Written &
Illustrated by: Robert
Gunnar Magnuson
The rains fell unexpectedly
hard on Tiny Town. People ran
for cover under trees and waiting
sheds. Mr. Ramirez rushed into
"Melissa and Peppermint Plutonia's
Science Adventure Shop".
"Good morning, Mr. Ramirez!"
said Peppermint and smiled.
"Hi Pep!" he said shaking the
rain from his soaking coat.
"Terrible rains out there! And
me without an umbrella."
"Peppermint, why don't you
get Mr. Ramirez a towel?" Melissa
said from behind the counter.
Melissa was a little girl
of seven, but the town knew
her to be one of the smartest
kids around. And although she
and her robot Peppermint Plutonia
ran the Science Shop, it wasn't
unusual that the town would
call on them to help out with
things they couldn't solve.
"So what can we do for you
today, Mr. Ramirez?"
"Oh, I'm shopping for a microscope
for my little Billy. You got
any?"
"The standard kind or the electron
kind?"
"I think a beginner's set will
do," answered Mr. Ramirez scratching
the back of his neck.
Melissa went to one of the
shelves that displayed the microscopes
and pulled out a grade school
microscope set. Meanwhile, Peppermint
Plutonia handed a grateful Mr.
Ramirez a towel. "Shall I wrap
it for you, sir?" Melissa asked.
"Please. And here, keep the
change!" Mr. Ramirez said, pushing
a few bills towards the cash
register. "By the way, you have
any ointment? I seem to be developing
some rashes," he said scratching
his hands and wrist.
"No, sir. Perhaps the drugstore
around the corner," Peppermint
advised. Mr. Ramirez gave his
thanks and hurried off into
the rainy streets. Melissa and
Plutonia shrugged at each other.
Neither of them knew that the
worst was yet to come.
The next morning when the
rains slowed to a drizzle, there
was panic in the town square.
Melissa and Peppermint were
on their way to the store, when
they decided to see what was
going wrong. When they arrived,
they found the square filled
with horrified citizens. They
were looking at the stonecut
statue of their town's founder.
It's face was gone, as if it
had been erased overnight. "And
his arms look like they've melted!"
yelled a man in a checkered
shirt.
While the crowd was focused
on the statue, Peppermint Plutonia
was detecting a different sort
of panic happening elsewhere.
"What's wrong, Pep?" Melissa
asked.
"The earthworms are having
a fit," she replied. "Go open
the shop, I'll look into this."
Melissa nodded and went to the
shop.
Peppermint knelt beside the
root of a large tree and dug
her hands into the dampened
soil. She held the dirt in the
bowl of her two hands and began
to sift it through her fingers.
Soon, an earthworm appeared
wriggling in the soil. "I'm
adjusting my headband frequency
so I can hear what you're saying,
okay little guy?" said Peppermint
as she smiled at the earthworm.
"It burns! It burns!" cried
the worm . Peppermint gently
put the worm back into the ground,
and took a few soil samples.
"What happened?" Melissa asked,
scratching her face. Peppermint
glanced around the square.
"The paint seems to be peeling
off the buildings," she said.
"I even detect that my metal
skin is undergoing a minute
level of corrosion. If my hunch
is accurate, every second we
spend out here endangers everybody."
"Citizens of Tiny Town! Head
indoors! We're in terrible danger!"
cried Melissa. And because it
was Melissa who was alerting
them, the citizens knew better
than to question her. They stampeded
straight into the Science Adventure
Shop. "Oh great," said Melissa
as she frowned.
There wasn't much room in
the shop. Everyone was standing
shoulder to shoulder. They had
to take tiny steps just to give
Plutonia and Melissa a bit of
walking room.
"Have you figured out who ruined
our statue?" asked an elderly
man who waved his cane. "Yeah!
Was it an evil ghost?" asked
someone. "Or aliens?" suggested
another. "Yes, tell us, Melissa!"
the crowd cried . "Who did this?"
"Not who, folks," Peppermint
Plutonia said, "more like a
what"?
Some townsfolk took off their
hats to scratch their heads.
"When do you think this problem
started, Melissa?" Peppermint
asked."With the melting statue?"
"Maybe." Peppermint said. "But
I think it began with Mr. Ramirez."
"Not Mr. Ramirez!" Old Ms.
Cortez blinked. "He"s such a
sweet old man!"
"But I didnıt do anything!"
said Mr. Ramirez, who was in
the back and was panicking.
"I didn't mean it that way!"
Peppermint stressed. "I meant
I noticed this problem the day
Mr. Ramirez walked into the
science store yesterday. He
was scratching himself, and
he said he seemed to be developing
some rashes."
"Hey, Iım developing rashes
too!" yelled a construction
worker, his face all red. "I've
also got some!" fretted a round
woman. "Iım itching as well,
Pep," Melissa said scratching
her face. "So you think the
statue scratched it's face off?"
asked Old Mrs. Cortez who bit
her lip.
"No." Peppermint wiped her
optics. "I think the rain did."
"But the rain is our friend!"
Mrs. Cortez said.
"Not this rain." Peppermint
said, passing a beaker into
the crowd. "Mr.Ramirez, I notice
that the rains have returned.
Would you please collect a sample
of rainwater for us. And please
try not to get wet."
"Sure thing, Pep!" "Now, I
also noticed this morning that
some thing is eating through
my metal skin," Peppermint continued.
"This thing is also poisoning
the soil, where our town's trees
get their nutrients. This thing
is also eroding our buildings.
