Pandora the Curious

by Joan Holub

  “I’m sorry,” Pythagoras told them. “Your drawings are incorrect.”

  He pointed at their poster. “That’s not a right triangle,” he went on. “It’s a wrong triangle. In any right triangle there are four sides. The longest side is called the hippopotamoose.”

  Huh? There were three sides to a triangle, thought Pandora. And the long side of a right triangle was called the hypotenuse. Pythagoras should know that. He had even written a theorem about right triangles that had made him famous!

  She trailed him as he continued on through the exhibits. “Geometry is the study of weather,” he told one student. “Math is the study of fruit,” he told another.

  He must’ve been bumped by a “Lying” bubble! And the ridiculous lies he was telling left everyone flustered or scratching their heads in confusion. Still, because he was a famous scientist, no one dared contradict him.

  Suddenly Pandora heard Athena squeal in that ditzy new voice she’d been using since she’d gotten bubble-bumped. At the same time Heracles yelled out, “Hey! That liver-bellied Titan is stealing my project!”

  Pandora caught a glimpse of Prometheus, who was indeed trying to make off with Heracles’ prize club from his and Athena’s display. Which was impossible, since that club weighed a ton. Prometheus looked like he was making his getaway in slow motion as he dragged the club an inch at a time down the aisle.

  Apollo and Ares quickly ran over to help Heracles confront Prometheus. Godzooks! thought Pandora. It was clear that a fight was brewing.

  Just then she heard a buzzing sound. Snores. They were coming from the olive grove, right off the courtyard. Nobody snored that loudly except Principal Zeus.

  Pandora raced into the grove. Sure enough, she found him there slumbering on a bench. The bubble box was in his lap, and his stuffed Pegasus pillow was under his head. Had he wandered outside again after the fire and slept here all night?

  “Principal Zeus!” she yelled. She had to get him to wake up long enough to help calm everyone down. But he didn’t twitch a muscle. She called his name several more times but got no response. Just more snores.

  Her eyes lingered on the box. His arm was covering the writing. If she woke him, would he let her examine it? Maybe not. He’d been pretty mad at her and the Titans last night.

  For a split second she almost wished Prometheus were here so he could steal it for her. But, no, that wasn’t fair. According to Epimetheus, the oracle’s prophecy had foretold that she—a curious girl—would one day release the bubbles. And that had come true.

  The oracle hadn’t said, but maybe it was also up to her to figure out how to get things back to normal again. Maybe she was the only one who could!

  Slowly she reached for the box. Her fingers shook. What punishment would Zeus deliver if he caught her? Would it be liver for every meal, like Prometheus’s punishment? Yuck!

  Zeus snuffled and then turned on his side. Thunk! The box fell to the grass.

  Eureka! Pandora snatched it up and studied the strange letters carved into the lid. Were they clues to help her foil those dastardly trouble bubbles?

  Just like it had last Monday, the writing began to reshape before her eyes, forming words. Only, now she had enough time to actually decipher them: Ditz, Vain, Anger, Lazy . . .

  Ye gods! It was only a list of the troubles that had been inside the box. That was no help at all! How she wished she’d never even seen this box! But what was done was done, she thought as she stood next to the snoring Zeus.

  Just then he let out a loud snort. Pandora jumped, and her fingertip accidentally brushed the lock. It clicked open right away. Again she wondered why only she had the power to unlock this mysterious box. Because of the prophecy?

  So now what?

  She rested a hand on top of the box, trying to get a feeling for what she should do. For some reason she really wanted to open it. But maybe it was only her curiosity making her feel that way. Did she dare open it again? Would that make things better? Or worse? The questions whirled in her head.

  Then a voice came from inside the box. Softly it whispered to her. “Hope.”

  This voice sounded a little different from the others. A little more helpful. Or more like hopeful. Was it the voice of the last bubble?

  Out of the blue Pandora remembered what the Magic Answer Ball had said when she’d asked it for help yesterday. “Hope,” it had said. Had it been right after all? Would a “Hope” bubble truly be the answer to her problems?

  “Okay, bubble,” she warned. “Don’t make me sorry I’m doing this.”

