I wrote 20, 1000 word chapters that come together to tell the story of some high school kids a some strange things that all seem to come back to a locker.

Now the fun begins, edit, images and produce.

What I am really excited about is the creation of an audio version!

I hope to have Locker #2375 available for wider consumption in September.

If you are like me you can list those books on the back of your hand.

NUDGE, by Dr. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, is one of those provocative great books.

Who hasn’t asked themselves, “how can we do this (get people to a conference, collect waste, save energy ANYTHING) better”, but have ended the intrapersonal conversation there and not taken it any further?

EXACTLY, all of us.

Dr Thaler walks us through this very simple idea of the NUDGE in the conversation below.

A conversation with Dr. Richard Thaler about NUDGE.

So, the million dollar question has to be, show me NUDGE in action, but not only once but in an ongoing sustainable organization.

What if I could point you at an organization that is a NUDGE itself as well as being made up of hundreds of smaller NUDGES?

The organization is TED.

TED from my perspective is the ultimate NUDGE medium and through it we see the articulation of hundreds of formal NUDGES and from there hundreds more informal nudges.

June Cohen the Executive Producer of TED Media talk us through the TED idea.

June Cohen the Executive Producer of TED Media talking about TED.

June Cohen summed it up in the simple statement that TED wants to take the stories of change it has facilitated being told to the world, in the tongues of the world, and Dr. Thaler would like to see the NUDGE story, of provoking simple change, in every hotel in the world,  as common as the phone book (he said bible)!

TED is Thaler’s hotel room, the ultimate NUDGE medium, providing a means for the dissemination of ideas through stories that simply provoke the thought of doing things a different way, but not mandating it, ultimately improving our decision making process by provoking you to choose to do so.

Locker 2375 c20

We Blinked.

There we were, standing with our backs against the wall, staring at the crack of light coming through the door, waiting.

It was odd that the light was shining directly onto the locker and exactly onto the nameplate, Geyomi.

I was counting, I thought in my head, until Kevin elbowed me and let out a big Shhhhhhhhh.

“What do you think, are we safe for now”, Omar said looking more worried than usual.

Then, from deep in the filter room we heard the sound of a door opening and what sounded like cans falling from a shelf.

Then we heard a muffled voice, “ouch who moved the shelf”.

We all looked at each other with that look that says,” you have to be kidding.”

The voice was very familiar, almost too familiar, but none of us could put our finger on it.

Then we heard the voice again, “ouch who put that chair there”.

“I think its Mr. Smith”, Sam said holding his head in his hands.

Kevin took a deep breath and looked at Omar and said,” I bet if we just stand here, as quiet as we can, Mr. Smith will not even notice us!”

“Unless he walks past us and walks into the locker”, I said knowing that Mr. Smith was sometimes not the sharpest tack in the box.

Omar leaned forward and looked back at all of us and said “I don’t want to hear anything from anyone, not even your eyelashes as you blink”.

Oh ohh, now I knew this wasn’t good, I could feel a little tickle in my nose and that was always a sure sign that I was about to sneeze!

A normal sneeze wouldn’t have been such a problem BUT my sneezes seemed to have turned into something that sounded like a foghorn on an ocean liner lately.

Kevin could see what was coming and as quick as lightening his hand was over my mouth and nose just in time to catch my sneeze and what could have only looked like toxic slime.
At the top of his lungs Kevin shouted, “Max that is soooo disgusting, soooo gross”, as he tried to wipe the sticky green nose goo on my back.

“Guys”, Omar said glaring at us.

Before we could get ourselves composed Mr. Smith was standing directly in front of us.

We stood just like statues not moving, not even blinking hoping he would not notice us.

We probably would have gotten away with it if Ana Montana hadn’t called us on the snot-talkie, “guys, Guys, GUYS where are you, you won’t believe this”?

At that exact moment the lights in the room came on and all of us were looking at each other in a state of shock.

I didn’t even know the room had lights!

I am not sure who was more surprised, us or Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith was standing in front of us holding his shoes and a bag of sliced oranges.

We looked at Mr. Smith and then at the oranges.

“They are for he garlic problem, would you like a slice”, Mr. Smith said as his face turned a bright shade of red.

“Hold it boys”, Mr. Smith said looking at us very suspect, “you are all suppose to be in detention!

“March”, he said and motioned for us to head towards the door, which his back was facing.

