Chapter 12

Chapter 12 A SPELLING BEE TO REMEMBER! IF ANYONE (INCLUDING THE BEES)GETS OUT ALIVE… Harper took comfort in the fact that things were going better in Minecraft than they'd been going at school. "THIS IS IT!" said Jodi. She held up a bright blue cornflower. "This is the last flower we needed for our forest restoration project. Now we've got at least one of everything." "Except blue orchids," said Theo. "They only grow in swamps, so they would be out of place here." "SAME WITH SUNFLOWERS," said Morgan. "Oh, and we didn't include Wither roses," added Theo. "For obvious reasons." Jodi squinted her virtual eyes. "You guys are so technical. The point is, we're done gathering flowers.

AND THEO AND I CAME UP WITH A DESIGN TO MAKE SURE OUR FLOWER FOREST IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS POSSIBLE." Theo grinned. "We were inspired by the orchard, actually. All those perfect rows of planted trees. We wanted our forest to feel organized." He turned to Harper. "I think you'll like what we've done so far." But when Harper saw the state of the forest, she didn't like it one bit. "It's…nice," she said. But she couldn't fool Theo. "What?" he said. "WHAT'S WRONG?!" Harper gazed out at the field of flowers, all organized by color and arranged in artful rows. It actually did look nice. But it didn't look like a flower forest biome. It looked like a garden rather than a natural space. "I think we're worried too much about how it looks," suggested Harper. "WE SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT THE BEES NEED."

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"SHE'S GOT A POINT," said Morgan. "The bees will only leave their hives if there are flowers nearby. We should move some of these flowers, to make sure that happens." Theo slapped his forehead. "I'm doing it again, aren't I? It's the same mistake I made in the real world!" He shook his head. "I just like symmetry. And order. I like things to be neat and to make sense." "I know," said Harper. "And that's a really good thing when you're programming or doing a research project. Or cleaning your room!" She put her arm around him. "BUT NATURE DOESN'T MIND A LITTLE CLUTTER. AND WE SHOULD LEARN TO BE OKAY WITH THAT." Theo sighed. "Technically, this isn't nature. It's a randomized digitally generated re-creation." Harper started to react, but he smirked good-naturedly and quickly added, "Still, I know what you mean." "I don't know what anybody is talking about," said Jodi. "Just keep the yellow flowers close to the purple flowers, okay? They're complementary!"

With the final flowers in place, the forest was alive again. Harper saw chickens, a rabbit…and bees. They'd successfully bred and created homes for a great number of bees. "There they go," she said. "That one is making a P again. And an R…O…T…" "Eep, hold on!" said Jodi. "There's a spider over there! Two of them, in fact."

Harper turned to look. Jodi was right. Two spiders skittered beneath nearby trees. "It should be fine," said Theo. "IT'S LIGHT OUT, SO THEY WON'T BE HOSTILE." "But that will change when the sun goes down," said Morgan. "And if they get into a fight with the bees, we might have to start all over again." "Jodi and I can take care of the spiders," said Po. "Easy. And to be honest, I'd rather do that than play Spelling Bee." "Okay," Morgan said reluctantly. "But holler if you need help." "You know me," said Po, and he drew his sword. "I scream really good when I'm in trouble." "And sometimes when he isn't!" said Jodi, running after him. Harper kept one eye on her friends and one eye on the bees. There was an E…and a C… "They're telling us to protect someone," said Harper. "Or something." "Check this out!" said Po, and he pelted a spider with arrows.