The Wacky Scientist

The small red car swerved up the mountainside hugging the turns tightly, a light white trail of smoke followed behind. The sun shone brightly with puffs of clouds moving quickly across the sky, offering shade from the sun for just a moment, the cloud shadows were cast along the countryside. The houses below were growing smaller and smaller as the car climbed, the gears would grind a little as the driver shifted to a lower gear to push the little car higher. The driver was Eugene a research scientist, a self-proclaimed research scientist, as he had no real education or expertise in science to speak of.

He owned a small shop that had a picture window with large curved letters reading, ELECTRONIC REPAIRS, which sat in a small town, the only shop of its kind for miles. He worked on repairing everything from radios to toasters. Repairing may not be the correct word since more times than not the device would sit in a clump of tangled colorful wire and tiny pieces, more broken then when it came in. He could shrug away the customer’s protest with inept ramblings and more promises of next week; the part was always on order. His gentle smile and earnest look could convince anyone. And besides he looked like he knew what he was doing, with his thick glasses, dark suit, thin frame, brown eyes, wild tangled hair, and long white coat, pens in the front pocket for effect. He may not have been a real scientist but he looked like one.

He turned off the main road, which would’ve taken him to the next town, to climb a small graveled road. His ears popped as the car came to a stop just before a piece of railing, on a patch of gravel. This rest stop was put up to draw more people to the town and a sign acted as a guide to tell tourist were it was. It was a great view of the countryside. You could see for miles and miles. This was Eugene’s first trip to this spot and he was really surprised at how wonderful it was. This would be perfect for his experiment.

Eugene took in a deep breath as he stepped out of the car. He thought the air was nice up here it was much cooler then the valley. He moved around to the back of the car and lifted open the hatchback with the squeaking sound of the door sending out an echo. The device that lay in the back had two metal cones with a rounded end that was hollow, and another end that was square and closed, attached to a black box. The cones were held into place with large bolts connecting it to the black box that had straps screwed to it. The black box had a small hole at the bottom, and a few switches at the top along with three blue lights. A handle was connected hanging from a piece of rope that was at the topside of the box. A television remote was attached at the back with yellow, green, blue, and red wires connected to it. Eugene removed the device from the back of his car, gritting his teeth from the weight, he sat it on the ground; it made a large thud as it settled. He reached back into the back and lifted out a small red toolbox. He went around to the side door and from the passenger seat took out a small fridge. “This should keep the heat off,” he said as he carried it and sat it down in front of the other strange device. He turned and sat on the fridge for a moment wiping the sweat from his brow, looking up toward the sun. The cool air hadn’t been cool enough to keep the heat of the sun from getting through now that it was noon.

Bending down he flicked a few of the switches and the device came to life, rumbling and shaking with a sound like a car motor. He stepped to the back and knelt to press the buttons on the remote. “Come on!” He said pressing the buttons over and over; in frustration he gave the remote a few smacks. The first blue light lit up. He clapped his hands together and his faced filled with joy. He pressed a few more buttons on the remote and the second light lit up. The rumbling of the device settled a little as the third light lit up. He jumped in the air with excitement, even dancing a little. The big test was over, now he just needed to complete the last few steps and the fun would begin.

Eugene removed a large block of ice from the freezer, which had a metal piece attached to one side and another metal piece attached to the opposite side. He slid the wet ice slowly to the front of the device, the opposite side from the remote. He rubbed his hands together, and opened them slightly breathing into them. He walked to his toolbox and lifted the lid. He took out two screws and two small metal pieces shaped like an “L”. He sat one end of the “L” against the black device and put a screw in, and then he placed the other side of the “L” against the metal putting the other screw in. He repeated this on the other side of the device. The large block of ice was now connected to the front of the black box. The ice was melting in the heat of the sun, he would need to hurry or the ice would be gone before he even got to test his invention.

