A children’s story
By: John Silva – April 2015
Zip and Zap arrived on earth about a year ago. Zip was ten years old and Zap was twelve. They were from the planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation. When they saw their first car, they went nuts! They photographed it, x-rayed it, measured it and weighed it. They were convinced that they had discovered a new life form because they had seen “it” moving about. They called it “it” because they didn’t know if “it” was a boy or a girl. They started to document and name every part of this new life form which they decided to call Hard Shell.
When they lifted up Hard Shell’s upper lip they were surprised at all of the stuff that was in its mouth. They discovered long skinny, stringy things that moved energy from one of Hard Shell’s organs to another organ on its behind that lit up red. They called the organ a Tail Light… sometimes Tail Light blinked off and on. There were two round things one on each side of Hard Shell’s mouth that also lit up with white light, but only when it was dark. They started making drawings of Hard Shell and “its” parts including the fancy curvatures of Hard Shell’s body. Later they were surprised and amazed to discover that there were Hard Shells almost everywhere.
Zip and Zap who were from the planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation also found out that Hard Shell could come apart, and “it” was held together by ligaments that they called Screws, Bolts, and Nuts. Ligaments held the parts together. They had a long discussion as to whether it was OK or not OK to disassemble Hard Shell. In the end… curiosity ruled, and since “it” didn’t seem to mind… they disassembled Hard Shell hoping that they would be able to reassemble “it”…which they did. But, when they got to the Thick Glue Strips, they couldn’t make them let go. So, they gave up and said they were Welded. Finally, they were finished. Zip and Zap, who were from the planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation, had described and named every part of Hard Shell, and they had made lots and lots of drawings as well.
However, between the time it took to take Hard Shell apart and put “it” back together again, everything went kinda crazy. First, a whole bunch of people gathered around the disassembled Hard Shell and then they started yelling and jumping up and down. They looked very upset and were making a terrible ruckus. Zip and Zap called them Soft Bodies because their bones were inside their bodies instead of having shells on their outsides where they should be. The other thing about Soft Bodies was that sometimes they bumped into things, and their bodies would start leaking a bright red substance which would ooze out making a big mess.
A few days later they found a special Hard Shell. Zip and Zap had never seen a Hard Shell like this one. It had red, white and blue flashing lights stuck on the top of its head and made loud blaring noises when “it” drove up to where Hard Shell was laying in pieces. After a whole lot of commotion and talking, things quieted down and all of the Soft Bodies went home. As soon as everyone was gone, Zip and Zap quickly put Hard Shell back together. When the Soft Bodies got up the next morning, they were surprised to see Hard Shell was all in one piece again. Zip and Zap just smiled.
Over time, Zip and Zap, who were from the planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation traded their serious scientific personas for ones that were more playful. Zip and Zap were measuring and describing Hard Shell’s parts for their report. While they were working they were also enjoying themselves thinking up why questions… that’s when the fun really began. Zip and Zap were from the planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation and they began speculating about why this was this way and why that was that way. Being silly was fun.
However, the big block of metal under the hard shell’s upper lip needed a name. The name that Zip and Zap chose was engine. Engine was different from the other parts of the car. Sometimes when they turned a small metal piece inside the car engine would start making noises, and if they pressed down on the flat floor lever… engine would make loud zoom zoom noises.
The other thing that was different about engine was that it was always thirsty. Zip and Zap found where engine kept the liquid it drank.
Engine got its liquid from tank who clung to the underside of Hard Shell’s belly. They called the liquid Stinky Juice. Whenever hard shell was thirsty, he took a long drink of Stinky Juice from a tall one. Tall ones were located at various points around town and usually they were pretty easy to find. However, Tall ones were bolted down and they couldn’t move around and they looked a lot different from a Hard Shell. They were tall and rectangular and once in a while Tall One gave out too much Stinky Juice and a giant tank that rolled on wheels had to fill it up again.
Soft Bodies pumped the Stinky Juice from a Tall One into its Hard Shell. Zip made a joke and told Zap that Tall One was going wee wee into Hard Shell’s back pocket. They both laughed and laughed and laughed.
From time to time, a Hard Shell would want to go somewhere and it would summon a Soft Body that came promptly. Because Soft Bodies were not too bright, Zip and Zap didn’t study them much but focused most of their attention on Hard Shells. But, Hard Shell found Soft Bodies interesting and summoned them for company whenever they chose to go somewhere. Hard Shells often took short naps on the sides of streets and sometimes they hibernated in their own little houses which were attached to the structures which stored the soft bodies. During these times the Soft Bodies wandered around aimlessly not knowing what to do. Sometimes they amused themselves by tapping on rows of little square things which made pictures and words appear on a glass screen. Occasionally, a small box would spurt out white sheets of paper which would be saved.
When Zip and Zap got home, they told everyone on planet Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation everything that they had seen and did. They showed everyone their drawings, and all of the measurements they had made. Zip and Zap were declared heroes and led the grand parade on national Shoestring Day. Since Zip and Zap had done so well on their visit to the planet earth the citizens of Jumpin Feet which is in the Big Toes constellation decided that next year they would send Zip and Zap to a planet called Saturn. Zip and Zap were excited and could hardly wait to get started. They wondered if Saturn would have Hard Shells, Tall ones and Stinky Juice.
Questions:
| What were the Thick Glue Strips called? | What did Zip and Zap assume the car was but wasn’t? | What were the skinny stringy things? |
| What were the skinny things that brought energy to Tail Light? | What did they name the first car they saw? | What were the little square things that made pictures and words on the box with the glass front when you tapped on them? |
| What was the Stinky Juice? | What were the Tall Ones? | What were Soft Bodies? |
| What was the loud blaring noise that the special Hard Shell Made? | What did the Soft Bodies see when they got up the next morning? | What was the Hard Shell with red, white & blue lights on its head? |
| Zip and Zap were suppose to visit Saturn. Where did they really go? | Where were Zip and Zap going next? | What planet do you think they will actually visit next? |
| Where was Tank hiding? | Was Zip’s joke funny or naughty? | Where were Zip and Zap from? |
| Would you like to meet Zip and Zap? | What did they see when they opened Hard Shell’s mouth? | What were the round things that lit up when it was dark? |
| Do you think people liked Zip and Zap? | How many planets can you name? | Do you think “hard shell” was a boy or a girl? |
| What did it mean when the Tail Light blinked off and on? | Where did Hard Shell take its naps? | What does hibernate and persona mean? |
| What was “Tall One?” | Where were Soft Body’s bones? | What were Zip and Zap? |