Chapter 18

18 LUFFY WHITE CLOUDS DRIFT ACROSS THE BRIGHT FBLUE SKY OVER the field in the middle of the Midville Woods. Rays of morning sunlight beam down to the trees, the grass field, the hundreds of dark blue panels angled toward the sun. These panels are the Midville Solar Array. The energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the hundreds of panels covering the field. This sunlight energy frees electrons in the layers of solar-panel material. And these free electrons then flow as electricity.

A pair of bright orange-and-black monarch butterflies flap over the sea of solar panels. A red-breasted robin sweetly tweets. A curious chipmunk pops his head out of his hole and sits, looking oh so cute, until— WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAMMMM! The solar panels, metal supports, robin, and

curious chipmunk are smashed in an explosion of broken solar-panel bits and pieces. The butterflies are blown away by a blast of black engine exhaust. WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! Enormous spiked-metal feet shatter panel after panel after panel with their stomping steps. A flock of crows escapes to the trees, panicked and cawing the whole way. More freaked-out chipmunks, terrified field mice, and one slow groundhog dive to safety underground. WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAMMMM! The giant feet clomp-stomp-smash-shatter their way up one solar row, and blam-stampbust down another.

WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! WHAAAAAAAMMMM! The giant feet are attached to thick mechanical legs. The legs are powered by a squat motor body. A glass cab sits atop the motor body. And in the glass cab of this custom-built Bigfoot Stomper machine, a chimpanzee push-pulls the two hand levers back and forth, back and forth, raising and lowering the monster metal feet. Edison, wearing his orange safety helmet, yells over the noise of the Bigfoot engine and the shattering solar panels. "Beautiful! Just beautiful!"

Mr. Chimp pauses, pulls, holds the huge right foot over the last solar panel. He signs:

And pushes the lever to drop the steel foot and smash the last panel into broken junk. T. Edison pulls out his notebook and makes one last big check in it. Fluffy white clouds still drift across the bright blue sky. Rays of sunlight still beam down to the grassy field. But there are no solar panels left. Nothing to gather the energy of the sun. Nothing to convert sunlight to electricity.