He ran back to the passenger side of the car and snatched out a brown leather jacket. Flinging the jacket on over his white coat, he grabbed the handle hanging from the rope and pulled. A stream of white smoke shot out of the hole in the box. Eugene coughed as the wind pushed the smoke back into his face. He flipped a switch at the top of the device. Eugene’s face glowed from the excitement as the device lifted slowly from the ground. A loud noise, similar to a leaf blower, was screaming out from the cones. The wind was pushing hard against the ground sending dust flying all around, in a halo. Eugene squinted his eyes to avoid the swirling dirt. He extended one arm to hold the top of the device with the other arm he lifted a pair of goggles from his pocket. Sliding the goggles on, he maneuvered his back against the cold metal of the ice block and reached back for the straps on the black box. He slid the straps over his arms and pulled the attached metal clips to tighten the device to his back.

The device was very light now and it pushed him a little when he moved. Eugene wanted to check the controls so he jumped from the ground. The device held him in the air and he twisted his body to the left. It started spinning and Eugene’s faced puffed up as held his hands to his mouth to hold his breakfast down. He straightened his body, like a board, and the device slowed allowing him to escape the spin. He was woozy and still hanging above the ground. Smoke was clearing from his face and he let out a little cough. He looked to the ground and mumbled, “How am I going to get down?” He hadn’t thought of that. He kicked his legs and the device started to jump around, but he wasn’t any lower. He extended his arm, remembering Superman, and the device edged forward. Aiming his arm at the ground he flipped end over end. He straightened his body to escape the flipping. He hung there looking to the sky, thinking. “Ah ha!” he said remembering what he did to sink to the bottom of a pool. He lifted his legs and squatted himself into a ball, the device began to lower him. He unraveled, as his feet got closer to the ground. His feet touched the ground, and Eugene let out a sigh of relief.

He started to move toward the railing of the mountain. He felt the back of his pants and they were soaked from the water coming from the melting ice. He wouldn’t be flying over the town with his new device or they would think the liquid was coming from his pants, he chuckled with the thought. Eugene looked down from just on the other side of the railing and he was surprised to feel his heart race. This was much scaring then he’d thought. It was long, long way down, not something that you would survive if you fell off.

This was his first real success with the “Eugene Flyer” as he called it. It was also the first time that all the intricate parts worked the way he’d expected. And most importantly, this was the first time he tried it on because the box would get so hot that he wasn’t able to strap it on. He called it the “Eugene Fryer” for a while because of the heat problem. His tests were going so well that he couldn’t resist the chance to test real flight. A jump from the mountain would give him the extra boost he needed to get high in the air, at least that’s what his theory. His racing heart and a voice in his head was telling him different. The voice kept screaming “You’re going to die!” and “Real scientists have test subjects they don’t go out and do it themselves.”

Eugene stood on a small cliff just on the other side of the railing leaning out a little. He couldn’t comprehend the distance, but it had to be at least thirty or forty stories high. He squatted down a little, readying himself for the leap. He finally silenced the last cry of the voice in his head “Die!” it said as it faded. He had to do it.

Eugene let out a girlish scream as he pushed as hard as he could off the mountains edge. He paused for a second in the air and then started to fall. He thrashed violently as he fell faster and faster. The voice was screaming again, and he started to scream too. He was falling a long way; he actually had time to think. He could see the trees at the base of the mountain getting closer. He remembered his Superman motion and straightened his body with his arms out. He felt pine needles hit him in the face as he lifted into the air. The motor started to sputter with each pause from the motor he dropped a little; white smoke billowed from the hole. He pushed the branches aside as he descended into the trees. He touched the ground. A final loud clank from the motor and the engine shut off. Eugene fell backward from the weight. He was lying in the forest looking up at the side of the mountain through the trees with a huge smile on his face. “Whew…that was close,” he said undoing the straps so he could stand up.

Eugene looked for the ice block and it was gone. The only thing remaining was the spring in the middle, which pulled the metal pieces together as the ice melted. He shock the box with his ear pressed to it, and he didn’t hear a swishing noise from the fuel. He looked up the mountainside and said “How I’m going to get back up there?” Just then a thought went through his head. “I will have to get started on Eugene’s Climber when I get back,” he said reaching up and touching some rocks.

It was a long way back so Eugene left the Flyer lying in the woods. He covered it with some branches of pine needles muttering, “This technology could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”