As we all lifted our heads, blinking our eyes from the bright lights, and looked towards the door we must have all gasped because Mr. Smith said, “boys I have smelt way worse than my shoes so give it up”.

But what made us gasp was the fact that the locker was gone!

As we headed out the door Omar reached down and grabbed the scrap of paper that was sitting on the floor where the locker had been.

As he turned it over it had one word on it, close.

We were marched back up the stairs and through the hall.

Everything looked pretty normal, even the commandos seemed to be gone.

As we approached the nurses room we were all waiting for Mr. Smith to say something, but he just kept motioning for us to keep walking.

And there against the wall stood Locker #2375, standing like it had never been moved.

But what we were all wondering was what we were going to do about the book, we still didn’t have it and had no idea where it might be.

The snot-talkie went off again, “guys see you in detention, Brandon and I were busted and you won’t believe what we have found”.

As we were marched down the stairs Mr. Tonofhomework and Mr. 1/2amolecule missing were both standing at the detention room door.

The three musketeers of the school administration looked at each other and then focused on Omar and said, “we have all been looking for you”.

“How did you do it”, Mr. ½amolecule missing said looking at us.

We all had blank looks on our faces because we were not sure exactly which it he was talking about.

“Into the detention room you all go, this is not over yet”, all three of the musketeers followed us in and waited for us to be seated.

Again we all let out the king of gasps as we walked into the room.

There in front of us was the book!

Ana and Brandon looked at us with blank faces, shrugging their shoulders as if to say, “did you guys find the book and bring it back”, of course we all knew that we had nothing to do with the book’s return.

Then Mr. Smith picked up the book and dropped it open on the 2nd to last page that had been missing and there was the missing page, crumpled but there.

All that was missing from the page was the one word that Omar had in his pocket from the filter room.

And what did the page say when you added the one missing word?

We all looked at the page and read the words, “close to perfect is saying sorry”.

Then they all looked at us and said in unison,” it is not over just yet!”

THE END…for now

No Key.

There was Ana jumping, dancing and singing, on her make shift stage, just like Hanna Montana.

People who were coming into the foyer to check out the commotion did double takes because of Ana’s resemblance to the real Hanna Montana.

Even Brandon got into the act and was on stage beside Ana playing a mean guitar.

Of course Ana had a small button on her suspenders that said she was Ana Montana NOT Hanna, but what’s the difference the school was in frenzy and the commandos who had descended on the locker were now in the foyer.

We had a window of opportunity.

There we were sitting in the nurse’s room tapping our toes when Omar came racing through the door and shouted, “ Hey wake up this is no time to be taking in the show we have a locker to sort out!”

Omar looked out of the doorway and signaled that the coast was clear.

As we streamed out of the nurses room the commandos were standing as close as they could to the stage, toes a tapping, as Ana broke into a lively rendition of Hoedown Throwdown.

Ana gave a look in our direction, winked, and then started singing, “ boom boom clap boom de clap de clap…”

The crowd was growing around the stage and wouldn’t you know it, there were those students again selling ice cream and candy-floss.  How is it that whenever there is a spontaneous gathering at the school these students are there selling snacks?

There we were standing in front of the locker, #2375, and Omar held out his hand waiting for the key.

Something just didn’t seem right.

I couldn’t put my finger on what was odd about my locker but there was something different about it.

Sam seemed to also clue in to the fact that something was wrong, because he was looking at the locker as if it was a Where is Waldo book as well.

Omar shook his hand and waited for the key.

There was a moment of fear as I reached around my neck to retrieve my locker key from the mess of keys and key chains I wear.

There was nothing there!

All of the blood must have run out of my face because Sam asked if I had seen a ghost.

“Max give him the key Ana is almost done the song and it looks like the commandos are getting restless”, Sam said nudging me with his elbow.

“The key isn’t around my neck”, I said in a moment of panic.

“Remember you took the key off your keychain and placed it in the sole of your shoe when we first saw the commandos in case we were made”, Sam said looking at me as if I had completely lost my mind.

I pulled off my shoe and Omar and Sam almost fell to the floor.

“Max, your shoes smell AWFUUUUUL”, Omar said trying to stop the tears from running down his face.

“Max your shoes smells like garlic”, Sam looked at Omar and me as if another piece of the puzzle was coming together.

Indeed my shoes did smell like garlic, 100 cloves of garlic crushed and spread between my toes, it was truly awful.

