward and asked Vincent what was in his bag.
“Oh.” Vincent realized that his homemade invention might have looked suspiciously like a bomb when it was x-rayed.
“It’s just a kite,” Vincent said as he stood up. Two large guards quickly shoved Vincent back in his chair.
“No, no, no, guys, you got this all wrong. It’s just a toy. Really. I entered the Whizzer Toy Contest and I’m taking my kite
to New York,” Vincent said.
“What kind of kite has all those wires?” the guard asked.
“A windless kite,” Vincent said proudly.
“A windless kite?”
“Yeah, a windless kite. As in, it doesn’t need any wind,” Vincent said, confident that the guard would understand.
“Yeah, right,” the guard said.
“No, really. I’ll show you,” Vincent said as he started to stand up, only to be shoved back in his chair by two burly guards.
“Frank, why don’t you check it out,” the guard said to the man standing closest to the bag. Everyone stepped away from Frank.
Frank carefully unzipped the bag.
“Yeah, it kind of looks like a kite,” Frank said.
“All right, kid,” the guard said, “let’s see this windless kite.”
Vincent cautiously stood up. He walked to his bag and took out the kite and the spool of speaker wire.
“You may want to stand back a little,” Vincent warned Frank.
Vincent laid the kite on the floor and walked backward, letting out about ten feet of speaker wire. He looked up and noticed
that a large crowd of people had gathered around him. There were now over a hundred people waiting to see his windless kite.
Most of them looked worried. So did Vincent.
“Here it goes.” The crowd winced as Vincent pushed the green button. Vincent winced, too.
The kite started hissing. Then a few sparks jumped from the guitar string to the shiny kite, and it soared high up into the
air as if it had caught a strong breeze. The crowd gasped. So did Vincent. The kite was glowing blue along the edges. Vincent
let out more wire and the kite soared high in the airport terminal. The crowd was getting larger. One little boy turned to
his dad and asked if Vincent was magic.
Suddenly the kite darted to the left. Then to the right. The kite became a silvery blue blur as it darted here and there.
The crowd started clapping. People were taking pictures. They thought Vincent was putting on a fantastic aerial show. But
Vincent knew something had gone wrong. Something had gone horribly wrong.
The kite was now diving toward the crowd, and the applause turned to screams as people dove out of the way. Vincent pulled
hard on the speaker wire and the kite soared back toward the ceiling. Lightning shot from the tail of the kite to the airport
lights high above the people. The lights burst. Vincent quickly gave the kite slack and it reversed course, darting back toward
the
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