by Tracey West
“I’d like to go back to the past,” you say.
“Excellent choice,” Gary agrees. “In that case, I have a special task for you. Some time ago, I was in the Coffee Shop working on plans for a new invention. When I left the shop, I absentmindedly left my notebook behind. When I returned to look for it, it was gone.
“I would like to send you back to the very day I lost that notebook. I need you to go to the Coffee Shop and retrieve it for me.”
“Will do!” you say. He opens the curtain and you step inside. The walls are lined with twisting tubes filled with neon-colored liquid. There is a lever hanging down from the ceiling.
“I will send you back in time to approximately thirty minutes before I left the Coffee Shop,” Gary says. “After you retrieve the notebook, come back to the machine and pull the lever.”
“Roger,” you say. You are so excited.
Gary closes the curtain, and the machine begins to shake. The liquid in the tubes glows brightly. There is a faint buzzing in your ears. The next thing you see is a strange tunnel of dim light opening up in front of you, out of nowhere. Without warning, you feel yourself being sucked inside!
You blink and see that everything is quiet and calm. You open the curtain and step outside.
You are in the Town Center! The machine seems to have worked. Then you notice a group of penguins walking past you. They are all wearing red-and-orange Hawaiian leis.
“Hey, where did you get those?” you ask.
“They’re free down at the Dock,” one of the penguins replies.
“Can you believe it?” says another penguin. “It’s the middle of winter, and there’s a big luau going on!”
The Winter Luau of 2006! You’ve heard about it and read about it. You always wished you could go.
“We’re heading back to the Dock right now,” says one of the penguins. “Do you want to come with us?”
Gary did say you had thirty minutes to get the notebook. That’s plenty of time to dash to the Dock and get a free lei—isn’t it?
If you go straight to the Coffee Shop, click here.
If you dash to the Dock, click here.
Running into Gary from the past shakes you up a bit. You’ve read about time travel and you know you’re not supposed to mess with the space-time continuum—whatever that is. So you run.
“Sorry!” you cry. You bolt for the time machine. In your hurry, you trip and fall into the snow.
The notebook falls into an icy puddle. You pick it up and dodge into the time machine. You quickly close the curtain, pull the lever, and bam! You’re back in the future.
You open the curtain and see you’re back in the Sport Shop. Gary looks thrilled.
“It worked!” he says. “And you have my notebook.”
You hand him the dripping notebook. He opens it up, and the pencil marks inside are smeared from the water. His notes are ruined!
“No matter,” Gary says. “The time machine works. We can send you back again to get it right.”
You hope you do the right thing this time!
THE END
Back to Beginning
A drop of sweat rolls down your face. You close your eyes and try to picture what the Pizzatron 3000 looks like before you start making pizzas. And then it comes to you.
You confidently reach forward and pull the two green levers toward you. You hear the hum of a motor. The conveyor belt starts to move.
Gary peeks out from behind the machine.
“A piece of stray seaweed got jammed in the motor,” he reports. “And you have the levers correctly placed. Excellent!”
A round of pizza dough drops onto the conveyor belt. The manager quickly steps in front of you.
“I’ll take it from here,” he says. “One spicy pizza with squid coming up!”
He makes the pizza and turns to Gary. “How can I ever thank you?”
“Some pizza might be nice,” Gary says. He looks at you. “I like extra cheese and anchovies on mine. How about you?”
“Sounds delicious!” you say.
You take your pizzas back to the Sport Shop and eat them at Gary’s desk. He swallows the last bite and wipes his beak with a napkin.
“You have a knack for mechanical things,” Gary says.
“Thank you,” you say. You feel so proud!
Gary stands up. “I think I may have been incorrect before. You may be just the penguin I need to help me with my new invention.”
Gary walks to the blue tarp and gives it a yank. The tarp falls to the floor. Underneath is a plain white surfboard. It doesn’t look especially interesting.
Then you notice the rockets attached to it.
“Whoa. Is that a rocket-powered surfboard?” you ask.
click here
You want to impress Gary. And you’re pretty sure Gary is frozen under a layer of ice. That means just the ice will melt—not Gary.
There is a fireplace in the Ski Lodge right next door. You try to pick up Gary, but he’s pretty heavy. You grab a surfboard from the rack and push Gary onto it. Then you pick up the rope attached to the board and pull Gary across the floor.
It’s not easy to get Gary to the Ski Lodge. First you have to go down the stairs of the Sport Shop. Gary slides off the board, and you have to push him back up again. Then you have to drag him across the snow, past the Tour Guide booth, and up the stairs of the Ski Lodge.
It doesn’t take long for a small crowd of curious penguins hanging out at the Lodge to gather around you. They are full of questions, but you politely explain you’re in the middle of an emergency. You pull Gary over to the fireplace.
It only takes a few minutes for the ice to melt. You’re relieved when you see Gary underneath. He’s a little soggy, but he’s as good as new.
“Gary! You’re all right!” you say happily.
Gary shivers. “What a fascinating test! I must get back to my lab to see what effects the freeze ray has had on my body. Congratulations on making such an interesting invention. It’s too bad we’ll have to cut your apprenticeship short.”
“Sure, Gary. I understand,” you say. But you’re sad. You had a great opportunity to work with Gary, and now it’s over! Oh, well. At least he is impressed with your invention!
Gary hurries out of the Sport Shop. You’re about to head back to your igloo when a red penguin slips in the puddle of water in front of the fireplace. You reach down and help him up.