And it also took the face off
our beloved town's founder.
If this "something" can eat
through metal and stone, imagine
what it's doing to your skins."
The shop fell silent.
Mr. Ramirez returned with a
beaker half-full of rain water.
"Here's the culprit!" he announced
as he passed the beaker up to
Peppermint.
"Thanks, Mr. Ramirez," she
said, pulling out a small strip
of paper from behind the counter.
"Guys, this is called a litmus
paper. It can measure the acidity
of chemicals. I'm going to dip
it into this rain water. If
it is not acidic the paper will
turn purple. And if it is an
acid, the paper will turn red."
The crowd grew tense. All
eyes followed the litmus paper
as Peppermint lowered it into
the beaker. When the strip came
out, it was as red as the itch-ridden
wrists and hands of Mr. Ramirez!
The crowd exploded into a mixture
of gasps and tears. "We're doomed!"
wept Mrs. Cortez . "Tiny Town
will be eaten alive!"
"Letıs not lose hope, Mrs.
Cortez," Peppermint said. "That's
right!" Melissa said. "If I
remember my chemistry book correctly,
there are two elements that
can turn rainwater into acid.
Sulphur and nitrogen."
Peppermint nodded. "And you
get sulfur and nitrogen when
you burn fuel."
"You mean like in cars?" Mr.
Ramirez asked.
"Yes, automobiles give off
Nitrogen Oxides," Peppermint
said. "But our town is a strict
bicycle riding community. We
don't have any motor vehicles.
However, judging from the intense
redness of our litmus paper,
I'd say we're dealing with a
high concentration of sulfur
dioxide. Mixed with rain, this
chemical can become more acidic
than even vinegar."
"But sulphur dioxide comes
from burning coal and oil,"
Melissa noted. "We don't burn
enough of that stuff either
to produce a big amount."
"I guess we should start looking
elsewhere, then," Peppermint
said.
"Where?" Melissa asked.
The crowd watched as Peppermint
Plutonia and Melissa, both armed
with umbrellas and goggles,
went out into the town square
and looked up at the sky.
"See anything?" Mr. Ramirez
yelled.
Peppermint nodded. "I see dark
smoke mingling with the rain
clouds! It's coming from the
east! The wind appears to be
blowing it into our town!"
"We have to find the source,
Pep!" Melissa said, holding
up her arms.
Peppermint wrapped her arms
around Melissa and engaged her
jetpack. The two of them shot
into the sky and they followed
the trail of thick smelly smoke.
They flew past forests, past
the beaches, and over the ocean.
"I hope this isn't a volcano!"
Melissa said. "If it is, there
isn't much we can do to stop
it."
"I donıt think you have to
worry!" Peppermint smiled. "I
see a smoke stack straight ahead!"
Sure enough, there was a smokestack!
It rose like an obelisk from
the middle of a small island.
And sure enough, the ocean winds
were blowing its smoke in Tiny
Town's direction.
As they looked for a spot
to land, Melissa and Peppermint
found the island to be thriving
with tropical plants and animals.
They soon found the giant smokestack.
Itıs base had a giant iron box.
Beside the box was a large pile
of smoldering squares. The two
saw a tiny cottage nearby.
An old woman in mittens came
out. "Oh my! Guests!" She smiled
when she saw them. "You're just
in time! I'm making toast! I
just love toast! Do you like
toast? I bet you do! I'll get
you some!" And she twisted a
latch on the giant iron box
and a long rectangular door
opened. Inside the box was a
giant furnace full of coal.
A large metal sheet sat on top
of the burning fuel. The old
woman put on a pair of mittens
and slid the metal plate out.
On the sheet were two pieces
of burnt toast. "Darn! I can
never get them right!" The old
woman frowned. "Oh well, if
at the hundreth you don't succeed!"
She picked up the two burnt
squares and tossed them on the
mound of smoldering squares.
"Um, do you really need all
that fuel just to cook two pieces
of toast, Granny?"
"Why certainly!" chortled the
woman merrily. "How else do
you make toast?"
"Granny, your stove is sending
smoke all across the ocean and
into our town."
"Is it?" The old woman was
taken aback. "Oh dear! I had
no idea! I'm so sorry! I couldn't
tell! The darn thing goes up
so far that I can only see a
blur!"
"Maybe we can help, Granny!"
Melissa said. " If I can get
you an electric toaster that
can make two pieces of perfect
toast, will you promise to stop
using your oven?"
"But where would I get the
electricity to run it? There's
none of that here!"
"I can build you a mini hydro-electric
dam to power it," promised Peppermint.
In a matter of two hours,
Peppermint used her great strength
to build the dam. Later, Melissa
set up the electric wiring while
Peppermint went back to town
to fetch a toaster. "So you
plug it in the socket like this,"
Peppermint demonstrated once
she had returned. "Next, you
place the bread in. Then wait
a few minutes until they pop
up!"
"And presto!" Melissa laughed,
as the toaster 'ding-ed'. "Perfect
toast."
"Mmmm! It does smell good!"
the old woman said. She picked
one up, closed her eyes and
took a careful bite. Suddenly,
a tear streaked down her cheek.
"How lovely!" she said and smiled.
Peppermint and Melissa gave
each other a wink. And as the
sun began to set, the moon crossed
the smokeless sky and the three
of them sat by the beach and
had lots of perfect milk and
lots of perfect toast.
If you want to know more about
Robert Magnuson,
check out http://www.shirleyspets.cheesedip.com