But there had been no smell when I put the key into my shoe, only after the key was removed!

There was only one other person who had a bad garlic foot odor problem and that was Mr. Smith!

And as I remember now he also walked with a limp, a very subtle limp.

Holding his nose Omar reached for the key and then stopped in his tracks.

That was it.

That was what was different, what had changed.

Yes Locker #2375 was my locker and yes we were standing in front of it but there was no place to put the key!

Omar gingerly put his hand on the lockers door and pulled but it was clearly locked and needed a key, but there was no place to put the key!

Ana was winding down her song looking at us in despair because she only had 3 songs in her show and she was 1 minute from being done!

The commandos who had bolted from the locker seemed to be getting restless, and were listening intently to their headsets apparently taking on instructions because in unison they turned and looked in the direction of us and the locker.

“Ok we have no time and we have no way of getting into this locker but we need to” I said looking at Omar and Sam.

“Our only option is to move the locker to a safe place where we can figure out how to open it and deal with what might or might not be inside” I sounded very confident even though there was no plan.

Omar knelt down and motioned to Sam and I to tilt the locker onto his back.

Just then Kevin came running into the hallway and said, “ you have 15 seconds before the commandos are back here they are on the move let me help.”

Kevin knelt behind Omar and between the two of them they were able to grasp and balance the locker on their heads.

We could hear the crowd erupt with applause in the foyer and over that we could here the clatter of feet and equipment as the commandos came to the realization that they had been outsmarted by a bunch of students.

“Guys start moving and fast”, came the cry from Sam, “we have company at 5’ocock!”

If you tossed a sheet over Omar and Kevin they would have looked like a snufoluocus from Sesame Street, lumbering down the hall.

Both Sam and I were just about to break into hysterics as we followed Kevin and Omar when Omar bellowed,” the door, get the door!”

“Where are we going” Kevin said trying to get Omar’s attention.

“We need to get this locker to a safe hiding place so we can get into it and protect it from those commandos who also seem to be keenly interested in what ever is inside” Omar said as if he was talking to a bunch of kindergarten students.

Picking up speed we descended the stairs into the bowels of the swimming pool filter room and the locker slid off of Omar and Kevin’s heads making an awful clang and crash to the bottom of the stairs landing jut inside the doorway upright with its door facing us but without a single scratch or dent.

And there the locker stood just past the door with enough clearance for us to shut the door and wait to see if the commandos were following us.

I had the great pleasure of having a conversation with Carl Honoré about getting our mind around the idea of slowing down!

Our lives seem to be perpetually fixed on fast forward! And to the benefit of whom?

Take Carl’s view on the of teachers getting certified in the UK.

News of more acceleration in schools – only this time it’s the teachers who are being sped up. The British government today announced that in future “able candidates” can train to become teachers in just six months instead of the traditional one year.

The aim is to attract clever people who have lost their jobs in the economic downturn, especially in the financial sector. Said one government minister: “We know there are a lot of fantastic mathematicians, for example, who would have once perhaps gone into the City but now actually might be more interested in a career in teaching.”

But is this the right way to beef up the teaching ranks? I’m not so sure. Teaching is a hard job and the best teachers have a real vocation: that’s why they put up with low salaries, pushy parents and red tape.

Who is benefiting from the speed that EVERYTHING seems to be happening and who are the big losers?

Sit back, SLOW DOWN and contemplate! What an I doing, why and do I need to be doing THAT THING or THINGS at that pace?

Likely not!

My conversation with Carl Honore

Locker 2375 c18

Hanna Montana Saves the Day.

We were trapped!

We couldn’t leave the nurses room through the main entrance because of the SWAT team in the hall!

The 10 tactical commandos who had descended upon my locker with fire extinguishers and cans of whip cream were focused, sharp, and waiting for the command to execute their mission.

Who knows what that might be!

Nathaniel was watching the commandos using a micro mirror that was attached to a collapsible wire extension rod.

“They have a state of the art communication system, GPS, some kind of signal shield and high frequency location devices, these guys are really pros”, Nathaniel said as he pulled the mirror back and sat down on the recovery cot looking very distracted.

Without prompting Kimberlee and Miguel hopped into the door to the nurses room, Kimberlee took one look at Nathaniel and made the hand signals to show she would create another distraction for another month of lunches bringing the count up to 2 months.

As fast as we could all shake our heads in agreement the mimes were off!

