The Cubby Hole (IQ Testing Book 1)

by ipam

  “You have to do it,” the unnamed tall girl with the tattoos slides from the sunny heat and stands inside the shade of the room. She waves the lighted cigar around in the air, nodding. “You have to do it…”

  I frown with confusion at her. “Do what? What do you have to do?”

  The unnamed tall girl fingers the chair then thumbs the sand. “You have to do what is required within the particular color tone,” swings around then walks into the shade of thick trees.

  I slap the chair then frown with disappointment. I exhale. “I can’t leave here. I gotta leave here now and go back into the Cubby Hole. What’s it that I gotta do to leave here now?” I follow her, shouting. “Hey you! Hey girl! What’s your name?” The tall unnamed girl sits on the white sand leaning against the tree bark, grinning. I slide into the sand not close to her, nodding. I say. “I need to leave here too. I’m hot and heated from the sun. I got sun poisoning and sick to my stomach. Hey, I never ever had trouble before leaving the color tone room. I dropped into the chair then zoomed right back into the Cubby Hole. What’s different now?”

  Marsilla and Duchie slide between Ketona viewing the tall unnamed girl.

  “My name is Nephella,” she flecks the burning cigar towards the opposite side of the sand, not smiling.

  Marsilla drops her mouth and fingers. “You’re the mayor’s daughter. She’s the mayor’s daughter. Her mama is the mayor of Colfax. She’s the mayor’s daughter. Why aren’t you in our academic classes at school in Colfax? I’ve never seen your face but I know your name. My mama works with the mayor at her legal job. My mama has met you before,” nods and grins.

  Duchie frowns with fury. “What do you burn that cigar? You’re a teen. Do ya smoke it too?”

  Nephella views the burning cigar, exhaling. “I burn it to remember my grandfather. He died a couple of months ago,” views the other teens. “I loved to lie at his feet when he lounged inside the sitting chair puffing funny geometric shapes of white for me as a small child. I don’t smoke the lighted cigar but I wave the good smelling odor around. I think of my grandfather. I’ll extinguish it from my new friends,” nods and smiles as the body pieces curve sideways. “I know your mama too, Marsilla. I know of ya’ll too by your BPs, a silly little acronym.”

  “Good, you’re a friend, not a foe,” I say and glance at Duchie with suspicion then nod to Nephella. I ask. “What makes the me-chee chair not go-go?”

  Nephella exhales. “You must jump off the cliff into the water, cliff diving…”

  Marsilla screams then stands, back stepping and shaking her curls. “No. No. No. I can’t. I can’t do that. I scared. I scare to cliff dive…”

  I frown with confusion at Marsilla patting the sand. “Sit down, Marsilla! We’ll figure out something else for you to do.” I view Nephella, asking. “Why must I jump off the cliff into the water?”

  Nephella smiles. “Inside the pink color tone you patted the baby animals. I bet you patted and stroked each baby animal, since I did too. They all were so cute and innocent. Then you left the forest when the fist fight broke out and then returned into the Cubby Hole. Inside the yellow color tone you ate the food from the picnic basket. The food was good until the ants showed up for a snack too. Then you turned tail and ran back to the me-chee chair and then landed inside the Cubby Hole. Don’t you see a pattern here? You did something physical inside each color tone, so far…”

  “Naw,” I frown with confusion. “There is no pattern. You’re wrong. Inside the pink color tone there was playground equipment too. I played on the seesaw while other teens played on the swings. Not every teen touched the playground equipment either since a group of mean teens were fighting at the sight. There is no pattern here…”

  Nephella smiles. “Ah! Which created a lasting permanent deeper emotion within your neurons touching a piece of cold steel or a part of warm fur? I didn’t touch the playground equipment either since the vile teens were having too much fun. However the warm fur was soft and pretty making me feel good. Then the vile teens killed the baby animals making me feel sad. Within the yellow color tone eating the good food I felt safe and seeing the big ugly ants I felt scared. This…”

  Duchie frowns with confusion. “Inside the orange color tone it was raining with lightning bolts. Geez! I didn’t get struck by a lightning bolt just to feel dead,” she chuckles with the others.

