The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow (9 page)

Aunt Bonnie collected salt and pepper
shakers. She had thousands of them on display in her apartment.

“And I got this one from your Uncle Ernie. Oh boy, did he love to fish. See, the salt and pepper comes out of the top of the
bobbers.” Aunt Bonnie laughed as she held two oversized ceramic salt and pepper shakers shaped like fishing bobbers. “And
these were my first rooster shakers. Of course now I have hundreds of roosters, chickens, turkeys—you name a bird and I’ve
got a salt and pepper shaker of it.”

“It’s an amazing collection,” Stella said.

“Thanks, hon. Now, do you have enough blankets, dear? Are you going to be warm enough? It is so much fun to have people staying
with me. I want to make sure you’re warm enough. No one has used those back bedrooms in, well… in a long time.”

Vincent looked out the window as their taxi pulled up. “We have to go to dinner, Aunt Bonnie. Our cab is here.”

“Okay. Now here is the key. I can’t stay up late like you young kids. Just come in and make yourself at home. My home is your
home. You know that, Vincent. You know that.”

“I know. Thank you,” Vincent said.

Vincent and Stella walked toward the door.

“I will be gone by the time you kids get up in the morning. I like to be at the museum by five thirty. I make the coffee.
But I will meet you at the show by eight. I’m so excited, Vincent. I wouldn’t miss it. I know you are going to do great. Just
great, hon.” She kissed Vincent on the cheek.

Vincent and Stella got out of the taxicab at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 78th Street. Vincent looked up at the ornate building
and asked the cab driver if he was sure this was the right place.

“This is it,” the cabbie said. “This is the Carlisle, home to world-famous toymaker Howard G. Whiz.”

“I can’t believe it,” Vincent said. “I’ve walked past this building nearly every day of my life. I had no idea Mr. Whiz lived
here.”

“It’s as big as a hotel,” Stella said.

They walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

“Hello, you must be Vincent,” Calli said, greeting them.

“Yes, and this is my sister Stella. We’re here for the toy contest dinner,” Vincent said.

“We’ve been expecting you. Come on in. My name is Calli Callosum and I will be your host this evening. Welcome to Whizzer
Toys,” Calli said as she stuck name tags on both of them.

“Let me introduce you to the other contestants.” Calli led them up a large staircase to a ballroom that overlooked Central
Park. A dozen people, children and their parents, sat around a table in the middle of the room.

“Everyone, please allow me to introduce Vincent Shadow and his sister Stella. Vincent has invented a windless kite that, by
the way, Vincent, we are all very eager to see,” Calli said.

Vincent smiled nervously and Calli continued the introductions. “The twins here are Seamus and Liam O’Toole. They invented
hockey skates that allow you to skate on air. Very cool,” Calli said. “And this is Gabriella Guzzi. Gabby has invented a sprinkler
toy she calls Elli-Squirt. It’s a very cute elephant that, well, let’s just say it’s full of surprises.” Gabby smiled and
nodded in agreement.

“Next to Gabby is Isabel. Isabel has invented a musical pacifier that plays music when it is in the baby’s mouth. Very clever.
Alli here has invented a remote-controlled Slinky that doesn’t need stairs to walk. And last, but not least, this is George
Spinowski, Junior. George’s invention is the Story Time Toilet Seat, and I don’t need to tell you what that does,” Calli said
as she let out a giggle.

“Hello,” Vincent said.

“Well, you two have a seat and dinner will be served shortly,” Calli said.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” George Jr.’s dad, George Spinowski Sr., said. “When will Mr. Whiz be joining us?”

“Oh no. Oh no, I will be your host this evening,” Calli said.

“Well,” George Sr. continued, “isn’t that a little rude? We came a long way to be here, and little George Jr. would like to
meet the great Mr. Howard G. Whiz.”

“I am so sorry, Mr. Spinowski, but Mr. Whiz was otherwise occupied this evening. But rest assured, little George Jr. will
get a chance to meet Mr. Whiz at the Toy Fair competition tomorrow,” Calli said as she walked away.

“So, Vincent. A windless kite, eh?” George Sr. said. “What does it do?”

“It flies, you know, without wind,” Vincent said.

“What, do you have a fan attached to the kite or something?” George Jr. asked.

“No. No fan. Actually, it has no moving parts,” Vincent said.

“Yeah, no moving parts,” the two Georges said in unison, and laughed until they realized Vincent wasn’t kidding.

“How did you do that?” George Sr. asked, now sounding a little nervous.

“You’ll have to wait and find out tomorrow,” Stella said.

Waiters started to bring out the food. And they kept bringing it. Course after course. Vincent was completely stuffed by the
end of the eighth course and decided to pass on dessert.

“Okay, if everyone will follow me, we would like to get a few pictures of all the young inventors with their spectacular inventions,”
Calli said as she led them into an adjacent room where the inventions had been carefully placed on a table.

“Wow, that looks so cool,” Liam said as he ran over to Vincent’s kite.