Nathaniel quickly deployed a micro video surveillance camera that looked remarkably similar to June Bug, one of those big round rust coloured beetles that can fly but would rather walk.

The camera was giving us full video of what was going on with only minor disruption that Sam figured had to be coming from the communication net of the commandos.

Our mouths all fell wide open as we saw Miguel do the most impressive cartwheel into the middle of the commandos and then out of nowhere Kimberlee came tumbling with an impressive volley onto the shoulders of Miguel!

Then the two mimes proceeded to pretend that they were pirates on a galley looking for a lost treasure.

“Oh oh… this is not looking good”, Sam began to mumble under his breath.

One of the commandos was backing up from the rest taking a good look around as if he suspected that the two mimes were some sort of distraction.

Sam frantically sent the command to the remote June Bug Cam to reverse it but the Commando was too fast and the screen of the PC was a sea of snow and as I poked my head around the corner I could see the commando looking under his shoe to see what he had stepped on.

As with all good technological inventions that comes out of the collective genius of Sam, Ana, Kevin, Omar, Nathaniel, Brandon and now me, there was a micro vial of green goo built into the cam that looked and smelled like Gerber’s mushy peas baby food, after it had been eaten and digested by a baby.

The look on the face of the commando, well his eyes that was all we could see, told us he was disgusted by the mess and didn’t suspect for a minute that we had the commandos under surveillance!

Before Miguel and Kimberlee could break into their second act the biggest commando, he looked remarkably similar to a cross between Blue from Jungle Book and the incredible hulk, grabbed them both around the waist and hauled them off in the direction of the school pool.

Here we were trapped without a plan and we needed to get into the locker before the commandos, although we had no idea what we might find!

Just as I was about to open my mouth my phone began to ring.

All our eyes were as wide as pie plates as the ring was getting progressively louder and louder.

The ringtone to my custom hybrid phone, a really cool phone that was still in prototype phase at the MIT Media Lab, didn’t just ring but project whatever the tone was in a 3D likeness on the floor 2 feet in front of the phone!

So of course I had the theme of Star Wars as my ringtone and what was being projected?

Obviously Chewbacca dancing with Darth Vader!

The problem with this new phone is it projects the image through walls and it puts that image 2 feet in front of the phone.

In this case the timing was all-wrong and the image was projected through the wall of the nurses office directly in front of the commando who had so unfortunately stepped on the June Bug Cam.

I am not sure who was more surprised, me or the guard who had a very authentic life size 3D image of Chewy and Darth Vader dancing in front of him.

I answered the phone as fast as I could hoping the commando would think he was imagining things, I crossed my fingers and toes for added luck.

“Tod you won’t believe how bad your timing is” I said into the phone.

Tod and I had gone to another school together way back but now met at scouts every Thursday and we were now collaborating on a micro go-cart powered by human generated methane, better known as fart gas.

“Max I just had a break through” Tod had been working for weeks on the necessary food combination to generate maximum gas with the minimum sound.

“Max, Mean Beans and pickled walnuts all covered in a mild honey and marmite mixture seems to deliver a sufficient quality of gas on a consistent basis” I could hear the excitement in Tod’s voice.

Usually I would be very excited but I was a bit distracted, “Tod I have a bit of an issue to work through here can I call you back?”

I hung up without waiting for a response.

Then almost as fast as the commandos had arrived they were running towards the main foyer of the school as were what seemed every student and teacher in the place.

Sam looked down at his communication watch that just registered an encrypted message and whispered,” Ana has a plan!”

Ana was also known as a master of disguise, once she even imitated the French teacher Ms. Mouldybaguette and got away with it!

Sam quickly tapped his laptop computer and brought up the main foyer security camera on his screen and true to form there was Ana standing on a makeshift stage looking exactly like Hanna Montana and singing The Climb!

We all took a second look, Ana had outdone herself!

“Quick we have a window”, Sam shouted!

Locker 2375 c17

Saved by a mime.

Nathaniel grabbed me by the collar and pulled me as if he was trying to uproot a weed!

The lights in the room changed from the normal daylight white to a dim yellow, and there was this persistent beeping, the kind that happens when a microwave oven is finished cooking.

I looked over at the microwave oven, it was not on, the sound had to be coming from someplace else.

That was when the light went from a dim yellow to red and that was the exact moment that Nathaniel and I jumped through the door just as a solid sheet of Plexiglas slid down and separated the hallway from the lab.