  Slowly she eased open the lid. Just like last Monday, she heard the rumble of thunder as she did so. Lightning flashed in the grove.

  Zeus didn’t bat an eyelash. But over in the courtyard students stopped arguing. A startled hush fell.

  “I hope, hope, hope . . . ,” Pandora chanted, unsure even then what she expected to happen.

  Suddenly the box flew all the way open on its own. There it was! The last bubble. Number ten. It glowed with a dazzling golden-yellow light.

  It floated out, wafting upward. Uncertain, she reached up with her net, then thought better of it and lowered it again. Somehow she knew she should let this bubble escape.

  As if in thanks for her trust, it swooped down and gently bumped her cheek. Softly, so that it didn’t pop. “Hope,” it whispered.

  And just like that Pandora suddenly felt a little better. A little more hopeful that everything might soon be set right.

  After gently bumping Zeus’s cheek too, the “Hope” bubble whooshed off. Pandora raced after it, watching it float around the fair bumping everyone it passed. Each time it bumped into someone, it whispered, “Hope.”

  Immediately a smile would come over the bumped person’s face. Then they would say something kind and hopeful to whoever was standing closest to them.

  Pandora was right beside Athena when the “Hope” bubble bumped her forehead. There was a kind of reverse-popping sound—Gloop! Then the blue “Ditz” bubble reappeared. It had unpopped!

  Surprised, Pandora dropped her net. Thinking fast, she then opened the box and held it out toward the bubble. There was the brief sound of thunder. Lighting flashed for a couple of seconds. Then—

  Snap! She shut the lid and recaptured the blue “Ditz” bubble! “One down,” she murmured gleefully.

  Athena blinked a few times, then began to look like her old self. “Godness!” she remarked to Pandora. “I feel like my brain has been on vacation.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s okay now.” called Pandora. Grabbing her net again, she dashed off to follow the “Hope” bubble as it moved on.

  She passed Epimetheus and Prometheus. Bump! Gloop! The red “Thief” bubble unpopped from Prometheus. It rushed upward, trying to escape.

  “Help me!” Pandora called to Epimetheus. Tossing him the box, she leaped high and swung her net overhead, capturing the red bubble. “Gotcha, bubble!”

  “Open it!” she yelled at Epimetheus, who had caught the box.

  Seeing that the clasp was undone, he realized at once what was going on. And as soon as Pandora deposited the red bubble inside, he slammed the box closed on her command.

  “That’s two bubbles down,” Pandora said happily.

  “Sorry, Bro,” Prometheus said. “I, um, think this is yours.” He reached into his pocket and held out a small skunk statue he must’ve stolen from Epimetheus’s shelf.

  Epimetheus took it just as the “Hope” bubble bumped him too. His face brightened. “Thanks,” he said. “Don’t feel bad about taking it, though. You were under a spell.”

  “C’mon!” Pandora told Epimetheus. She scurried off again with her net, and he followed. “Catch up with you later,” he called back to his brother.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Epimetheus said as he jogged alongside her.

  She grinned at his choice of words. “Yeah, me too.”

  Together they chased the golden “Hope” bubble through the fair. Since he
couldn’t see it, Epimetheus followed Pandora’s lead. Whenever it bumped someone who’d been previously bumped by a trouble bubble—Gloop!—the trouble bubble would unpop and appear before her eyes.

  Each time, Pandora was there to whip her net through the air and scoop up the bubble. And Epimetheus would open the box. Thunder would boom and lightning would flash, but only briefly. Just long enough for her to tuck the trouble bubble into the box without letting any of the captured ones escape. Then Epimetheus would snap the box shut again.

  Of course, to him her net and the box looked empty. But he understood what she was doing.

  Bump! Gloop! “Sorry if I’ve been cross lately,” Persephone told Hades.

  Bump! Gloop! “I feel like I’ve been making misstatements,” Pythagoras said to the students he’d been addressing. “Please excuse me if I have.”

  Bump! Gloop! “Ick,” said Artemis, staring into the hand mirror she was holding. “I hope this isn’t shadow on my eyelids. I’m going to wash it off and go get my dogs. See you,” she told Pheme.