  “You got wet from the down pour of the raindrops.” I say and nod. “That was the physical something that affected each teen. So this is a high cliff over low water. We each gotta jump off the cliff…”

  Marsilla shakes her hand and curls. “No. No. No. I can’t. I won’t. I couldn’t. I am…scared.

  I pat her arm, nodding and smiling. “I scared too Marsilla but I will do it to get out of the red color tone. We have to do it to get out of here and continue to the next color tone.”

  Nephella smiles with her sideway piercings. “She is right or you are trapped inside the red color tone….”

  Marsilla shakes her hands and curls. “No. No. No. I didn’t wanna jump. I didn’t be trapped here either.”

  I toss my arms. “I’m going to jump from the cliff. Who’s coming with me? I gotta go back into the Cubby Hole now…”

  Rincon stands over Ketona’s hair roots laughing. “Allow me to assist, milady,” offers his hand when she stands and giggles into his red heated face. “I’m the non-official cliff diver instructor. Now you remove your boots,” views her naked feet then smiles. He says. “O! They’re removed. Now, remove your cat suit,” he chuckles when she slaps his arm, not his face. He chuckles. “That’s a test. Ya passed. Now let’s go and jump,” cuddles her. They laugh for fun.

  Marsilla sobs with tears in her hands, mumbling and rocking in the sand. “I can’t jump. I’m afraid. I’m afraid of heights. I’m been afraid of heights as a little kid.”

  Nephella frowns with puzzlement. “Heights!? You’re afraid of heights.”

  Rincon frowns with worry. “It’s no big deal, Marsilla. Look, I’ll toss your butt off the cliff then you’re done,” chuckles when I slap his arm again, not his face.

  Duchie frowns with puzzlement, saying. “I don’t understand your explanation, Nephella. My mama told me nothing about performing a physical act which in turn is required to activate my me-chee chair to go back into the Cubby Hole…”

  Rincon frowns with puzzlement at Duchie’s hair roots. “Nephella’s right.”

  I frown and finger Nephella. “Ya know her?”

  Rincon nods and smiles. “She’s the mayor’s daughter. Hey, Nephella! Are ya going to jump too? The cliff’s all clear for a good run and leap maneuver. I think all the teens are done but the circle of you little chicky girls. Some of the teens are exploring the cliff. Some of the teens are exploring for fishing pole for food,” laughs.

  I frown with fury then jerk Rincon down into the sand with me. I say. “Okay, buddy! Spill all your beans from the opened tin can! How do you know Nephella? How do you know that Nephella’s right when you didn’t hear our private conversation? And how do you know that it has to be done? What has to be done?”

  Rincon exhales then frowns. “You must jump from the cliff. You must perform a physical feat inside each park place within the color tone or stay within the current color tone. Upon returning into the Cubby Hole, you must pass the next set of academic questions into the new color advancement and then you must accept the new physical feat and do just it,” holds his hands. “Or you are trapped within the current color tone. I learned this from my BPs…”

  “Stop calling them that. They’re your biological parents, not some two squashed initials of BP,” I exhale with fury.

  Rincon laughs and touches Ketona’s arm. “Yes, milady.”

  Nephella says. “I feel both your fury and frustration. This is a sick mind game played on the teens within the confines of the Cubby Hole…”

  Rincon frowns with confusion. “Naw, it’s a brutal competitive game of wits, guts, and smarts…”


  Nephella nods and says. “Within each color tone teens exhibited violent fun. Inside the pink color tone represented by the forestland of baby animals the teens dueled with knives. Some of the teens got cut but survived. Where did those sharp knives come from?”

  I gasp and nod. “I asked Buffo the same question. He said that some of the boys carried their personal hunting knife underneath the cat suit, since the steel blade didn’t activate the me-chee. In the girl’s locker room the cellie alarm sounded.”

  Duchie rubs her tight fitting cat suit. “Where do you hide a switchblade or a toothpick along the slick slim vertical lines of the cat suit? It fits like a glove on each one of us.”