At that moment there was a hissing, screaming and clanging sound as the lab, which we could see through the glass, filled with sanitizing seltzer steam and a series of laser trackers were activated.

And that was when we froze in our tracks!

On the floor of the lab there was what looked like a train making a familiar sound.

Nathaniel leaned into the glass and took a good look.

“Max when was the last time you were in detention?”

I looked at Nathaniel as if he was mad, “when was the last time you were in detention”, he asked again.

“Today, why?”

Two lights came on as I asked the question.

One light was inside my head and the other was inside the lab from some kind of tracking system that Mr. ½amoloculemissing had set up to keep his home and castle safe from the likes of, well students I suspect.

“Do you hear that sound?”

I did hear a sound, it was very familiar, “Nathaniel is that the sound that we hear coming from the floor in detention?”

I looked at my watch, “and this is the time that we usually hear that sound!”

Suddenly the steam in the lab was totally obscuring the little train and there was a loud bang from inside the lab.

At that exact moment the exhaust fans kicked in and the general security alarm system in the school began to scream.

What we could see as the steam was sucked out of the room was an empty net on the floor.

Well the net was almost empty there was a piece of paper on the floor, and it looked like it was pinned to the net.

Again there was screaming in our ears from Sam!

“You have 5 seconds before the security officers are at the door, you guys are toast!”

It was a stroke of luck that Kimberlee and Miguel just happened to be coming towards us and that they were in their mime club costumes!

There were only 2 mimes at our school and Kimberlee and Miguel were they.

Every week at the school assembly they would stand at the entrance, or on the stage, and once they hung from the ceiling, entertaining the school as a prelude to what was usually as enjoyable as a root canal.

Nathaniel grabbed both of them and said, “Please can you guys do a mime performance that might look like 2 mad scientists inventing an exploding toilet?”

Kimberly looked at Miguel and they both shrugged their shoulders and began to act like Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing after he had 2 Red Bull Sodas too many.

Then Miguel and Kimberlee stopped and looked at Nathaniel, “this is going to cost you lunch for both of us and ice cream ALL MONTH!”

Given that we were in no position to bargain, and knowing that Ana had figured out some way to preprogram the cafeteria pre-order system to deliver bargain priced lunches there was not an instant of hesitation and Nathaniel threw out his hand to cement the deal.

The mime team hadn’t been at it a second before 5 members of the school security squad seemed to come out of nowhere and push us all aside.

Charles looked at us and shook his head.

“Can’t you students think of any better place to be playing around? This is no place for two mimes and an audience of two to be hanging about so move on!”

Miguel and Kimberly looked at each other, went back-to-back and then preceded to do summersaults like a giant wagon wheel down the hall.
Charles took one look at us and said, “you two not hear me the first time?”

That was our cue and in our ears we heard Sam again, “out of there quick before Charles figures it out!”

Just in front of the nurses office Nathaniel and I stopped to catch our breath.

Of course this is dangerous territory given the close proximity to the staff room.

Nathaniel took one look and noticed that Ms. Shelley was gone, that was a good sign.

The snot-talkies came to life and Nathaniel and I both reacted as if we had sat on a tack, we jolted to attention.

“Guys that piece of paper that was in the net in the lab, well we have a problem.”

When Sam said there was a problem there really was a problem.

“We managed to use the power of all of the schools laptops, connected in series, to boost the pixel image of that piece of paper that we photographed using our tap into the schools security webcams”, Sam was really getting into this.

I am not sure why we were talking on the snot-cams given Sam was sitting on the recovery cot in the nurses room.

Sam figured that out and signaled us to come behind the curtain.

There on the cot was a military grade micro-laptop, a prototype courtesy of Ana’s cousins in Miami.

Sam looked at us, “All it says is Geyomi and 2375!”

Nathaniel for the first time was looking distracted and worried.

That was when I heard the running and commotion in the hall.

At least 10-armed security guards were descending on my locker and taking up tactical positions, with what looked like fire extinguishers and cans of whipping cream!

Locker 2375 c16

The Lab.

Of course you can only run so fast in the hall before you become an obvious target of the hall monitor in training, Mr. Smith!

Actually, the gang as I have now come to refer to them, was pretty sure that the administration had installed human speed-detecting webcams around the school to cut down on students moving too fast!

Of course there was a huge debate ongoing in the staff room about what walking too fast was.