  One by one, the “Hope” bubble brought comfort to everyone at the fair. And more important, it de-troubled all the bubble-bumped people.

  All of them except Zeus, curiously enough.

  13

  Why, Why, Why?

  WHY IS MY DAD SLEEPING OUT HERE?” ATHENA asked. She, Pandora, Persephone, and Aphrodite had gathered around Zeus where he still slept on the bench in the olive grove.

  “Because one of the trouble bubbles bumped him,” Pandora told her. “The ‘Lazy’ one, remember?” The three goddessgirls sent her confused looks.

  Pandora shifted the bubble box she held from one hand to the other. Epimetheus had left it with her while he’d gone to find his brother just now. “You don’t remember?” she asked the others in amazement. She hadn’t counted on this.

  It took nearly ten minutes for her to explain to the girls that they’d all been bumped by trouble bubbles. “And the effects only went away after the tenth bubble, the ‘Hope’ one, made the other bubbles reappear,” she informed them.

  Pandora held out the box in one hand and patted its lid with her other hand. It was making those same weird noises she’d heard coming from it that first day. The other girls eyed it warily.

  “The bubbles are in here now. Epimetheus and I captured them,” she assured them. “All except the ‘Lazy’ one. And the ‘Hope’ one—it flew off somewhere.” She figured it was probably bringing hope to those in need wherever it went now—at least she hoped so.

  “Well, that’s quite a story,” said Persephone when Pandora had finished.

  “But it doesn’t explain why my dad is still affected,” said Athena.

  “Maybe the ‘Hope’ bubble didn’t bump him,” said Aphrodite.

  “It did, though,” said Pandora. “I saw it happen.”

  “Then why didn’t the ‘Lazy’ bubble gloop out of him?” asked Persephone.

  “Maybe it was afraid to come out,” suggested Athena. “Because it realized he’s King of the Gods and he could zap it into oblivion if he gets mad enough about what it did to him.”

  It was an interesting theory, thought Pandora. But that didn’t necessarily mean it was correct. Suddenly another, much simpler theory occurred to her. “Or maybe the ‘Lazy’ bubble didn’t reappear because it’s lazy?”

  Athena looked at her in surprise. “I never thought of that! Good thinking. I bet you’re right.”

  Pandora smiled. Coming from the brainiest goddessgirl at MOA, this was high praise indeed. “It’s only a theory,” she said humbly.

  “Is there a way we can test it?” Persephone wondered.

  The girls stood there a minute, mulling ideas. Which wasn’t easy with the bubble box making those weird noises the whole time.

  “I know!” Pandora said at last. “Maybe we can trick the ‘Lazy’ bubble into believing its effect on Zeus has worn off? You know, get him to act all energetic for just long enough to make that bubble give up on him and unpop.”

  “Worth a try,” said Athena. They all looked at Zeus, who was still snoozing.

  Everyone jumped a little when Athena suddenly yelled, “Dad! Wake up!”

  At the sound of her voice, Zeus opened one sleepy eye. “Huh? Give me one good reason to.”

  “Because today’s the science fair,” she said.

  “Are the judges here?” Zeus asked, yawning.

  Athena nodded.

  “Good. Then you don’t need me.” Closing his eye again, he rolled over onto his side so his back was to the girls.

  “But Principal Zeus,” Persephone tried. “Won’t Pegasus be waiting for you to feed him?”

  “He’s fine,” Zeus mumbled over his shoulder. “I told Mr. Cyclops to feed him.”

  “I bet you have a bunch of appointments to take care of today,” said Aphrodite. “Hadn’t you better return to your office?”

  “Ms. Hydra can handle things,” Zeus said with another yawn. “Now I command you to leave me alone.” Within seconds he was snoring again.

  Athena frowned. “What’re we going to do? Nothing seems to trouble him enough to make him get up.”

  She was right, thought Pandora. Only the threat of big trouble—like the fire in the Hero-ology classroom—was likely to overcome Zeus’s laziness. But starting a new fire was out of the question. Then she thought of something that might be equally effective.

  “Uh-oh, Principal Zeu-uus,” she singsonged. “I think I see Hera coming this way, and boy, does she look mad. Did you ever knock down that wall in her store she asked you about?”

