I grab the first piece of sturdy furniture available so I can reach its eye cameras. I tried to tell dad that if he can design a robot that will actually walk along beside us and carry our groceries without falling down, he should also be able to design eye cameras that do not need me to manually focus them through my performance of a virtual act of aerobatics. One day soon, this is going to go very badly and I will end up as some unfortunate headline beside the hurricane-of-the-month story-of-the-day at the newsstand.
Just as I am making the last twist on the eye cameras, the bench on which I am standing falls over and I am left dangling from Marco’s (Marco is the name of this gigantic machine) left eye camera. Fortunately, the camera housing is laser-cut from some industrial grade black diamond, so it is strong enough to bear my weight. Just as the most disastrous possible scenario plays out in my head, I hear my sister laughing in great amusement.
I just know that this is going to result in a very bad attitude for the rest of the day, but I am grateful for her protection. Julia, my sister, is quite the athlete. What I lack in grace, she more than makes of for in her athletic prowess and muscular strength. I nod my permission as I can barely speak with the strain of hanging on, and she less-than-respectfully grabbed me by the hips and tossed me with great momentum to the couch. I can guarantee that she will remind of this incident for the rest of the day.
With the eyes focused, Marco and I are ready for our trip to the grocery store. This is always fun. I quite frequently get strange looks and stares as Marco and I walk together. In fact, we have been stopped more than once by a well-meaning police officer and even harassed by Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins even launched a campaign through the neighborhood association to get Marco taken away by the city council. Fortunately, through a unanimous vote, the council decided that since Marco was not a person, pet, or vehicle they had no authority over him. Mrs. Jenkins was not happy, but her campaigning came to an end with the first cool breaths of autumn. Mrs. Jenkins always takes off for the cooler months – it’s the only thing I like about her: she leaves.
With the public anti-outcry dying with Mrs. Jenkins departure for the winter, my mother decided that tomorrow would be a great day to wield some influence by hosting a neighborhood harvest picnic celebration. I don’t really know what she has in mind, but the promise of a delicious pumpkin pie had me readily agreeing to this grocery store trip. Just before leaving the house with Marco, I remember the Pixel Crunch box tops and ran back in for the envelope.
I hate Pixel Crunch cereal; it is absolutely disgusting! But I have been eating it for more than five months. Once I have collected forty-two (why such a strange number as forty-two, I will never understand) and mailed them in, Pixel Crunch will send me a collector’s edition PixelCraft sword and scabbard set. I finally finished my last box of that awful cereal this morning, and am mailing the envelope now. In eight to sixteen weeks, I will have my prize!
As Marco and I head out, I trigger his musician mode. Marco begins making odd noises that sound strangely musical. This is another of my dad’s brilliant, but under-designed features. My dad gave me permission to tinker with Marco’s programming so I can submit him as a science fair project. If I win the science fair, I can go compete on the state level with a full scholarship to PixelCraft Summer Design Camp as the award. I think Marco’s musician mode will be one of the first things I fix.
As we walk past the television station, a strange static overpowers Marco’s music. The interference is only a problem when we are immediately in front of the television station. I have had more than one discussion with my dad about this interference problem, but he is not really concerned. He is thinking about his next project: some strategic, autonomous, mechanical amphibian that he plans to sell to the military as an all-terrain war machine. His last effort to pay the mortgage was some whales-of-war concept he sold to the United States Navy. That did not end well. Between silly ideas-that-don’t-work such as whales-of-war and SAMA (Strategic Autonomous Mechanical amphibian), my dad pays the bills as a second-rate playwright.
We finally arrive at the grocery store, when I notice a sign hanging in the window:
“NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS. APPLICATION AVAILABLE INSIDE.”
I shake my head. This store is always hiring, and never in a million years would I work here. Never! After I switch Marco to Stand-By mode and head inside, I suddenly change my mind. Maggie is working here? Maggy?! I have had a crush on this girl since she moved here in the third grade. I grab an application to take home and leave, forgetting why I had come to the store in the first place.
Check out these word search and word unscramble worksheets for the first group of eighteen words and the second group of eighteen words.
SPELLING LIST 2nd Grade - Challenge Words | 3rd Grade - Advanced Words | 4th Grade Intermediate
maintenance
muscular
scholarship
delicious
diamond
discussion
playwright
amphibian
campaign
musician
furniture
protection
respectfully
television
application
unanimous
mortgage
interference
newsstand
envelope
permission
appearance
autumn
influence
available
celebration
association
tomorrow
guarantee
disastrous
unfortunate
amusement
momentum
attitude
physically
hurricane
See some other word lists:
Second Grade
Beginning
Intermediate
Advanced
Challenge
Third Grade
Beginning
Intermediate
Advanced
Challenge
Fourth Grade
Beginning
Intermediate
Advanced
Challenge
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