Martin Bridge: The Sky's the Limit!
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“I can certainly see the family resemblance,” said Alex’s dad.
What family resemblance? thought Martin. He and Fletcher clearly had nothing in common!
“Is Alex upstairs?” asked Martin.
“Yes. Go on in.”
As they headed to the back door, Curtis bolted from the house.
“I’m telling!” he shouted as he flew past. But before he could tell, a window slid open. Everyone looked up as Alex stuck out his head.
“Dad! He broke my H2O Faster Blaster!”
Curtis scuffed at the lawn.
“Curtis, stay away from Alex’s things,” said their dad in that tired voice parents use when they have to explain something over and over. And then, “Help me finish the seeding. Here are the work gloves you like.”
Curtis cheered up immediately. He stuck out his tongue at Alex as soon as their dad wasn’t looking.
“Is that your cousin?” Alex called, ignoring Curtis.
“Yes,” admitted Martin. “We’ll be right up.”
When they entered Alex’s bedroom, Martin noticed that the purple stain was still cleverly covered.
“How about a round of Zip Rideout’s supernova card game?” Alex suggested brightly, now that Curtis was out of the picture.
Martin nodded eagerly, but Fletcher instantly soured the mood.
“Got anything to read?” he asked. “I don’t like cards much.”
It was only after Fletcher poked around and found nothing worthy to read that he reluctantly agreed to join them.
“One-one-one, two-two-two, three-three-three,” counted Martin through clenched teeth as he dealt the cards. He snapped each one down for explosive effect, mostly to blot out Fletcher’s grumbling.
Fletcher proved to be a crummy player. He kept laying down the card for Zip’s archenemy, Crater Man, which messed up the scoring. And he was clueless when it came to blocking supernovas because he insisted on holding onto all the rocket launch countdown cards!
The game finally ended when Alex played the orange planet.
“I win,” he declared, but the thrill was short-lived. Almost immediately, he frowned. “I can’t believe I’m going to miss the fireworks.”
“You can watch them on TV,” said Martin lamely, wishing more than anything that Alex could switch places with Fletcher, who didn’t even want to go.
“It won’t be the same,” said Alex, which was true.
Alex’s dad drove the boys home.
“I’ve asked your parents to take Curtis with you to the fireworks tonight,” he explained as he pulled up to Martin’s driveway. “We’ll be staying home with Alex.”
“I’ll miss Alex,” Martin said sadly, and then, “Thanks for the ride.”
Fletcher marched past Martin into the house and headed straight upstairs. Alarmed, Martin followed, and when he entered his room, he gasped.
Once again, his Zip Rideout comic books were scattered on the floor. Fletcher lay on his cot reading a thick book with no pictures.
And his shoes were still on!
Martin silently calculated how many hours were left until Fletcher went home.
“I’m going to put on my Junior Badger uniform,” Martin announced irritably, once he figured out the number. “We’ll be heading to the fireworks as soon as we eat dinner.”
“Right,” said Fletcher.
But he didn’t get up to change until after he finished his chapter.
Seething, Martin doubled-checked his math.
The sun was starting to go down as everyone piled into Martin’s family van. When they stopped to pick up Curtis, Martin ran to the door and rang the bell.
No answer.
He went around to the backyard and swung the gate open.
“Oh! Hi, Martin!” said Curtis, beaming. He was positioning a sprinkler on the lawn.
In fact, there were a dozen sprinklers scattered around the yard. And Curtis was not in his Junior Badger uniform.
“Aren’t you going to the fireworks?” asked Martin.
“No!” said Curtis excitedly. “There’s been a change in plans.”
“You’re just in time for Curtis’s big show,” said Alex’s dad. He was attaching one of the many hoses that snaked across the freshly seeded yard to yet another sprinkler.
The hoses ran to the homes of neighbors all around, and a crowd with keen faces stood by watching.
“Ready?” asked Curtis, practically hopping.
His dad gave him the nod.
Curtis cupped his hands around his mouth. “Alex!” he shouted.
After a short pause, an upper window slid open.
“What?!” Alex demanded.
“Have a look!” shouted Curtis. “I made waterworks just for you!”
Then he and his dad scrambled from house to house, turning on all the faucets.
It was the most marvelous thing! Sprinklers burst to life, sending arcs of water gracefully in every direction. Spisss! Spisss! Spisss! The swirling patterns were beautiful, and so were the hovering rainbows.
The crowd ooohed and aaahed in delight.
“Holy cow!” said Alex. It was his favorite expression. “Come and see this, Martin!”
Martin bolted through the back door and up the stairs.
Alex was still admiring the dazzling display when Martin burst in. Alex’s mom was tidying the room, but she had stopped to watch the show, too.
“Hi, Martin,” she said. “Off to the fireworks?”
He nodded and squeezed in beside Alex while she got back to work.
The spraying sprinklers were even more mesmerizing from above.
“Hey! Who did this?!” Alex’s mom demanded.
The boys turned at her sharp tone. She pointed to the purple evidence, her other hand holding Curtis’s pajamas.