  “Not right,” Nephella shakes her curls. “Inside the yellow color tone the giant ants attacked the food baskets smelling the goodies. We were camping on their nesting site established eons ago. Some of the teens got stung but survived too. Inside the orange color tone the rain storm produced both thunder and lightning bolts. The thunder is the song of the flying white bolt before it strikes the soil. Some teens got broken arms slipping over the water but survived. Now I sit on top of a cliff and must jump to my death or be trapped here in the red color tone.”

  Marsilla drops her mouth. “Are you saying to me that someone wants to harm me for being a smart girl within the Cubby Hole?”

  Nephella shakes her curls. “No, I’m saying that your fears will prevent you from achieving your dream or your goal, the golden job. I didn’t completely understand the underlying idea within the pink color tone. But I’m afraid of lighting bolts. Lighting is my terrible fear. When I was a small child a storm rolled in from the west I was playing in the yard then a lightning bolt struck down my pet dog. The dog was running around in the rain having fun. From that moment and forward I have been afraid of thunder storms running into the house like a small child. Inside the orange color tone I was afraid to move out into the rain. I was going to huddle near the mirror away from the opening and the landing me-chee chairs then soar back into the Cubby Hole. Then Buffo saved me. He put his arm around my shoulder then we raced into the rain. I was scared inside the cave every time the thunder sounded…”

  I gasp. “I’m afraid of knives. During elementary school my daddy was teaching me to cut up my meat with the sharp knife. I slipped and hit my finger. I bleed out for days and ached for weeks. I cried forever. I never ate meat with the knife until I became a teen and could handle the sharp shiny blade. I find it so strange that there were knives inside the pink color tone too…”

  Rincon stares at the sand, nothing. “I’m afraid of ants. I got stung as a kid playing around the yard then tripped my naked feet over a natural ant hill. My daddy believes nature needs to live and survive too along with the humans. It was an accident but a brutal childhood memory that hasn’t gone away in my teens…”

  Marsilla says. “I’m afraid of heights since birth. I can’t jump off the cliff. I can’t. I’ll hit the water and die. I can’t swim either. I’m trapped inside the red color tone park place here forever,” sobs with tears in her hands.

  I frown with confusion. “Dang, this is sick psychological mental game.”

  Rincon frowns with annoyance. “This is an intelligence test for smart kids. If you fail…”

  Duchie tosses her hands. “Wait a minute! This is just worse chance or bad luck or bad karma. How’s it possible that knives were in the pink color tone? Bad weather happened inside the orange color tone, because of the geographical location of the forest along that part of the planet. The me-chee chairs zoom us all over the planet for this stupid day-long competition. This is just chance or luck like a mommy-to-be having a boy or a girl. Ya got a fifty-fifty chance…”

  Nephella says. “I wrote down my fear on the electronic application. It was a specific question that specifically miffed me off. I asked my mama. She told me to answer all the questions completely or become a radiation worker in the outer town of Tonkey. I got scared or frighten or intimidated. So I filled it in with my true fear of lighting bolts. Then I submitted my electronic app. Ya’ll did too?”

  The skulls of the teens nod.

  Duchie tosses her hands. “Okay, okay! I wrote my fear down on the app. I fear snakes. Okay. I hate snakes. Some people hate spiders. Some people hate cats. Some people hate vegetables. Tell me! How did the knives get into the forestland? The me-chee placed them there for some sick fun. Trees limbs are cut with knives. Baby animal parts are cut with knives too. It is simply explained. The fire ants were a terrible luck for Rincon. We were roasting on their play spot. The thunder storm hits and strikes the valley between the mountains all the time, a common weather phenomena. It is bad karma for Nephella…”

  Marsilla frowns with confusion. “How do you explain the cliff diving within the red color tone? I’m afraid of heights. Gosh, I live and study in the downstairs bedroom. I don’t walk up the stairs being so afraid of heights. Rincon, you were supervising the other teens for fun jumping off the cliff. Was there another teen like me afraid of the height or jumping from the rock into the water?”

  “Naw, just you,” fingers and nods Rincon.

