Mind Games

H
OUGHTON
M
IFFLIN
C
OMPANY
B
OSTON

Copyright © 2003 by Jeanne Marie Grunwell

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce
selections from this book, write to Permissions,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South,
New York, New York 10003.

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

The text of this book is set in Eureka (FontShop).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grunwell, Jeanne Marie.
Mind games / by Jeanne Marie Grunwell.
p. cm.
Sumary: Each of the six members of Mr. Ennis's Mad Science Club
presents a report of his or her experiences
working on a science fair project to investigate ESP,
which resulted in their winning the Maryland lottery.

ISBN 0-618-17672-1 (hardcover) ISBN 0-618-68947-8 (paperback)

[1. Science—Experiments—Fiction. 2. Extrasensory perception—Fiction.
3. Lotteries—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Science—Exhibitions—Fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.G9338Mi 2003
[Fic]—dc21 2002010820

ISBN-13: 978-0618-17672-4 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0618-68947-7 (paperback)

Manufactured in the United States of America
HAD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

F
OR THE WONDERFUL TEACHERS
I
HAVE KNOWN

T
HANKS TO MY PARENTS, WHO ALWAYS TAUGHT ME
by example; Mr. Micklos, who introduced me to the scientific method; Mrs. Weingarten and Mr. Bennett, who made writing fun; the students and faculty of the MFA in Writing for Children program at Vermont College—especially Susan Fletcher, Randy Powell, Jane Resh Thomas, and Carolyn Coman; and thanks to Bonnie.

Mind Games

by
Benjamin D. Lloyd
Brandon Kelly
Marina Krenina
Ji Eun Oh
Claire Phelps
Kathleen Phelps

C
LEARVIEW
M
IDDLE
S
CHOOL
G
RADE
7

by Benjamin D. Lloyd

Exhibit A:
Waverly Times
..........................
[>]

Experimenter Comments......................
[>]

Claire Phelps

Introduction...............................
[>]

Marina Krenina

Exhibit B: Paranormal Pursuits:
¹
Astrology..........................
[>]

Ji Eun Oh

Research..........................
[>]

Benjamin D. Lloyd

Exhibit C: Paranormal Pursuits: Telepathy..........................
[>]

Claire Phelps

Problem..........................
[>]

Kathleen Phelps

Exhibit D: Paranormal Pursuits: Clairvoyance..........................
[>]

Benjamin D. Lloyd

Hypothesis..........................
[>]

Brandon Kelly

Exhibit E: Paranormal Pursuits: Out-of-Body

Experiences..........................
[>]

Kathleen Phelps

Experimentation: Part One..........................
[>]

Ji Eun Oh

Exhibit F: Paranormal Pursuits: Dreams..........................
[>]

Brandon Kelly

Experimentation: Part Two..........................
[>]

Claire Phelps

Exhibit G: Paranormal Pursuits: Life After Death..........................
[>]

Marina Krenina

Conclusion

Marina Krenina..........................
[>]

Brandon Kelly..........................
[>]

Benjamin D. Lloyd..........................
[>]

Kathleen Phelps..........................
[>]

Claire Phelps..........................
[>]

Sources..........................
[>]

Benjamin D. Lloyd

Acknowledgments..........................
[>]

A
DDENDA TO
C
ONTENTS

Exhibit H:
Clearview Gazette
..........................
[>]

Exhibit I:
Waverly Times
..........................
[>]

Exhibit J..........................
[>]

L
AST NIGHT
I
WAS SUPPOSED TO READ OUR REPORT
straight through and eliminate all typographical errors, missing commas, bad grammar, stupid-sounding parts, etc.

Considering that six of us worked on the same experiment and witnessed mostly the same events, I didn't think I would be too surprised by anything I read. Well, let's just say that my extreme cluelessness could be used as evidence against our hypothesis.

What I decided after reading our report was that six people worked on this project—six people who wrote what they wanted to write. Why should I change a word?

Of course I'm not thrilled about teachers and other people reading a lot of these things. I wish I never had to read them. But seeing yourself through other people's eyes is not such a bad thing. In a way, I guess that's what our project ended up being about.

I still feel we present a strong case for our hypothesis. But ultimately, the verdict rests with you, the reader. See what you think.

M
R
. E
NNIS SAYS THAT THE INTRODUCTION IS SUP
posed to be short, because this is not the interesting part of the project. Of course I was given the short assignment.

This is very well, but it is not so short to explain how we began.

I have recently learned the word coincidence. Certainly, that is one way to describe all that has happened. But if you wish to call it that, you have no need to read further in this report.

At our school, we have one class each week that we choose for our own enjoyment. This is the only reason we go. It is called a club. This is a strange thing for me, for we do nothing like this in Russia, where I come from.

The second week of school, in homeroom, we are asked to choose the club we wish to join. At this time, my family is in America only one month, and my English is not yet so good. Of course I study some English in Russia, but I do not know it as much as German or French. So when the teacher talks fast, and all the students are also talking, I suddenly understand only a few words, like shut and up and detention.

We have a paper to complete for the clubs, and I think this is a test. I cannot read so many words on this sheet. For example, there is the place to write my name, and there is the word
basketball.