Martin braced for impact. He knew that Alex would tell on Curtis, Curtis would be called in and there would be another explosive shouting match.
Alex opened his mouth to answer, but then paused.
He turned back to the window and the waterworks below, where Curtis waved gleefully.
Finally, Alex spoke. “I spilled the juice,” he said. “It was an accident. Sorry.” He returned Curtis’s wave.
“Honestly!” exclaimed his mom, throwing her arms up in exasperation. She marched out of the room to get some cleaning supplies.
“You didn’t tell on Curtis,” said Martin, confused at this astonishing turn of events.
Alex shrugged.
“Look, Alex! Look!” shouted Curtis when he turned on yet another sprinkler, this one spurting zigzags into the velvety pink sky.
“Fantastic!” Alex shouted back. He smiled.
“I don’t get it,” Martin persisted.
“He’s my little brother,” said Alex simply.
“A little brother who drives you up the wall,” Martin reminded him.
“Not all the time,” said Alex, looking out the window again. “Have fun tonight,” he added.
Martin slowly headed downstairs. He paused at the back door, listening as Alex shouted something to Curtis, who laughed. At that moment, Martin realized how much the two brothers had in common.
If only that were true for me and Fletcher, he thought sadly.
Alex’s dad was explaining the situation to Martin’s parents as Martin climbed back into the van and slid the door shut. As they drove away, Martin’s mom turned to him from the front seat.
“Here. Before I forget,” she said, and she handed Martin a pair of earplugs.
“What are those?” asked Fletcher.
“Earplugs,” muttered Martin. “For the fireworks. I don’t like the noise.”
“Me, neither!” exclaimed Fletcher.
Martin stared at his cousin in recognition. His cousin smiled back.
No wonder Fletcher hadn’t been keen about the fireworks! He found the explosions as deafening as Martin did!
And if they both disliked loud bangs, maybe they had a few more things in common.
Good thing the weekend was just getting started!
“Hey, Mom!” Martin called out. “Can we make a quick stop? Fletcher needs a pair of earplugs, too!”
Wormhole
When Martin woke up, his first thought was that his prize should arrive at the post office today! Just to be certain, he bounced out of bed and padded over to the Zip Rideout calendar on his wall.
Zip Rideout, Space Cadet, was Martin’s favorite cartoon superhero.
And a bowl of Zip Rideout Space Flakes was Martin’s all-time favorite breakfast.
So when the Zip Rideout Trivia Contest was announced, Martin was thrilled. He eagerly ate box after box of the sugary star and comet shapes until he had collected a complete set of cards. Then he mailed them off to the cereal company.
The contest instructions had stated that it would take five to six weeks to receive the out-of-this-world prize: Zip Rideout’s Space Race Game, Deluxe Edition.
Zip’s game boasted a glow-in-the-dark map of the Milky Way, a genuine chip from a meteor, inflatable planets, life-size cutouts of Zip Rideout and his archenemy, Crater Man, and a wormhole, some assembly required.
Martin had charted five weeks on his calendar and had drawn a rocket on the square marking the date that his prize should arrive. Then, as the days dragged by, he had crossed off thirty-five squares. To Martin’s delight, today featured his rocket blasting off.
This was it!
“Martin!” his dad called from the foot of the stairs. “Are you on your way down?”
“Onwards and upwards,” Martin called back. It was something Zip Rideout said at the start of every mission.
He yanked on his clothes, then slid down the railing with flair.
“Your mom has a surprise for you,” announced Martin’s dad as Martin entered the kitchen.
Martin’s heart started to pound. His parcel! It had arrived! That meant he would be the first in his neighborhood to own the game!
“Let’s wait and tell Martin tonight,” said his mom. “I want to be sure first. Besides, you know he can’t keep a secret!”
“What do you mean?” Martin demanded, instantly offended.
“You can’t,” said his mom matter-of-factly.
“Can too!” Martin insisted.
“Oh, really?” said his mom. “What about my anniversary gift that you spilled the beans about? Or telling the Junior Badgers how Zip’s movie ended before hardly any of the troop had a chance to see it? Or informing everyone on the bus about Stuart’s fear of clowns?”
Stuart was Martin’s best friend.
“Your mom’s right, Sport,” said his dad, chuckling.
“Okay, okay,” muttered Martin.
He poured himself a bowl of Space Flakes and turned the cereal box so that Zip faced him.
Martin’s mom took a sip of her coffee.
“I have a lot of meetings today,” she said to Martin’s dad. “The last one might go quite late.”
“No problem,” said his dad, layering more jam on his toast. “I’ll make dinner tonight. How about a barbecue?”
“That’d be great,” said his mom, and she smiled. “You haven’t charred something in a long time.”
Martin’s dad rolled his eyes at Martin.
Bored by this go-nowhere conversation, Martin was anxious to steer back to his surprise, which he was certain was waiting at the post office.
“Do you need to pick up anything on your way home today, Mom?” he prodded.
She stared blankly at Martin for a second or two.
