Miss Shelly smiled as the principal of the school, Mrs. Pierce, addressed all of the students. “Thank you all so much for working so hard to make this year’s Science Fair exciting and interesting and not, uh, life threatening,” she said.
The other kids knew exactly what Mrs. Pierce was talking about. In years past, some of Franny’s creations had been a bit dangerous.
In fact, most of Franny’s creations could be dangerous, and the kids had learned to be very, very careful around anything that came out of Franny’s laboratory. They liked Franny, but they had learned to take Franny and her creations very seriously.
“We had many excellent entries, and this year we’re giving out certificates,” the principal said.
“I’m happy to present third prize to William Frederick Davis for his new breed of banana that you just turn inside out instead of peeling.”
William smiled and ran up and took his certificate.
“I never knew his middle name was Frederick,” Franny whispered, and suddenly she looked a bit concerned.
“Second prize goes to Anthony Christopher Hernandez for his Never-Miss Baseball Glove.” Anthony ran up and got his certificate.
“Christopher, huh?” Franny said, looking slightly more concerned.
“And first prize,” the principal began, “again goes to Franny—”
“Uh, that’s okay,” Franny interrupted nervously. “I’ll, uh, just pass on the certificate.”
“Of course not,” Mrs. Pierce said. “You won fair and square, Franny. You should be proud.”
“Okay, but you don’t have to read my name or anything. We all know my name.”
“Nonsense,” the principal said. “For her Time Warp Dessert Plate, first prize goes to Franny Kissypie Stein.”
