2 It’s Annoying!

CHAPTER TWO IT'S ANNOYING! WE DIDN'T TALK much as we drove. Dad concentrated on getting us to that searchlight. Mom helped by watching the light and telling him when to turn. I was busy looking out the window. Sometimes when I look out the car window, I'm so busy that I forget to blink. And I have to say in my brain, "Blink, Molly, blink." We got to the searchlight. It wasn't a cool traveling circus.

It was a boring car dealership. Dad parked, turned to me, and asked, "How many signs did we pass?" "Thanks for asking," I said and smiled at him. "We passed thirty-three signs." "Thirty-three?" Mom asked. "That's an odd number. Do you want to drive around for a minute so you can finish on an even number?" "No," I said and shook my head. "I want to see the light now." The searchlight was strapped to the back of a big truck. There was a large red metal box on the ground next to the truck. A bunch of thick rubber cables ran from the red box to the searchlight. We walked closer.

The metal box hummed and vibrated. "What's the big red box for?" I asked. "I think it's a generator," Dad said. "It runs on gasoline. That searchlight needs a lot of power. If it was just plugged into an outlet, it would probably knock out the electricity in the whole town." "Like during that big storm last year?" "Exactly," Mom answered. We stopped about ten feet from the searchlight. The circular motion was calming and rhythmic. I could feel my head rotate on my neck slightly as I watched it turn and turn. "Why is it here?" I asked. "At a car dealership?" Dad said quietly, "You're about to find out."

Because I was mesmerized by that rotating light, I hadn't noticed that a woman had walked up to us. "I'm Hannah," the woman said. She had a name tag on her shirt. "We've got a big sale going on this week. Great cars. Zero percent financing. Are you interested in upgrading to a new model?" "No, I'm not," Dad answered politely. Mom said, "Our daughter saw the searchlight and was curious about it." Hannah leaned down to look at me. "And what is your name?" she asked. "Molly Dyson." "Well, Molly Dyson," Hannah said and smiled, "what do you think of our big light in the sky?" "I think it's annoying," I said. "I'm awake because

I had to find out what it was. And it's Tuesday. It's a school night. My friends Rosie, Simon, and I have to come up with a project tomorrow for the science fair —and make it work by Friday night. So I should really be sleeping." Hannah seemed a little surprised at my answer. She said, "I'm sorry about that, Molly." "May I ask you a question?" I said.

"Of course." "Did you know that you can spell your name backward and forward?" "I did know that," Hannah answered. "Can I ask you another question?" "Sure." "When are you going to turn the light off?" "We're open late this week because of the sale, Molly. We close at ten o'clock," Hannah said. "We'll