CHAPTER 7
Ellie’s Brainstorm
The next day flew by faster than a runaway comet. Ellie had zero time to think of something un-superhero-ish for her project. Mainly because superhero-ish things kept getting in the way.
First, a flock of chicken-bots invaded the Ultras’ kitchen. The evil Farmer Cyborg had sent them. He was after the Ultra Mind Scrambler, which could mix up somebody’s thoughts. It also made super-fluffy scrambled eggs.
To get rid of the clucking crooks, Ellie found just the thing — the Ultra Noise Maker, set to BARKING DOG.
And on top of her superhero good deeds, there was homework.
Ugh, Ellie thought, looking up the term totem pole in her social studies textbook. An ordinary super kid’s work is never done.
* * *
On Wednesday, Ellie opened her notebook during silent reading. She still needed to brainstorm a regular item for her Piece of Me project, and presentations were supposed to start tomorrow.
Ellie stared down at the Blank Page of Doom. She imagined herself filling it with ideas for a regular item. Eventually, her eyes crossed from staring so hard.
Finally, she wrote:
Blank Page of Doom: 1
Ellie: 0
Ellie laid down her pencil and picked up her head. All around the room, kids were reading quietly. Almost everyone had decided what to share. Miss Little had let those kids read while the rest of the class finished brainstorming.
Miss Little, who was wandering the rows to help, noticed Ellie’s blank page. “Hmm,” the teacher said, “it seems you’re stuck. Would you like a hand?”
Ellie crossed her arms. “I can’t think of an item for my project,” she replied. “There’s nothing I can share.”
Miss Little thought for a moment. “Oh, I know! How about sharing your cape? The one you wore on your first day?”
My cape! Ellie thought. She perked up just thinking about it. Getting her cape had made her so happy.
“If I remember correctly, you said it helps you fly. It sounds like a super-special part of your life.”
It is a super-special part. She shook her head. “No, that won’t work.”
Miss Little gave Ellie an encouraging wink. “Keep brainstorming. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
As her teacher walked away, Ellie looked around at her classmates who were reading. She really wanted to chill out and read Ice Boy. Dex had been hogging it all week long. Sure enough, when Ellie spotted him on the class comfy chair, he was flipping through the comic book. She frowned as he turned a page too hard and ripped off the corner.
At her desk, Hannah was looking at a ballet book. Her pirate costume would’ve been a perfect item for her project, but she’d told Ellie that she finished her dance scrapbook. She was excited about sharing that.
Ellie looked at the cover of Hannah’s book. There was a picture of a ballerina in a sparkly tutu. Suddenly thunder rumbled inside Ellie’s brain. She was having a brainstorm! I know what I can share!
Sweeping up her pencil, Ellie scratched out the score and scribbled down her idea. She showed Miss Little, who answered with a thumbs-up and a smile. Lightning flashed between Ellie’s brain waves, making the classroom lights flicker.
“That’s strange — I don’t see any rain clouds,” Miss Little said, looking out the window curiously. “How extraordinary.”
* * *
After school, Ellie bounded into her parents’ lab. She needed her mom’s super know-it-all skills. “MOM!” she called. Her extraordinarily loud voice rattled an entire wall of thingamabobs.
Mrs. Ultra rounded the corner with an egg-shaped gadget. “Yikes!” she exclaimed. “I think the Moon People heard you. What’s up?”
Just then, the gadget Mom was holding pumped out a puff of stinky smoke. Ellie pinched her nose. “Yuckola! What’s that?”
“Sorry,” Mom said. “It’s our latest invention for B.R.A.I.N. — the Ultra Smell-O-Meter. It’ll help fight villains like Professor Nose and the Sniffasaurus. It makes all sorts of odors, from the smell of shampoo to peeled onions. Right now, it’s set to skunk.”
Ellie made a face. No wonder it smelled like the time a skunk had sprayed Cyclops in the yard! “Do you know where my tutu is?” she asked.
“Are you interested in joining ballet again?” Mom asked. “You know, I just saw Madam Bernard at the grocery store. All she talked about was your recital performance. She was very impressed by your tornado . . . I mean, pirouette.”
“No, no. It’s for a project at school. We need to share something about ourselves. I’m going to talk about that.”
“It’s in your closet,” Mom answered. “You’ll also find a special surprise in there from Dad and me. Since school has been tough, we wanted to give you something that’ll cheer you up.”
“Thanks!” Ellie rushed out the doorway. She would’ve hugged her mom, but it was too risky. She didn’t want to end up getting Skunk-O-Metered.
Ellie flew into her room and flung her closet open. Folded neatly on the shelf was her cape. It looked exactly the same as when she’d first seen it. Except this time, her name had been stitched across the back.
“A real superhero cape!” Ellie exclaimed.
Ellie whisked the cape down and around her shoulders. Standing tall, she admired herself in the mirror. She looked like an honest-to-goodness superhero. And now she had an honest-to-goodness super name to match.
While striking her best hero pose, Ellie saw something sparkle in the closet. It was her tutu! She took off her cape and grabbed the frilly pouf.
Pushing her comic books to the floor, Ellie flopped down on her bed. She looked at the tutu for a long time. It was pretty — and pretty regular. But the idea of choosing that for her presentation seemed wrong.
Ellie finally had the missing piece of her Piece of Me project. So why did it feel like a piece of her was still missing?