Omar had placed a listening device under a lamp to get the inside scoop on what was happening on campus, as any student council president should.

Ana and Kevin took it as a personal challenge to send the system into chaos by reprogramming it and substituting in video of a tortoise on a skateboard being pushed down the hall by a ferret.

Imagine, the administration thought that this was happening in real time!

After day three of the video feed being simulcast, at exactly 12:03pm, and the extraordinary number of teachers milling about in the hallway, also at exactly 12:03pm, we knew that we were right, hall speed was being monitored.

From that moment on we were careful to move fast but not so fast as to attract attention.

Nathaniel pulled me aside just in time to miss the glaring eyes of the science teacher, Mr. ½amolaculemissing.

“We need to get into there”, Nathaniel said pointing to the science lab.

“We need to take a look at this latest piece of paper left in place of the detention book, which if we do not find very fast we are going to be in it so deep that Ms. Shelley’s face stuck to the floor in a pile of paper pulp will look like art” Nathaniel said with a little smile.

“Speaking of Ms. Shelley it looks like she is still there, but I see the janitors have put those yellow slippery when wet cones around her”, I was beginning to wonder if this was  a bad dream! Is it possible that someone thought that Ms. Shelley stuck to the floor was art?

I knew it wasn’t a dream because at that exact moment Jeanne walked past me, slammed her heel into my big toe and winked as she whispered, “thanks for the cake”!

Instinct told me to chase Jeanne, but before I could react Nathaniel pulled at my arm distracting me.

The question going through my mind was why the science lab?

“What are we looking for”, I said with more than a hint of question as I sure did not want to get on the bad side of Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing.

Michael had already tested Mr. 1/2amoloculemissing by putting popcorn, crazy glue and a dozen eggs into the microwave oven in the lab and setting the timer for exactly the time that Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing had his 13th coffee break of the day!

Well not only was the lab not a pretty site, but the punishment for Michael, well, it is still ongoing and he completely sidestepped the detention hall.

Michael is serving out his time collecting cockroach samples from the septic tank of the school.

Mr. 1/2amoleculemissing is a world respected cockroach collector and his passion is using the little beasts as wall art!

“Max we need to get into the lab and power on the MAC127 portable OSmicroscope to get a better look at this piece of paper”, Nathaniel said as if this was something that he did on a regular basis.

“But the whole lab is like a bank vault with triple locking systems and an air movement sensor, not to mention laser detection units that reset every 4 seconds”, if the room was locked there was no chance of us getting in there I told Nathaniel, hoping he would agree so we would not have to join Michael.

Nathaniel gave me that look as if to say that we were no at a Chucky Cheese, this is the real world and if there is one thing to learn about the real world it is to always have a plan.

Nathaniel reached into his pocket and squished what looked like a piece of snot between his fingers and then stuffed it into his ear!

I thought I was about to vomit and then Michael ran past us with what looked like a rat hanging on his back.

Instantly I realized that there are worse things than the old snot-talkie!

Nathaniel mumbled a few words, obviously he was in communication with someone.

Nathaniel looked over at me and whispered, “Sam seems to be manning the technology today”.

Like magic the red light on the handset strategically placed beside the lab door went from amber to green and an electronic click could be heard, the place was open.

“We only have 5 minutes and 34 seconds before the secondary alarm system is activated so we need to move fast”, Nathaniel said as he worked his way through the lab to the microscope.

I looked at Nathaniel and it was as if he was reading my mind.

“Max here is the thing.  Not only have we always had a piece of something from your locker show up when things have gone missing or been moved, but we have also had a calling card left. The only way to verify the calling card has been through a reverse polarized magnification of the object  left and the only place we can do that is in this lab”, how did Nathaniel know all this I wondered.

“Guys you have less than 3 minutes”, Sam said over the snot-talkie, which I had also added into my ear.

Nathaniel motioned for me to come over.

From the look on his face it was clear that as he suspected the disappearance of the detention book was indeed part of the larger picture.

“Look at this Max”, Nathaniel said turning his face away from the monitor and waiting to gauge my reaction.

There in plain sight was a word that sent a shiver up my spine because there was only one other place I had ever seen it, on my locker!

Geyomi was the word!

I looked at Nathaniel, Nathaniel looked at me and Sam shouted into our ears, run you have 12 seconds before the lab is locked down!

The Missing Link.

Ms. Shelley couldn’t move even if she had wanted to, the paper was acting like some form of quick bond cement and her face was being sucked down to the tile floor.