“Hey! What’s that puddle doing there?” the penguin asks.
“It’s my fault,” you say glumly. “I accidentally froze Gary the Gadget Guy with my freeze ray, and then I had to melt him.”
“No way! Did you win the Invention Contest?” the red penguin asks. “I love inventing things.”
You and the red penguin take a seat by the fireplace and talk. It turns out you have a lot in common. You feel pretty good. You may have lost your chance to learn some of Gary’s secrets, but at least you made a new friend!
THE END
Back to Beginning
You decide to switch the yellow and green wires. You carefully make the switch. Then you close up the compartment and waddle over to Gary.
“Here goes,” you say. You aim the ray at him and turn it on.
Zap! This time, a red light shoots from the freeze ray.
It works! Gary quickly unfreezes. A puddle of water forms at his feet.
Gary adjusts his eyeglasses. “Fascinating!” he says. “I could certainly use a cup of coffee to warm me up.”
“You’re not mad?” you ask, relieved.
“The foundation of invention is trial and error,” Gary says. “I am happy to be a test subject in the name of science. And now, perhaps you can return the favor for me.”
“Anything you say, Gary,” you reply.
“Excellent,” Gary says. He waddles over to the back wall of the Sport Shop, and you follow him. Blueprints of Gary’s inventions are tacked to the wall. He stops next to a big object hidden under a blue tarp. He pulls it off,
and there is a tall metal box underneath. A curtain covers the opening. It almost looks like one of those booths at an arcade that you enter to get your picture taken.
“What is that?” you ask.
“This is the Time Machine 3000,” Gary says proudly. “I have been working on it for quite a long time. But I need help testing it. I can work the machine, but I need someone to do the actual time traveling.”
“Ooh, me, me, me!” you say, waving your flipper.
“Then I shall let you decide,” Gary says. “Would you like to visit the future, or the past?”
You have to think about that. If you go to the past, you’ll get to see things on Club Penguin that you have missed. But if you go to the future, you may get a glimpse of parties and games before any other penguin around.
If you go to the future, click here.
If you go to the past, click here.
It’s top secret.
You can’t forget Gary’s words.
“New invention? What new invention?” you say quickly. “Gotta go.”
You quickly paddle out as far as you can. Then you turn to look at the rockets once more. It probably makes sense to get the rockets going before a wave comes, you guess. You steady yourself with one flipper, and with the other, you flip the switch.
Vroooooooom! You’re off! The surfboard goes shooting across the waves at superspeed.
“Woo hoo!” you cry out. You love playing Catchin’ Waves, and this is like a supercharged version. You stand up and carefully balance yourself on the board. A wave comes toward you, and you sail right over the top of it.
“Yeah!” you cheer. You decide to try out a simple trick. You wave. You dance. As another wave approaches, you decide to jump over it. You lean back, ready to soar, when . . .
Putt . . . putt . . . putt . . . putt . . .
The rockets sputter out. You wipe out and tumble into the water. You grab the board and paddle back to a secluded spot onshore.
Why did the rockets go out? You check, and the fuel tank is full.
The splashing water must have put out the rocket fire, you realize. You stand up. You’ll have to go back and give Gary your report.
Then you get an idea. What if you try to fix the surfboard yourself? Gary will surely be impressed!
If you take the surfboard back to Gary, click here
If you try to fix the surfboard yourself to impress Gary, click here
“Sure,” you tell the penguin. “I’ll come, but we have to be quick! I have to be somewhere.”
You rush down to the Dock as fast as you can. You take your lei and put it on. You are so happy! You can’t wait to show your friends when you get back home. You tell the group of penguins thanks and hurry off.
You are heading back to the Coffee Shop when you hear some festive Hawaiian music.
I still have plenty of time, you think. So you head toward the sound. You see a bunch of penguins playing limbo! You always wanted to dance under a pole and see how low you can go. A little limbo won’t slow you down . . .
But you get caught up in the excitement of the party. By the time you remember your mission, it’s too late. You run to the Coffee Shop and don’t see Gary there. You flag down a waiter.
“Excuse me, was Gary the Gadget Guy just here?” you ask.
“Sure was,” the penguin replies.
“Did you see him leave a notebook behind?” you ask.
“Gary already came back and asked me,” the waiter reports. “We looked everywhere, but it’s not here.”
You feel terrible. You have failed your mission! You head back to the time machine—but it’s gone!
You notice some penguins nearby.
“Hey, did you see a big machine sitting here?” you ask.
“Yeah, it was weird,” one of them answers. “Some pink penguin stepped inside and a few seconds later, it vanished!”
You groan. Someone else is using the time machine. You are trapped in the past!
Maybe it won’t be so bad. You’ll get to do a lot of things that you missed. You just hope that somebody will take care of your puffle, Einstein, while you’re gone.
THE END
Back to Beginning
The Sport Shop is empty. You decide to make your move. You quickly go to the door. You turn the handle . . .
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
A loud alarm wails through the shop. Red lights start to flash. The door opens—and Gary is behind it!
He presses a button on the wall, and the alarms and lights stop.
“The work I do for Club Penguin is very important,” he says. “I did not really get a call from the Pizza Parlor. I wanted to see what you would do if you were left alone. You are an excellent inventor. But I need an apprentice I can trust. I am very sorry.”
You groan. You had one chance to learn from Gary—and you blew it!
THE END
Back to Beginning
