The Trouble with Fun Read online

  Mr. Wiggins decided to stay on the space station for a few days longer. He would not be leaving in the morning with his daughter, he said. He was far too close to a solution for the Fuddle-Frisson project.

  No one said anything else about the hit-and-run crash. No one said anything else about Teena’s lie.

  When it was time for dinner, Woma called us into the kitchen. She had fixed beet kabobs for Teena’s last supper.

  That night, Teena and I went to bed early. I gazed out at the stars while Teena fell asleep.

  How can she sleep so peacefully after all the trouble she caused? I wondered.

  Bobo curled up next to me in bed.

  “Teena go home?” he asked.

  “Yes, Bobo,” I said. “Teena go home in the morning. Thank goodness.”

  Then I fell asleep with Bobo in my arms.

  The next morning, Teena and I ate breakfast together. We did not have time for Pandorian toast, so we had cereal instead.

  “What will you do when you get home?” I asked.

  Teena looked up from her bowl of Snackle Frax, grinning from ear to ear.

  “I’ll blast off to Ground Zero to see my friends!” she said happily.

  Then she went back to eating her cereal.

  I wanted to tell Teena that there were more important things in life than having fun.

  You can’t go through life like a Freefron! I thought.

  But I didn’t think Teena would listen. I could only hope her father would find the time to tell her before she ended up in a truly serious global meltdown.

  When it was time to leave for the shuttle port, Dad carried Teena’s bags to the train stop. Teena practically danced down the hallway.

  Grounding was the worst thing I could think of that could happen to me. But Teena was acting like she couldn’t wait to get back to Earth. Like she was getting exactly what she wanted.

  The shuttle was right on time. Mr. Wiggins hugged his daughter goodbye. Then my mom and dad hugged her as well.

  Teena and I stood alone on the departure deck for a moment. As I said goodbye, I handed her the Alfred Geezle-designed Mini Motion-Picture Camera necklace.

  “Thanks for letting me wear it,” I said. “I found it very useful.”

  Teena shrugged as she took the necklace and put it around her neck.

  “Goodbye, Zenon,” she said with a smile. Then she winked and said, “Stay out of trouble!”

  I watched her turn and run up the shuttle stairs. She seemed to be laughing in the window as the shuttle lifted off.

  A few moments later, the lights on the space station went out.

  I had two thoughts:

  How in the name of Neptune did she do it?

  And who in the name of Pluto was she going to blame this time?

  11

  ZENON’S GUIDE TO SPACE STATION SLANG

  These are some of the terms you’ll hear when you visit me on Space Station 9:

  Alfred Geezle

  He is a 21st-century designer of everything from the clocks on our walls to the treads on our shoes.

  beet loaf, beetballs, beetburger, beet kabobs

  Beets, as you may have guessed, are the main ingredient in these delicious dishes on Space Station 9!

  Blanchy

  See Plutar Blanchy.

  Blotozoid Freefron

  This is a character from one of the scariest movies I have ever seen, The Night of the Blotozoid Zombies! It is a nervous, skinny creature that can never sit still and is always on the go.

  Blotozoid Zombie

  This character is also from the Blotozoid Zombies movie (mentioned above). It is a very pale creature that slumps forward when it walks. Yuck!

  Ceedus-Lupeedus!

  This is our favorite thing to say when we are surprised by something we see or hear.

  chill chamber

  This is a place, like the Mars Malt, where we go to relax.

  cool your boosters

  This means you need to calm down.

  data pads

  These are our portable computers.

  Fenebula

  This is the most distant galaxy our scientists have been able to identify.

  flared-up

  You’re flared-up when you’re upset and angry and your face turns as red as a solar flare.

  flystrom

  You will find this small piece of computer equipment inside most of our robots and machines. It’s part of what makes them work. If you need to know more, you’ll have to ask my dad.

  Freefron

  See Blotozoid Freefron.

  Fuddle-Frisson

  This is a form of energy that is so confusing, it leaves almost everyone befuddled.

  Fuddlenomics

  This is the study of Fuddle-Frisson. It is one of my hardest subjects in school.

  geezle bumps

  Although these are like goose bumps, we call them geezle bumps. They look like the treads on the bottoms of the shoes we wear, which were designed by Alfred Geezle.

  global meltdown

  You go into this when you get upset and lose control of yourself.

  grounding

  A space station punishment that sends you down to Earth for a period of time.

  kryzon

  This is the largest working part of a flystrom.

  kryzonometer

  This is a device that measures the speed at which a kryzon turns.

  Laser Frissonometer

  This is a tool that measures Fuddle-Frisson energy with a laser beam.

  Lootar

  See Pandorian Lootar.

  lunar

  (as in “going lunar”)

  This is the same as going crazy.

  Martian mist

  When your mind is kind of foggy and confused, you’re in a Martian mist.

  Pandorian Lootar

  This is a huge monster in a 3-D video game that we love to play.

  Pandorian toast

  This is toast fixed dark and crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside. Woma’s is the best and she isn’t even Pandorian!

  Plutar Blanchy

  This is a character from one of my favorite children’s books, It’s Not Easy Being a Plutar Blanchy. It is a goofy, easily frightened creature that walks around grinning.

  quasar

  When someone goes quasar, like my dad, it means that he is very excited because something has made him happy.

  scorch

  When something is a scorch or scorchy, it’s a bad, bad thing.

  shivered out

  (or “shiver me out”)

  You get this way when something or someone really gives you the creeps.

  Snackle Frax

  My favorite breakfast cereal. Snacklefrax is the sound it makes when you pour milk on it.

  solar mist

  This is the hazy mist that seems to surround anything that is backlit by the sun.

  stellar

  If something is stellar, it is the most wonderful thing you can imagine!

  supernova

  (as in “going supernova”)

  If you go supernova, you become very upset.

  thermo

  This is something hot, hip, and stellarly cool!

  3D-CD & 3D-TV

  Not only can we hear our music, but we can see it as well. Our musical groups and TV appear in three-dimensional holograms.

  tuton

  This is the smallest working part of a kryzon.

  whambama

  This is a yummy berry that our scientists have created. It is a combination of banana, pineapple, and kiwi fruit—and you can only get it on Space Station 9!

  ABOUT THE CREATORS

  MARILYN SADLER and ROGER BOLLEN have been creating children’s books for over twenty years. Their best-selling titles include the Alistair series of books and the P. J. Funnybunny books, published as Beginner Books by Random House. Their many awards include the International Reading Association Classroom Choice Award and a Parents’ Choice Aw
ard.

  Marilyn and Roger originally created Zenon for a hardcover picture book. Then, in January 1999, Disney Channel produced Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century as a ninety-minute live-action film. It became the #1 most popular original television movie that year for the channel. This has led Disney to create a second Zenon television movie, Zenon: The Zequel, which debuted in January 2001 and was the highest-rated movie in Disney Channel’s history.