3 Ch3-Emily Is a Giant Hamster

Chapter 3 Emily Is a Giant Hamster There were a bunch of computers in the computer lab, of course! What did you expect to see in a computer lab? Man, are you dumb! But there was something else in the computer lab, too. It was a wheel, like one of those wheels you see in a hamster cage. Except this one was six feet tall! "Howdy, y'all!" Mrs. Yonkers said when we opened the door. She wasn't wearing her cheese head anymore. Instead, she was dressed in a jogging outfit and she had on a cowboy hat. "Wow!" I said. "That's a big wheel!" "Everything is bigger in Texas," said Mrs. Yonkers. "What does it do?" asked Emily. "It generates electricity. When I run inside the wheel, it powers the computer." "Why not just plug the computer into the wall socket?" asked Neil the nude kid. "This saves energy," Mrs. Yonkers explained. "You burn less oil, and you have lower electric bills. Plus, I get exercise. It's a win-win!" "It's cool!" we all agreed. Mrs. Yonkers told us that she likes to use technology to solve problems. She even started her own computer company called NERD— New Electronic

Research Development. Mrs. Yonkers showed us a virtual reality helmet, night vision goggles, and some other cool stuff she invented. "And here is a founding member of the company," she said as she pulled a big turtle out of a cage. "This is my friend Speedy." "He's adorable!" said Andrea, who never misses the chance to brownnose a grown-up. "What's that thing on his back?" asked Ryan. "It's a tiny camera," said Mrs. Yonkers. "I call it Turtle Cam. While Speedy moves around the room, we'll be able to follow his progress on my website." "Can we see how it works?" asked Michael. "I'm still ironing out the bugs," said Mrs. Yonkers. "Please? Please? Please? Please?" everybody begged. If you want anything from a grown-up, all you have to do is say "Please" until they can't stand it anymore. That's the first rule of being a kid. "Well... okay," Mrs. Yonkers said, putting Speedy on the floor. "Who wants to run on the wheel to turn on the computer?"

"Me! Me! Me! Me!" everybody yelled. Mrs. Yonkers did eenie meenie miney moe. The last moe was Emily, the lucky stiff. Emily climbed inside the wheel and started running. The wheel turned around, but the computer didn't turn on because Emily runs about as fast as Speedy the turtle. "Faster, Emily! Faster!" we all yelled. The computer screen started to flicker on when Emily ran faster. Speedy was walking around the room, and we could see a picture of what he was looking at. Turtle Cam was cool. "Faster!" we all yelled. "Faster!" Emily was running as hard as she could. The wheel was spinning really fast now and making a lot of noise. Speedy walked around to the front of the wheel. And that's when the weirdest thing in the history of the world happened. The nuts and bolts that were holding the wheel to its frame must have gotten loose somehow. The wheel started rolling away! It was heading for the wall! Emily was still inside, and she was upside down! "Watch out!" we all yelled. Speedy barely got out of the way before the wheel crashed into the wall. We all rushed over there, Emily staggered out of the wheel, all dizzy, and fell down. She was on the floor, freaking out. It was hilarious.

"What happened?" Andrea asked Mrs. Yonkers. "I guess the computer crashed," she replied. Emily was shaken up pretty good, but it looked like she was going to be okay. "Hey, where's Speedy?" asked Ryan. We looked all around the computer lab. No Speedy. "He's gone!" cried Mrs. Yonkers.