by Brianna Doerfler

This story is dedicated to myhumorous Grandfather, Papa Jim, AKA Squirt!

 Iszy ran outside just in time to meet a very confused mail person. All the numbers where gone from the houses, mail boxes, and the MAIL!!  This was a new route for the mail person and she had no idea where to deliver the mail.   The mail carrier came up to Iszy and she handed her a piece of mail.  The mail had no numbers, only white spaces.

   “Something happened to the numbers Miss,’’ said the mail carrier in a trembling voice, as she looked over her glasses and frowned.   Iszy started to say something when the mail carrier said, “Numbers don’t just fly into mid air.  What is going on?  This is the strangest thing I have ever seen.  It is just not logical”.

  Iszy looked up just in time to see the numbers soar over head like butterflies.  The numbers were different shapes, sizes and in all languages.  She recognized the number six from Chinese class.  There were so many numbers floating in the air that it looked like a massive black rain cloud.  Some people confused the flying numbers for a new species of birds.  All the numbers seemed to be on a mission.  They were coming from all different directions, but seemed to be heading for the same place up town.      

Iszy, Mrs. Russian Blue, the mail person, and some of the neighbors followed the numbers down Havana Brown Street.  Suddenly, there was a loud crash, as cars collided.  Without street numbers or speedometer numbers, people were baffled and there was chaos.  Everywhere they looked numbers were missing!  There were cars honking and people screaming at each other.  

Farther down Havana Brown Street Iszy saw an angry woman at the outdoor market trying to buy fruits and vegetables.  The cashier had rung up the purchases, but only the market name appeared on the receipt.  The receipt had no numbers, the bar codes were missing, but worst of all there were no numbers on the MONEY!!!!

As Iszy turned the corner she was almost trampled by the crowed of angry people.  “Watch it, what am I invisible?!” cried Iszy. 

  “Stay close to me Iszy’’ said Mrs. Russian Blue in a soft but stern voice.

     Overhead the numbers had come together into one big funnel cloud.  The giant tornado of numbers was pouring down through the roof of the Balinese Building.  Iszy and Mrs. Russian Blue began to panic.  This was the office building where Mr. Russian Blue worked.  Iszy and her mother pushed through the crowed and went inside the building.  Mrs. Russian Blue recognized her husband’s boss, Miss Tabby.

    “What is it?” asked Miss Tabby.

  “Something is making all the numbers from everywhere swarm through the sky and fly into this building,’’ explained Mrs. Russian Blue.

   Just then one of the employees ran to Miss Tabby screaming “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PAYCHECK?!!”  He gave Miss Tabby a blank paycheck except for the employee’s name and the companies’ name, The Dandie Dinmont Computer Company. 

“I don’t understand,’’ said Miss Tabby.  ’’We have a computer that prints all the checks and it must not be working.  The computer is on the 20th floor.  It is the fastest most powerful computer money can buy.   Only the best, for the Dandie Dinmont Computer Company’’.

Miss Tabby turned to Mrs. Russian Blue and said, ’’Your husband is the best computer programmer I have ever worked with.  You must be very proud of him.’’

Iszy turned to her mom and said “Mom let’s go see if dad knows what’s going on.  Maybe he will have some idea why all the numbers are being pulled into this building.  My dad knows everything!’’.  

Mrs. Russian Blue and Iszy raced towards Mr. Russian Blue’s office, but stopped at the doorway.  There was a strange sound coming from his office. “Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz(snoring).’’   

Iszy and her mom entered the room and stared at the computer screen with disbelief.  Lines and lines of numbers were zipping across the screen.  Iszy walked over and shook her dad and said, “Dad, Dad, wake up.”

As Mr. Russian Blue opened his eyes, he said, “Iszy, what are you doing here?  Is everything alright at home?”

“Oh, hello dear, I didn’t see you standing back there.  This is a nice surprise.  What brings you and Iszy down town today?” asked Mr. Russian Blue.   

Just as Mrs. Russian Blue was about to answer her husband, Mr. Russian Blue noticed the computer screen.  “Oh, No! What is going on?” shouted Mr. Russian Blue.  “This computer has gone MAD!!!”   

What appeared on the screen and upset Mr. Russian Blue so much was the command, DELETE ALL NUMBERS!  “Yikes! The computer has been given the wrong command.  This will delete all the numbers in the world and that would be a disaster!” said Mr. Russian Blue.

“Can you fix it Dad?” asked Iszy.  

Mr. Russian Blue stroked his chin for a minute, and then said, “I think so.”

“Hurry Dad!  The numbers are coming in faster and faster and it looks like the computer is going to explode!” said Iszy excitedly.

Mr. Russian Blue looked down at his keyboard and noticed all the numbers were gone from that too.  “I have to work fast.  This is serious” he said. 

Mr. Russian Blue frantically began to feel around the top of his keyboard.  “Where is it?  Where is it?  Where is that key?” said Mr. Russian Blue.  Suddenly, he felt a bump!  “Ahhhh, there it is,” he said.

Mr. Russian Blue pressed the key and entered the command RATNITW
(Restore all the numbers in the world).  Then he entered a new command: INSERT ALL NUMBERS.

All of the sudden a question appeared on the screen. “Do you really want to INSERT ALL NUMBERS? Yes or No.’’ Mr. Russian Blue clicked on “yes.”  Then another question appeared on the screen. “Are you sure you really want to INSERT ALL NUMBERS? Yes or No.”  Mr. Russian Blue clicked on “yes.”  Once again, a question appeared on the screen.  “Are you positive you want to INSERT ALL NUMBERS? Yes or No.”  Mr. Russian Blue once again answered the computer, but this time there were no more questions.    

The numbers started marching backwards on the screen.  The computer started replacing all the numbers it had erased.  As if by magic, they swirled out of the building and went whirling back into places, all over the world. 

Outside, the people smiled and cheered, because once again people knew where to go, how much things cost, and what time it was.  School kids were able to do math work, play games, and count the days until school vacation.  Mr. Russian Blue stood back and watched as numbers swarmed back to where they belonged.  “Isn’t that a beautiful sight?’’ said Mrs. Russian Blue.  “But how ever did you do it?’’ 

“It is simple my dear.  You just need to know the right code for numbers, and not falling asleep on your keyboard helps too,’’ said Mr. Russian Blue.

The next day Iszy brought the newspaper in to show her parents.   “Look Dad, you’re famous!’’ said Iszy.  The front page of the Cuckoo Gazette read, “Blue Saves the World by Solving the Case of the Missing Numbers”. 

“I love you Dad” said Iszy.

About the author:

Brianna, a 10-years-old 5th grader, is enrolled in Royal Academy. Some of her many favorite subjects include literature, writing, reading mystery books and drawing. She also enjoys her co-op science class with Mr. Gordon Corbett and her Junior Engineering and Math class with Miss Eva Szillery. Ballet and piano are among her favorite in the arts category. Going on family trips with her mom and dad, is a real favorite for Brianna because she says, "I get them all to myself - no beepers or calls!"