you, then what do I write?” she asked.
“Just tell her we’re working on the optical illusions webpage.”
“Fine,” Lindsay said. She kept typing.
Madison and I were talking about the optical illusions project. We miss you lots.
“What else am I supposed to write about?” Lindsay asked.
“Just say … we found a few books … and a cool website,” Madison suggested. “I don’t know. Make something up. She won’t know the difference.”
Lindsay typed some more.
Have u done n e work on it yet? Maddie sez she found a website but I have to admit that I didn’t do n e work and I’m the only one of us who isn’t sick! It’s a good thing there’s an extension. E us l8r?
Lindsay signed the e-mail and hit SEND. “That was so lame,” she said.
Feeling guilty about not having done any work, they took an hour to surf the web for ideas. Madison had a little bit of a headache (a leftover from being sick), and she was still coughing, but it was fun to be back at school, working and hanging out with her friends.
Although they had agreed to meet Aimee up in the media lab during the free period, Aimee never showed up. Madison figured that Aimee had a dance meeting or a study hall she’d forgotten. Usually Fiona was a space case, but being sick was making all of them a little absentminded this week.
Lindsay plugged the words optical illusion into a search engine. It turned up brainteasers, checkerboard shadows, and various geometric designs. One picture showed the face of an old woman, which turned into an Eskimo in the blink of an eye. Many webpages were devoted to M. C. Escher, an artist who drew, among other things, pictures of staircases that led nowhere. Another website was devoted entirely to shape and color illusions that quitters could use as patterns for their quilts.
There was more than enough for them to use there—the hard part would be figuring out what not to use. Lindsay and Madison each took notes for their webpage. Madison saved the web addresses with art on them so she could find images to post later.
Gramma Helen was waiting up with dinner when Madison got home from school. The first thing Gramma did was reach out to touch Madison’s forehead.
“Not too warm,” Gramma said, hugging Madison. “And how’s the cough?”
“It’s still there,” Madison said, groaning.
“I could have picked you up at school, you know,” Gramma said.
“I know,” Madison replied. “I needed to stay late to work on this web project I’m doing with my friends.”
“Your mother called,” Gramma said.
“Is she coming home?” Madison asked.
“Tomorrow, I think,” Gramma said. “She’s calling back with the times of her flights and all that. I told her we were getting along famously….”
“Of course!” Madison giggled. “Just the two of us and not all three of us, right?”
“Two’s company….”
“Three’s a crowd!” Madison joked.
“Oh, by the way, I saw that boy next door again,” Gramma said. “We walked the dogs together this afternoon. He’s a nice boy. Phin loves his dog. I think he said her name was Poodle or something like that.”
“You know his dog’s name ?” Madison pulled off her jacket and threw her stuff down in the hallway. “You went for a walk with him?”
She stood there, her mouth wide open.
She prayed that Gramma Helen hadn’t said anything embarrassing—like, “my granddaughter thinks you’re super duper cute!”
Madison wondered why it wasn’t she who had walked the dog that day. She knew the answer.
Murphy’s Law.
“I made soup again tonight,” Gramma said. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Madison shook her head. She was in too much shock over Gramma’s news to care about having soup for the umpteenth time already that week.
“I was thinking. Let’s try some knitting tonight,” Gramma suggested. “While you were at school today, I took a trip down to Far Hills Shoppes and got some yarn. You were always asking me to show you how
“Just tell her we’re working on the optical illusions webpage.”
“Fine,” Lindsay said. She kept typing.
Madison and I were talking about the optical illusions project. We miss you lots.
“What else am I supposed to write about?” Lindsay asked.
“Just say … we found a few books … and a cool website,” Madison suggested. “I don’t know. Make something up. She won’t know the difference.”
Lindsay typed some more.
Have u done n e work on it yet? Maddie sez she found a website but I have to admit that I didn’t do n e work and I’m the only one of us who isn’t sick! It’s a good thing there’s an extension. E us l8r?
Lindsay signed the e-mail and hit SEND. “That was so lame,” she said.
Feeling guilty about not having done any work, they took an hour to surf the web for ideas. Madison had a little bit of a headache (a leftover from being sick), and she was still coughing, but it was fun to be back at school, working and hanging out with her friends.
Although they had agreed to meet Aimee up in the media lab during the free period, Aimee never showed up. Madison figured that Aimee had a dance meeting or a study hall she’d forgotten. Usually Fiona was a space case, but being sick was making all of them a little absentminded this week.
Lindsay plugged the words optical illusion into a search engine. It turned up brainteasers, checkerboard shadows, and various geometric designs. One picture showed the face of an old woman, which turned into an Eskimo in the blink of an eye. Many webpages were devoted to M. C. Escher, an artist who drew, among other things, pictures of staircases that led nowhere. Another website was devoted entirely to shape and color illusions that quitters could use as patterns for their quilts.
There was more than enough for them to use there—the hard part would be figuring out what not to use. Lindsay and Madison each took notes for their webpage. Madison saved the web addresses with art on them so she could find images to post later.
Gramma Helen was waiting up with dinner when Madison got home from school. The first thing Gramma did was reach out to touch Madison’s forehead.
“Not too warm,” Gramma said, hugging Madison. “And how’s the cough?”
“It’s still there,” Madison said, groaning.
“I could have picked you up at school, you know,” Gramma said.
“I know,” Madison replied. “I needed to stay late to work on this web project I’m doing with my friends.”
“Your mother called,” Gramma said.
“Is she coming home?” Madison asked.
“Tomorrow, I think,” Gramma said. “She’s calling back with the times of her flights and all that. I told her we were getting along famously….”
“Of course!” Madison giggled. “Just the two of us and not all three of us, right?”
“Two’s company….”
“Three’s a crowd!” Madison joked.
“Oh, by the way, I saw that boy next door again,” Gramma said. “We walked the dogs together this afternoon. He’s a nice boy. Phin loves his dog. I think he said her name was Poodle or something like that.”
“You know his dog’s name ?” Madison pulled off her jacket and threw her stuff down in the hallway. “You went for a walk with him?”
She stood there, her mouth wide open.
She prayed that Gramma Helen hadn’t said anything embarrassing—like, “my granddaughter thinks you’re super duper cute!”
Madison wondered why it wasn’t she who had walked the dog that day. She knew the answer.
Murphy’s Law.
“I made soup again tonight,” Gramma said. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Madison shook her head. She was in too much shock over Gramma’s news to care about having soup for the umpteenth time already that week.
“I was thinking. Let’s try some knitting tonight,” Gramma suggested. “While you were at school today, I took a trip down to Far Hills Shoppes and got some yarn. You were always asking me to show you how
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