March/April 2024

https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Valerie-Li-and-the-Library-of-Alexandria-Video_-Jubilee-Sung-.mp4 A clever, determined girl builds a time machine and visits the Great Library of Alexandria Prologue Some people think I’m brave, but I think everyone is amazing by accident sometimes. Hi! I’m Valerie Li. I’m 12 years old, and my proudest achievement is making a time machine. I’ve only made one because my parents got really upset about all the spoons, tape, and tin foil I used and screeched, “Where did our stuff go?” To be honest, I don’t think they liked it when I cried, “To another dimension!” Thankfully I don’t care, because I’m shameless! Chapter 1 “Valerie Mei Li! Come down here right now!” Mom screeches. Welp, I’m definitely in big trouble—Mom is using my full name. I sheepishly tiptoe out of my room and down the cold wooden stairs, mentally preparing myself for a long, long lecture. It’s been a while, but Mom is still fiery-inferno mad because she has no spoons to eat her Cocoa Puffs. That’s why I’m hiding out in my bathroom tub with my cat, Mr. Jiggles, trying to figure out how to make Mom less mad. Really it’s her own fault for not providing me with a handy younger sibling to torment. Being an only child is so boring, and it also means I get way too much attention from my parents. I keep telling my parents, “If you give me a sibling, I could annoy him instead of you.” But so far, none have appeared. “Mr. Jiggles,” I moan. “What do you think about all of this? It’s totally Mom’s fault for not getting me a human sibling, right?” Mr. Jiggles looks at me with supreme indifference, then leaps out of the tub and attempts to eat my shower curtains. He’s always been jealous of my curtains because they feature a mountain of dogs and cats taking a bath. He wants to be the only animal in my life. “No, Mr. Jiggles!” I cry, trying to pry the curtains from his jealous dagger teeth. But it is too late. My beautiful curtain already has a giant, Jiggle-size hole in it. Mom is going to kill me! She’s already in a bad mood, and now there’s a hole in the bath curtain? Even worse, she’ll never believe it was Mr. Jiggles. Soon the noise of our battle will attract her and she’ll part me from my iPad forever! Desperate, I frantically try to put the missing curtain piece back, but when the sunlight hits it, I notice it looks eerily like a picture I saw of the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, torch and all. That’s when I get a lightbulb of a crazy idea. What if I try making a time machine again—but this time with the trash my parents were going to toss? Chapter 2 I quickly stirred my plan to action by making a poster to let my neighbors know I crave their trash. It looks like this: Hi, Neighbors! GIVE ME YOUR TRASH I’m Making a Time Machine (No Moldy Food, Please) Your Neighbor, Valerie Li   Now I just need to wait to get some trash . . . Chapter 3 Ding dong, the doorbell is ringing! Someone must have trash! I run downstairs to open the door, but Mom gets there before me. “Val, why is Mrs. Nolan here? What did you do?” Mom asks, her eyebrows scrunching together like two menacing thunderclouds. Uh-oh. I guess I need to explain . . . “Umm . . . I kinda need trash to make a new time machine. I’m sorry, Mom—I just didn’t want to take all your spoons and restrict you from eating Cocoa Puffs.” Her eyes soften a bit. She probably realizes if I start making time machines, she might finally have the house to herself again. After all, I’d be in another timeline—running from dinosaurs or something. “Why didn’t you say so? We have a bunch of recyclable trash right here. You didn’t need to bother our neighbors. Why, what must they think of us not giving our dear daughter enough trash?” “Good point, Mom. I’ll take my poster off our roof.” “The roof? How did you get it there?” Mom exclaims in shock. “A magician never reveals her secrets!” I cry, rushing upstairs to escape Mom. From my room, I can hear Mom explaining to Mrs. Nolan I have all the trash I need for ten centuries. Later today, Dad comes home to a mess of a house. “What happened here? Why is there trash everywhere?” “Sorry, Dad! I’m just building a time machine so Mr. Jiggles can visit other worlds . . . and I can go back in time and buy stock in Apple.” “Oh . . . that’s nice, honey,” Dad says, his nose already buried in his paper. He never really listens, but he’ll see. Once I can go to the past, he will be so shocked his eyes will pop out and he won’t be able to get distracted ever again. Muahahahaha! Chapter 4 “Finally, it is done! Ladies and gentlemen, marvel at my amazing creation!” I say to no one in particular. This often happens to me—talking to no one in particular—because there’s no one in this house who really listens. I think I even bore Mr. Jiggles, judging by his current fascination with a dust ball. This is why I am making a time machine. I am bored and need to find an adventure . . . and a way to make money. I am thinking with a pile of money I could buy more cat food to bribe Mr. Jiggles to stay with me so I don’t end up alone. They usually say women are afraid to end up alone with cats but personally, I wouldn’t mind it. I would love to be a crazy cat woman! Anyhow, back to my mind-blowing machine—it’s finally done! It’s mostly made of cardboard but also has some random plastic and paper inside that I found around the