Next to me sits a boy named Ben Lloyd. Ben is very, very smart. Do not ask me how I know this, but I know. I see the answer he writes on his paper, and I think this must of course be the right answer to the test. So even though I understand it is a bad thing to do, I write the same answer on my club paper.

And that is how I came to be in Mr. Ennis's Mad Science Club.

At this time, I know only a few people at the school. Therefore, I think I will not know anyone who wants to study Mad Science besides Ben. But I am surprised at once. For I go to this club class, and here again is the girl with red hair.

On the first day of school I notice this girl immediately because of her thick braid, which is the color of the orange jam that my mother and I take every morning in our tea. I am admiring this beautiful hair tied with bright ribbons of green and gold, and all the while the girl is walking nearer to me. She is smiling. And suddenly she clutches my hair into her fist and draws it up to her nose. I am astonished. But then I think perhaps this is some American greeting which I have not yet observed. The girl shouts, "Cat fur!" I do not know what this means, but I see people stop in the hall to look at us, and I hurry away. I have not yet learned the meaning of this custom. It is a long while before I see it practiced by anyone else.

As I fear, on this day in Mr. Ennis's class the red-haired girl again takes my hair in her fist. But before she can make a nice sniff, her sister comes and begins to yell at her. I know it is her sister because of her red-blond ponytail and her voice, which resembles mine when I am angry with my younger sister, Lilia. However, it is difficult to know between these sisters which is the older. Their height is exactly the same shortness.

"Kathleen, don't do that!" the one sister shouts.

And Kathleen lets go of me, although not before she takes a tiny smell. "You smell so good," she tells me. "Like a pond in the woods." This makes me happy, because in Russia our dear dacha (summer home) was near a little lake in the forest. But I have not been there in two years, since the time we begin saving money to move to America. And I know my hair smells only of apricot and vanilla, which is the shampoo I use each morning, and probably too of Papa's cigarette smoke—the reason for me to use such nice shampoo.

When we are assembled in the classroom, we are at first five in addition to the teacher. Then is another surprise, for Brandon who is in my homeroom comes at the very last moment and sits next to me. Though he eats a Snickers bar plump with peanuts and sweet caramel, he seems to taste bitterness. I think I know why, for I have seen him mark the basketball space on his club paper. And I see he wears those shoes which make the nice squeak on the basketball court. I see this plainly, for his feet are on my chair.

At this time, Mr. Ennis introduces himself. Then he turns water into wine! And he turns it back!

Wine is not permitted in American public schools, and we are all very amazed, except for Brandon, who yawns. I see Ben and the girl named for the letter G leaning forward in their seats with much interest. But then Mr. Ennis says he never made wine. He shows us how his chemicals make the water change colors.

I do not watch the chemicals. I watch instead the lizard as it catches a cricket with its long tongue, and the turtles, three hiding very still among the rocks. I look in the third cage, but I see only a log and a dish that says Alice.

"Who is this Alice?" I whisper to Brandon.

"Alice?" he says. "My grandma."

Grandma,
I think. I know this word. Dear Babushka, whose only fault is her snoring—and through many years of sharing a room, to this I have grown accustomed—is my grandma. Babushka, even if she were slim, would never fit in such a cage.

"I killed Alice," Kathleen says, quite cheerful as though she has just plucked a beautiful flower. Then she begins to cry. The sister produces a handful of tissues even before I notice a single tear.

"It is okay, Kathleen," I say. "Do not cry." Though in truth I cannot believe I am in the same room with the person who has killed the dear babushka of Brandon.

The sister whispers could I please try not to make Kathleen feel better. Or she will cry for an even greater time.

And then Brandon yawns. And Mr. Ennis talks some more about these chemicals. And Kathleen sobs and hiccups and finally is silent.

I look forward to returning to my ESL (English as a Second Language) class, where everything is simple—"How are you?" and "It is cloudy today." It is always cloudy today in Maryland.

Then I hear Mr. Ennis say homework.

"Dang, Mr. Ennis," Brandon says. "This is club. We're not supposed to have homework in club."

"That's right," G says.

I am thinking, how can I ever do this homework? I am not smart like these other people who have lifelong English.

Kathleen says, "I can't do the same homework as everybody else. I'm not smart like everybody else. I'm just stupid." She cries once more into her sister's tissues. I watch her sister take charge of these tissues—it is even more amazing than the water and the wine. Then Kathleen blows her nose, and I am truly amazed. Never have I heard the human nose make such a sound—not even Babushka's at night when she dreams her deepest dreams of home.

"You will do your homework together. Each of you will have your own part. Each of you will have something to contribute," Mr. Ennis says. "You are going to prepare a project for the school science fair in January."

Ben raises his hand immediately. "Can I work on anything I want? I have a great idea. What about the county science fair? And the state? Will you be my sponsor?" He gasps for breath now, as though he has in fact been to basketball rather than Mad Science.

"Assuming you win the school science fair," Mr. Ennis says, "you will go to the county science fair in February. Assuming you place in the county science fair, you will go on to the state science fair in March. You are going to accomplish these things by researching a great mystery of science—together. And together, maybe you are going to solve it. Write down some ideas, and we will discuss them next week."

Ben puts his fists in the air, as though he is crossing the finish line after an Olympic race.

"The great mystery of science," G whispers to the tissue sister, "is Ben Lloyd."