  Marsilla wraps her hands around her breasts viewing the trees, the sky and then the sand. “Its like the me-chee machine is after me, personally with my personal fear. I can’t activate my me-chee to go back into the Cubby Hole, so I’m destined to stay here for the rest of the day and be afraid of jumping of the cliff until one of the me-chees retrieves me. I landed inside the red room with the mirrors first after answering those four questions. This was the first time that I was first. I want to finish the Cubby Hole too for the golden job. This ain’t fair to me,” sobs with tears then Rincon pats her back.

  Nephella drops her mouth. “You landed first inside the red zone and you are afraid of heights. You landed on a high cliff for jumping off which is your fear. Gosh, I landed first in the orange zone and I’m afraid of lightning bolts.”

  “I landed first in the pink zone and I’m afraid of knives from my childhood terror.” I gasp and drop my mouth.

  Rincon tosses his hands. “This is not a coincidence but purpose. I landed first inside the yellow zone with my fears of ants…”

  Nephella draws six boxes in the sand then fingers each one. “The first box is colored pink. The color represents the town of Tonkey. The radiation pits are there. Just follow my logical first then we can discuss. The color chart is in a specific order for a specific reason. I got this from my mama too. The second box is colored yellow for Dookie Town. The third box is colored orange for the farmland. The fourth box is colored red from the slaughter mills. The fifth box is colored green for the gardeners. The sixth box is colored blue for the merchandise makers and teachers. Now all the teens passed from the silver color into the pink color…”

  “What about the golden color?” Duchie frowns.

  I frown at her. “Do ya wanna add something here, Duchie?”

  “Naw.” Duchie shakes her ponytail.

  Nephella says. “I’ll get to that in a moment. All the teens from the Cubby Hole are playing and having fun patting the baby animals inside the pink colored park place. Then someone finds a knife. The knife object comes from the fear of Ketona. You have to assume that the me-chee or the MECHanical Energy Entity machine. It quickly materializes all the sharp deadly steel knives right after Ketona answered all eight questions with the faster time. So the knives are hidden within the thick healthy plant bushes. Then some of the rougher teens come along and finds a knife in each bush. They start killing the animals, first then the real beast, second. The really smart teens run back and leap into their me-chee chairs and then get dumped back into the Cubby Hole. The really smart teens answer the next set of questions then advance into the yellow color tone. The landscape is a pretty picnic table with food for eating which happens to be the fear of Rincon who had answered all eight questions faster than any other teen. The ants march down the mountain while killing some teens in the process for some evil reason. The smart teens run back and d
ump into Cubby Hole for a third time. Do you see the pattern here? The me-chee is using fear to stop the teens from accessing the next advancement into the color tone. Fear is going to freeze your feet onto the ground. After the ant attack, didn’t ya’ll feel like stopping or giving up? I did too. But I didn’t because of my mama, mostly. Well, because I’ve studied hard and I want the golden job badly. Inside the orange color tone the rain storm materialized. Actually the me-chee machine programmed all the teens into the valley of the thunder bolt because I beat out all ya’ll with my swift answers to the eight questions. I got into the orange room and then froze with my personal fear…”

  Marsilla smiles. “So we’re supposed to work together and help each other. Is this the purpose of Citizenship Day? Well, I need help through this particular hostile park place, ya’ll,” nods.

  Nephella says. “No. I froze with fear. I almost didn’t complete the physical feat of touching the rain water. Something so simple, I almost failed. Didn’t ya’ll see the pattern here? The me-chee uses fear to restrain the teens inside the color tone unless the teen fights back. Marsilla is so afraid of her fear that she might not leave. Inside the pink color tone all the teens having fun and laughing and eating the dead baby animal meat are going to work and live in Tonkey, the radiation pit. Now if someone told me that I was going to live and work there I would say, ah, naw. I’ll die within a year from the radiation poisoning. All the teens currently failing the academic questions and residing inside the yellow color tone are going to live and work in Dandine. All the teens inside the orange color tone are going to work in Burrville…”

  “No, that’s not true,” I shake my curls.

  Rincon nods. “Yes, all of this is very true. My mama didn’t tell me either but I figured it out when the vile teens started killing the poor animals. The Cubby Hole weeds out the smart teens from the rowdy teens using the IQ questions…”