“Oh, that’s right! Milk!” exclaimed his mom. She turned back to his dad. “Could you get some? We’re almost out.”
“Sure,” said his dad.
They returned to munching their toast.
Just look at them, thought Martin. They were in cahoots, avoiding any talk of his prize. But Martin wasn’t fooled. His game had arrived! He just knew it!
“Better get a move on, Sport,” said Martin’s dad, looking up at the clock. “You’re going to be late for the bus.”
Martin’s cranky-pants driver, Mrs. Phips, hated it when passengers kept her waiting. Martin scooped up the last spoonfuls of cereal, then dashed upstairs to brush his teeth and grab his knapsack.
But when he got to the top of his driveway, the bus already stood rumbling. The accordion door folded open, and Martin reluctantly climbed aboard.
“Shake a leg,” Mrs. Phips growled, followed by her predictable muttering about punctuality.
Martin hesitated at the top of the steps. He knew that his mom wanted the surprise to be a secret. But maybe if he told Mrs. Phips, she wouldn’t be so annoyed with him.
“I’m getting Zip Rideout’s Space Race Game today,” he whispered. “Deluxe Edition,” he added for good measure.
“I fail to see how that would make you late,” was her crabby comeback.
Martin swallowed. What a waste of a secret! Ears burning, he made his way to the back of the bus to join Stuart.
“Late again, hey Martin?” said Stuart sympathetically, shoving over to give him room.
“She always makes such a big deal about it,” Martin complained as he flopped down.
Then he perked up. No way was he going to let Mrs. Phips’s grouchiness take away from his excitement.
“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” said Martin. “Got any plans?”
“I have to help Mom tidy her props shed,” said Stuart, shoulders slouching.
That wouldn’t be much fun, thought Martin. Maybe he could help Stuart get out of it. This time, Martin would put his secret to good use.
“Why don’t you come to my house instead?” suggested Martin. “I’m getting Zip Rideout’s Space Race Game today,” he bragged. “Deluxe Edition!”
“Are you sure?!” exclaimed Stuart. “You’ve been waiting for that prize forever!”
“I know!” said Martin. “But Mom’s acting all secret-y. Zip’s game just has to be it.”
“I’ll still have to help Mom,” said Stuart, “but she’ll probably let me off early to come over. After all, it’s Zip Rideout’s Space Race Game! Deluxe Edition! I hear the rules say you can crash land up to five times before you have to surrender to Crater Man!”
“Unless you fly through the wormhole,” said Martin with authority. “That means you can do a start-over.”
“The wormhole,” repeated Stuart in awe. “I can’t wait to see it!”
Martin’s enjoyment of Stuart’s response was only slightly dampened when he remembered his mom’s words about not being able to keep a secret.
Oh well, thought Martin. One little slip-up was no big deal. Well, two. But telling Mrs. Phips probably didn’t count since she had been such a grump-head about it. If Martin could, he would fly through the wormhole for a start-over and not tell her in the first place.
When the bus arrived at school, they found Alex, Martin’s other best friend, waiting by the front door. He was sporting his Zip Rideout space goggles.
“Onwards and upwards!” said Alex.
He gave them the official Zip Rideout salute, which he did every morning. But that wasn’t why Martin decided to tell him about his surprise. In fairness, Martin reasoned, he could not tell one best friend without telling the other.
“I’m getting Zip Rideout’s Space Race Game today!” he exclaimed. “Deluxe Edition!”
Alex peeled off his goggles. “Really? Today?”
“Yes!” said Martin. “And Stuart’s coming over tomorrow to play it. Can you come over, too?”
“Sure thing!” Alex promised. “I just hope I don’t end up flying through the exploding yellow nebula. My cousin told me he did that and was stranded on an unknown moon for half the game!”
The bell rang, and the boys bounded through the doors and down the hall to their classroom in hot debate over how to avoid the nebula.
When the principal’s voice came over the PA system, everyone hushed.
“Attention, girls and boys. I have a few announcements.”
Martin felt great, having told his two best friends about the surprise and seeing them so keen. Imagine if he could get on the microphone and announce his big news to the entire school!
“As you know, we’ve had a few bicycles stolen from the playground. So, we’re getting two new bike racks next week, with enough space for all students who need to lock their bikes.”
Dullsville, thought Martin, who bused to school with cranky-pants Mrs. Phips.
“Second, our school janitor wants to remind you not to feed Polly the vegetables from your lunches. She doesn’t like them either, and it makes a mess of her birdcage.”
Ho hum, thought Martin, whose mom regularly put crackers into Martin’s lunchbox as a proper treat for the school parakeet.
“And finally, I want to remind you that next week some of you will be going to the dinosaur exhibit at the museum with your class. Don’t forget that you need to bring in your signed permission slip, or you won’t be able to go.”
Now that was exciting news, but hearing it wasn’t the reason Martin felt as if he would burst.
“Have a good weekend, girls and boys.”
Then the PA system went dead.
Martin squirmed even more.
“Good morning, class,” sang out Mrs. Keenan, their homeroom teacher.