  That did it. Zeus sat bolt upright. “Wha—? Sugar pie? Here? Mad?” he said, looking around wildly. His hair was sticking up in all directions, almost like he’d been struck by one of his own thunderbolts.

  Fully awake—at least for the moment—he leaped to his feet. “Listen,” he whispered. “Don’t tell her you saw me!” Then he took off running toward the back exit of the grove as fast as he could.

  Pandora was after him just as fast. It wasn’t long before the “Lazy” bubble reappeared on its own. Gloop!

  “Got you!” she yelled as she caught it in her net. She stuffed it back into the box. Snap!

  Instantly Zeus stopped in his tracks. He wheeled around. All traces of his former laziness were gone now. Vanished as soon as the “Lazy” bubble was nabbed and returned to the box. She couldn’t believe it. Her plan had worked!

  Only, now Zeus stood before her, powerfully tall, energetic, and angry. His eyes went to the box. “What are you doing with that?” he demanded.

  “Um, here, you can have it,” Pandora told him, handing the box over.

  Zeus took it, examining it closely. “I thought I heard the lid snap shut a minute ago. But how could that be? I created this box myself and locked it forever years ago. No one can open it. No one except me.”

  So that’s why the box thundered and flashed lightning every time it opened, Pandora realized. Because it had been created by Principal Zeus, Ruler of the Heavens!

  Zeus’s piercing blue eyes surveyed Pandora and the other three girls who’d gathered around him. “Explain.”

  “I opened it,” Pandora admitted shakily. “The box, I mean.”

  “WHAT?” Zeus roared. “HOW?”

  Suddenly a hand slipped into hers and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go again. Epimetheus! He and his brother had come into the grove to stand on either side of her.

  “It was prophesied that she would open the box and release the trouble bubbles,” Epimetheus told Zeus. “She recaptured them, though.”

  “Except for one,” Pandora added. “The ‘Hope’ bubble.” She sent Epimetheus a smile, grateful for his support. As they headed for the grove’s exit, she and the others explained to Zeus all that had happened.

  “Why make such a box in the first place?” Athena asked him as they neared the courtyard.

  “It was a weapon. One that helped me win the war against the Titans,” Zeus told them. “Those t
rouble bubbles made them lose their focus in battle, so we could capture and imprison them more easily.”

  Pandora felt Epimetheus and Prometheus tense at his mention of the war. The imprisonment of the Titans included their dad, of course.

  “Is that why you invited us here? To get your box back?” Prometheus challenged.

  “Partly,” Zeus admitted. “After the war I lost track of it. I suspected that a Titan had it but wasn’t sure who. Then your uncle wrote to me revealing he’d given it to you, and that Iapetus was angry with you for refusing to turn it over to him. Your uncle asked me to protect you. I agreed. But I didn’t know you had brought the box to the Academy till it showed up on my desk last Monday.”

  Hearing this, Pandora felt sorry for the boys. It must’ve been hard for them not to give in to their dad’s demand to give him the box. “Why didn’t you let your dad have it?” she asked them.

  “Because if our dad got the trouble bubbles, he might start another Titan versus Olympian war,” said Epimetheus. “He’s never been able to accept that Zeus is the true and best ruler of Mount Olympus.”

  “No ‘might’ about it,” Prometheus corrected him. “Dad threatened to do just that. Right before he told us he never wanted to see us again unless we were bringing him the box.”

  “How awful!” said Aphrodite. Pandora saw that all the girls’ expressions had softened toward the boys.

  “Now that you have the box again, will you destroy it?” Persephone asked Zeus.

  He looked a little sad as he shook his head. “Once such trouble bubbles are created, they can never be destroyed. They’ll always exist. So the best I can do now is to keep them safely imprisoned here in this box.”

  “We’re sorry we didn’t give you the box right away, as soon as we arrived at the Academy,” Prometheus said to Zeus. “Dad had us so confused by the horrible things he said about you that we decided to wait till we were sure you were the best choice to guard it.”

  Zeus gave the boys a low bow. “Well, on behalf of all of Mount Olympus, I thank you for your confidence. I will guard this box and keep it safely locked away forevermore.”