Seamus tried to pick up Alli’s remote-controlled Slinky, but got a shock.

“Please, boys, please put the inventions down,” Calli said. “We don’t want anyone’s invention to break before tomorrow’s competition.”

“So this is the kite?” George Sr. asked.

“Yup.”

“I see you have wire instead of string. What, this big box zaps the kite somehow?” George Sr. asked.

“Yeah, something like that,” Vincent said as he grabbed the high voltage spool out of Mr. Spinowski’s hands.

“Be careful, Vincent,” Stella whispered in his ear. “I don’t trust those Spinowskis.”

“Okay, you with the kite, could you kneel in front of the larger boy in the red shirt?” the photographer said.

“Great. And you two”—the photographer pointed to Liam and Seamus—“could you kneel down in front, too? Great. Now move closer.
A little closer everyone, come on, no one here bites. Good,” the photographer said as he started snapping pictures.

“Great. Now let’s get a picture of each of you alone with your invention. You,” the photographer pointed to Alli. “Come on
over here. Great. Perfect.” He snapped a few shots of Alli and the remote-controlled Slinky in front of the window.

“All right, let’s get the kite boy next. Please come on over here,” the photographer said.

Vincent stood up and carefully held his kite out in front of him. The kite’s tail trailed behind as he walked toward the photographer.
George Jr. looked over to his father. His father motioned with his foot. George Jr. shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea
what his father was trying to tell him. His father pointed down. George Jr. looked down and saw the tail of the kite trailing
behind Vincent. George Jr. stepped on it, and the kite came to an instant stop. Unfortunately, Vincent did not. The kite ripped
in half. Vincent spun around to see what was wrong, got tangled in the kite tail, and began to fall. He landed on the kite,
breaking it into pieces.

Stella ran to his side. Vincent didn’t say a word. He just lay there. The kite was a tangled mess.

“Oh no!” people yelled. The Spinowskis were smiling. With Vincent out of the contest, George Sr. thought his son was sure
to win. A summer internship at Whizzer Toys would provide George Jr. with plenty of opportunities to steal inventions from
the great Howard G. Whiz.

“Oh boy, oh boy,” Calli said kneeling down next to Vincent. “This has never happened before. Maybe you can glue it back together.”

“I’m sure we can fix it,” Stella said.

Vincent said nothing.

“Are you okay?” Stella asked.

Vincent said nothing. He stood up. He bunched the tangled mess into a ball, walked over to the trash can, and threw the kite
away.

“Are you okay, Vincent?” Stella asked again.

Vincent nodded yes and then asked Calli, “Which way to the bathroom?”

“Down the hall,” she said. “Take the first left and then a quick right.”

Vincent couldn’t believe his bad luck. It had taken almost every minute of every day for the last two weeks to build his kite.
There was no way he could build another one by the next morning. Devastated, he slowly wandered down the hallway.

Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be,
he thought.
Maybe I am not meant to be an inventor
.

Vincent was dazed. He thought he had taken a left, but maybe it was a right. Or a left and then a right. The hallway seemed
to go on forever. He couldn’t remember what Calli had said, and he wasn’t quite sure where he was now.

People collect all kinds of things:
stamps, baseball cards, spoons, and even salt and pepper shakers. Howard Whiz collected inventions. He had one of the first
pedal bicycles, invented in 1818. He had one of Edison’s first lightbulbs from 1879. He had the first drinking straw (1888),
movie camera (1891), paper clip (1899), box of crayons (1903), and hair dryer (1920). He even had one of Les Paul’s electric
guitars, which he first built in 1941.

Vincent couldn’t believe his eyes. He had accidentally stumbled into Howard G. Whiz’s private museum. It was a large room
with shelves on all four walls. The shelves held some of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century. Hundreds of them,
each with a brass plate inscribed with the invention, the inventor, and the date of the invention. The Monopoly game, patented
by Charles B. Darrow in 1935. The skateboard, built by Bill and Mark Richards in 1958. The teddy bear, invented by Morris
Michtom in 1902, Itch Toilet Paper, invented by Mike Spinowski, George Jr.’s grandfather, in 1935, and the Slinky, invented
by Richard James in 1943.

Four large, red curtains were hung in the middle of the room, concealing what Vincent imagined to be the most magnificent
invention of all. The curtains were surrounded by the other inventions that were too large to fit on the shelves. There was
a 1938 Triumph Speed Twin motorcycle, invented by Edward Turner. Even a diving suit invented in 1921 by the magician Harry
Houdini.

Vincent walked slowly from invention to invention, reading every name and date. Then he saw it. The invention he had seen
in the basement of the Met. The one Stella had cranked up. It had been cleaned up and several new pieces had been added to
the device, but Vincent knew it was—

“One of Tesla’s greatest inventions,” a voice said behind him.

Vincent turned around to see a frail-looking old man dressed all in white.

“Mr. Whiz? Sir?” Vincent said, startled. “I’m sorry, sir. I was, I was just looking for the bathroom.”

Vincent noticed the kite on Mr. Whiz’s tie.