Googol Boy and the peculiar incident of the Great Quiz Trophy by John Michael (classic books for 13 year olds txt) 📕

The bell rang and it was the end of recess, but it wasn’t the end of this pickle I found myself in... no... not by a long shot.

Chapter six 

fairy floss

When I got home from school, I went straight to my room and crashed on my bed. It had been a long day and my head was spinning with a hundred questions. I was trying to put everything together... the thunder storm, the misfiring bus engine, Barney’s amoebas, my photosynthesis speech, Savani’s glove slap, the Great Quiz challenge... but I was getting exhausted just trying to make sense of the situation. Every time I felt I was getting close to answering one question; another ten questions popped into my head. I felt more exhausted than a three-legged dog chasing cars on a six-lane highway.

I closed my eyes for a second and my dreams quickly took me to a strange place − a landscape of rainbow coloured rolling hills with shaggy trees with wispy branches swaying in the wind. Melting clocks with cupid wings fluttered about in the distance, while oversized plump hamsters frolicked in the grass.

A wide river of liquid gold flowed down the hillside and I found myself the captain of a boat called the S.S. Minnow which was made out of marzipan with a large sail made out of fairy floss*.

Flashing fluorescent birds were flying alongside my boat, bopping and weaving in the fresh breeze, asking me one strange riddle after another and, like some revered sage, I was able to answer all of them.

“What has a head and a tail but no body?”

“Why, that would be a coin my good bird.”

“Which two words hold the most letters?”

“Ha ha... post office, of course, my feathered friend.”

“What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?”

“A towel, you tricky little devil!”

“What goes up but never goes down?”

“Obviously, it must be your age.”

“What’s tall when young and short when old?”

“Well, a candle no doubt!”

Every time I answered a question correctly, the bird would explode into a hundred other birds. When the last riddle was answered, there were a thousand birds flying alongside the boat and they all erupted into song:

 Googol Boy! You re so smart, 

You’re going to go far,

This is just the start. 

 That high-voltage lightning bolt, 

Sure gave your brain a jolt!

Now there’s no stopping you,

As you crack every riddle and every clue! 

 Seize your destiny and your fate, 

Before you realise that it’s too late, 

Still waters can run quite deep, 

Always look before you leap! 

 Googol Boy! Googol Boy!

Being smart can bring you joy! 

 Come on! Stay awake, stay alert, 

Don’t be alarmed, you won’t get hurt. 

And so the boat goes full steam ahead, 

While sleepyheads are asleep in bed. 

 Googol Boy! Googol Boy! 

Being smart can bring you joy! 

 Birds of a feather stick together, 

In all kinds of sticky weather, 

The early bird catches the worm, 

Watch it wriggle, watch it squirm! 

 Googol Boy! Googol Boy!

Being smart can bring you joy! 

 With your big fat juicy brain, 

Things will never be the same.

With great power and such ability, 

Comes restraint and responsibility. 

 Come on now Googol Boy! 

Time to rise and shine, 

Everything will be fine, 

Everything will be fine! 

The birds upped the tempo towards the end and went through the chorus one more time. I’ve got to admit; it was quite a catchy tune. I joined in with the singing and was clicking my fingers to the beat when suddenly the wind started to pick up, the river began to churn and a few large waves started to rock the boat. I fell to the deck and was trying to get to my feet but the strength of the swell increased. The boat was tossed from side to side, and I found myself flat on my back being rocked from left to right like a helpless baby in a basinet. One of the birds landed on the helm, he was perhaps the largest of the lot, and he cocked his big green eye to one side and started to speak to me.

“... get up Howard... up you get... come on get up...

This took me by surprise. Not so much that the bird was talking to me because, hey, I had already heard them sing! Not so much that he knew my name either... what was really disturbing was that this bird sounded exactly like my mother.

All of a sudden the bird yelled directly in my ear.

That’s when I opened one of my eyes and saw another green eye staring directly at me, it was my mum’s. She was trying to shake me awake. She had a hand on each of my shoulders and was rocking me from side to side.

“You must have had some weird dream Son, you were singing about birds, feathers and worms... are you okay?”

“Um... yes Mum,” I answered in a groggy voice. “I think I am.”

“Are you sure? You haven’t been sniffing glue in Art class, have you?” she asked, with a squint in her eye.

“Huh? Ah, no... no I haven’t,” I replied, not sure what Mum thought we got up to in Art.

“Okay then... glad to hear it,” said Mum as she ruffled my hair. “It’s almost dinner time, are you feeling hungry?”

“Actually yes... um, I don’t know why but I have a strange craving for fairy floss.”

“You’re such a clown!” she exclaimed. “Dinner is in ten minutes and it’s definitely not fairy floss!” laughed Mum as she walked out of my room.

I thought back to my dream... sometimes the answers that you are searching for come from the strangest places.

Chapter seven

snickerdoodle

Arriving at school the next day, there was much hubbub and excitement. A police car was parked right in front of the school foyer and two officers were rubbing their chins as if