As we ran past Mr. Smith, who was trying to look busy in the hall in anticipation of his promotion to hall monitor, we shouted in unison “Ms. Shelley needs help her face is buried in a wall display”!

“Thanks for the lead I am on it”, Mr. Smith said dashing off in the wrong direction.

“Where are we going”, I asked Nathaniel trying to catch my breath.

“Max we are in big trouble and at this moment you are the only person who is not being watched”, Nathaniel said with this look of doom on his face.

Nathaniel pushed me into the design technology lab with a little more force than he needed to use, I knew that something had to be up because Nathaniel was not the pushy type.

Nathaniel pulled me over to table #3 and made me promise not to show anyone what he was about to reveal.

Nathaniel pushed on a dowel on the workbench, just below the sign that said #3, and the whole thing began to rotate like some kind of transformer.

When the movement stopped the top of the table was inversed and there were at least 30 entries written on large interactive whiteboard with 2 other pieces of paper documenting dates and times to something pasted beside it.

“Max the book is gone and what was in its place was this”, Nathaniel said holding up a piece of familiar looking cloth.

I knew I had seen the cloth before but at that moment I just could not put my finger on where.

“Max when were you last in the library”, Nathaniel asked with a very suspect tone in his voice.

“Uhhhh, not since you left the book there for safe keeping”, I waited hoping he would answer without looking at me like I had placed salt in his sandwich, which I had only done once a long time ago.

Nathaniel looked at me and with no emotion at all on his face said,” the book is gone”!

“And you think I took it”, I tried not to laugh because it was too funny to actually imagine that I was being suspected of doing something like take a book that could at best get me in more trouble if it was noticed missing.

“Max this isn’t the first time that something like this has happened and it isn’t the first time that your name has been attached to the incident”, Nathaniel said with the look of a mean dog on his face.

“Nathaniel I have no idea what you are talking about, but if it has something to do with the cake I took from Ana today? It was Jeanne who ate it not me and I have the bruise on my toe to prove it”, I was taking off my sock to show him the bruise when he motioned to stop.

“Max the book is gone and over the last 6 weeks there have been, as you can see, 30 different incidents here at the school.  Every time something has gone missing been moved or broken there has always been a calling card of some sort left, and these calling cards have always pointed to you”, Nathaniel was looking at me with the guard dog eyes again.

I really had no idea what Nathaniel was talking about but there was no question in my mind that this was the definitive proof that something was going on at this school, something odd.

And what was even more interesting was that somehow the oddities that were taking place all seemed to come back to me!

But what was Nathaniel talking about when he said calling cards?

“How do you think I am connected to all this Nathaniel”, I said using my best innocent face, the one I used when I drank the entire chocolate fountain set aside for the bake sale last month.

Nathaniel then motioned to come towards the table chart and there right in front of my eyes was the story of all of the strange things that had been happening with my locker over the last 6 weeks, but from the other side!

All sorts of strange things had been happening with my locker, #2375, and I had put the missing items, new items or strange pieces of objects I was finding down to some kind of joke or more likely the cleaners using my locker as the rubbish bin for odd little things, since they knew I had a collection that I plan to turn into a museum some day.

“Nathaniel you have to believe me when I tell you that this is a sign”, he had the look on his face that it was a sure sign that I was mad!

“Nathaniel for all of the objects and things that you have listed I have a similar object or thing in my locker, not dated and catalogued like you have done though”, I said a bit sheepishly.

“Max how do you explain the fact that when anything has gone missing a piece of something with your whole or part of your name on it is always left at the scene”, again the face of the guard dog was staring me down.

“You know when these strange bits and pieces or sometimes larger objects we found in my locker I always noticed things go missing in their place or pieces of my work go missing”, I suddenly got a brain wave that Nathaniel saw coming on.

“What is it Max”, Nathaniel said as if he wanted to pull the words out of my mouth.

It was at that moment I saw the link.

The things that ended up in my locker were always meticulously positioned in the same place and when those things arrived if there was anything that was on or near that place it was suddenly gone, or the piece touching the special area went missing.

“We need to get to my locker”, I grabbed Nathaniel and we ran.

The Book is Lost!

That little package, once it found the frequency of the schools wireless broadcast system took on a life of its own.

As the school was erupting in an organized chaos we all seamlessly blended into our classes as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

Of course I pulled my shirt over my head and ran around the lobby saying, “Dreamland, Dreamland take me to the water park.”

Ana and Kevin ran behind me yelling at the top of their lungs, “MAAAAX, MAAAAX, we have to be outside.”

And the rest of the gang acted as would be expected.

Calm, Cool and Collected.

Omar stood at the front of his class line and tried not to laugh.

Brandon was sitting on a fence recording the whole scene in a pastel drawing.

Nathaniel was trying to get the wifi to work on his laptop so he could do a bit of homework.

Then it was over!

Just as fast as the commotion started it stopped.

Without a second’s warning the water stopped and the siren/bell/owl with its head caught in a humming bird feeder noise was gone.

And without any background noise the entire school, which was standing 25 meters from the front door, was absolutely silent.

There stood the entire administration soaked to the bone and nobody made a sound!

Then out of nowhere came the loudest snort/snore that caused the whole school to turn and look at Sam, who decided that this was as good a time as any to grab a quick 50 winks.

One by one each class headed back into the school.

There were large puddles on the floor.

The school was a real mess!

The student artwork that had been on the walls was now hanging torn or resting on the floor in clumps of gooey pulpy paper stew.

Surprisingly the classrooms were dry.

It would seem that the sprinkler system had malfunctioned!
Only the halls, the principal’s office and the staff room were soaked.

The rest of the school was bone dry.

Of course Ana had planned this all along so she was looking at the three of us and patting herself on the shoulder for another job well done.

I was sitting by the wall close to the door, almost ready to bite into the piece of chocolate cake with green icing that I borrowed from Ana’s lunch when Nathaniel ran past the room with a look of terror on his face.

It was at that moment that there was no question things were getting odd and this oddness was not a bunch of random acts of coincidence.

No, even if others did not see it I knew something was going on.

Jeanne walked past my desk, dropped a stapler on the end of my big toe that sent a sharp pain directly to my mouth and I let out the loudest scream ever.

At that very moment Ms. Shelley came into the room and glared at me.

“Out into the hall Mister…. Nobody makes those noises in my class!”

As I got up to stand in the wet and somewhat smelly hall I noticed that something was missing!

The cake that I had cleverly pulled from Ana’s lunch had been in my hand and with all the confusion caused by Jeanne and the stapler it was gone.

I quickly looked on the floor and then on the desk, all the while Ms. Shelley was counting and glaring at me.

I gave a quick look over to Jeanne and there on the corner of her lips was a trace of green icing!

I had been double-crossed!

Jeanne distracted me and ate the cake and Jeanne was the last person to do anything wrong so there was no chance anyone would believe me if I piped up about the cake being missing.

And it wasn’t my cake to start with.

I had borrowed the cake form Ana in the first place.

Just as I was heading for the door Nathaniel ran past the class again.

“Mister you wait in the hall and I will be right out to have a chat about your behaviour.”

So there I was standing in the hall marveling at all that was going on in the school that I had no clue about!

There was this group of under cover student espionage agents doing something.

There was a detention room that seemed to have a lot more than detentions going on in it.

There was a bat cave like room under a water machine.

And there was a book that seemed to be connected to all that was happening.

As I stood next to my locker, it made a sound.

At first I thought I was just imagining the sound that had come from the floor of the detention room.

Then I heard it again and it was clearly coming from my locker, and it was getting louder and louder!

I looked to the left and I looked right, the coast was clear.

From around my neck, the home of my locker key and 36 ½ key chains, I pulled my locker key from its protective cover.

Just as I was about to push the key into the keyhole Nathaniel tapped me on the shoulder and in a very low voice said were busted!

I just about touched the ceiling I jumped so high and I know I jumped that high because just as I was coming down Ms. Shelley came out of the door next to my locker and seemed surprised that only Nathaniel was at my locker since he was in another class in a totally different grade.

Thanks to Ms. Shelley I didn’t land on the floor I landed on her and not only did she break my fall but she saved me from getting absolutely soaked.

Unfortunately the force I generated falling from just below the ceiling caused Ms. Shelley to buckle under my weight and fall to the floor like a sack of sugar.

Fortunately Ms. Shelley wasn’t hurt.

In fact she was probably saved from serious injury by her face getting planted straight into a pile of English posters that had gone from being a wall display to a giant island of pulp on the floor beside my locker.

Nathaniel grabbed my arm and shouted we’ll get help Ms. Shelley don’t move!