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At the waiting room of the hospital he paced nervously back and forth. The nurses had long shoved him out, and why? He was a doctor after all…well perhaps not that type. A doctor of science, yes, but not of medicine. Henry Frink was a tall man with a high brow. His hair was parted to one side and hung to the level of his temple. It was mostly grey now and only some of the brown from his youth remained on the back of his head. He wore thick black glasses and a bushy grey beard. Always dressing well, he wore a brown suit and tie. It seemed like an eternity had passed when at last the door flung open and he heard, "Mr. Frink? Congratulations, it's a boy." Overwhelmed with enthusiasm, he rushed in the room to the beautiful sight of his wife Barbara holding a sweet new baby boy.
"Honey." She said weakly yet sweetly. "Meet our baby, John. John, that's your daddy." As tired from the ordeal as his mother was, the baby took a brief look at his father, put his head down and fell asleep on his mother.

It wasn't long before the child was up and around. He began to take his first steps at an early age. But soon it became apparent that something wasn't right.
"Henry, John just smacked into the wall again!"
"What? Again? I don't understand it." Said Henry Frink. "Other children his age are walking about perfectly without running into obstacles."
He watched his son a moment as he got up from his fall undeterred, took a few more steps and bashed his head on the thick leg of a wooden coffee table.
"That's my boy! Never give up!" Exclaimed Henry as he watched his son get up from his fall once more, and then walk right into the couch, bounced off and end up flat on his back. Then he hit the television stand, and the magazine rack, and the bookshelf, finally ending up on his face after tripping over a shoe.
"Henry! Don't just stare at him, go help him." Barbara said.
"Sorry it's just rather mesmerizing to watch." He chuckled as he went and lifted up his son.

As he held the child, his mother went up to him and studied his face. She held up her hand before him and when he did not respond, she wiggled it in front of him. A slight response, he seemed to be squinting.
"John." She said, and he turned in the direction of the sound with hands out reaching for his mother. She stepped out of his line of sight and he continued to reach in that direction. "John." She said again and he turned in the direction of the sound.
"Henry, I think he needs glasses."
"Wow, I didn't even get mine this young. Poor little fellow."
"How will we know what prescription he'll need if he can't talk yet?"
"Well I guess we can just try different pairs until he stops bouncing into things." He said with a laugh, and that's what they did. Fifteen pairs later, little Frink was no longer bumping into things.
"Thank goodness that's over." Said his mother. "He's hit his head so many times it's no wonder he hasn't said his first word yet. All he does is baby babble."
"Um whay um blah hey." Responded the boy almost as if on cue.

After this rocky start the boy showed amazing progress. The Frink family seemed to have a little prodigy on their hands. He had already learned to read by the age of four and showed remarkable understanding of the world around him. He had a curiosity about him that reminded Henry of himself as a child. He wanted to know how things worked, and thought the best way to do that was by taking them apart though he couldn't always put them back again. After having destroyed Henry's pocket watch trying to figure out what made it tick, his father decided to channel this energy into a love the sciences that both he and his wife possessed.

At the age of six he began to take his son on trips to the park to teach him natural history.
"Now son, all around you under your feet is a whole 'nother world that goes unseen, by human eyes. It is there for those that look closely."
"Wow." Responded John in amazement.
"Come down here, son." Said his father as he got in his hands and knees and looked in the dirt. John, emulated his dad and watched intently as he picked up two handfuls of dirt. "In this you can find all kinds of things like this worm. It has no backbone and is perfectly suited for making tunnels in the ground. There are seeds waiting to become grass, flowers or trees. Here's a bug, there's many types of burrowing insects in the dirt and millions of tiny creatures so small you can not see them with your eyes. For that you need a microscope."
"WOW!!!" He said again as he just stared at the dirt in his father's hand.

Young Frink was they type who would rather listen to his father's teachings than go out and play with other kids. He'd rather spend time with books than watching television. Many summers did he spend out in the fields collecting specimens for his insect collection. He'd sit under a tree and read his books that his father bought him or that he borrowed from the library. It was one Christmas morning that really changed his out look on things. As he pulled and tore at the wrapping he got more and more excited as this gift in the huge box was slowly revealed to him. He had gotten his very first microscope. At every chance he got, young Frink would examine every sample he could fit under the tiny lens. At the table he put a piece of lettuce under it and began to scrutinize it.
"Honey, he's doing it again." Said his Barbara upset. "I've told him to stop hundreds of times."
"Son! Stop analyzing your mother's cooking."
"But daaaaad. I think there are euglenoids in the salad."
"Now! I said put it away."
"Oh." He pouted as he walked head down toward his room to put away his scope.

It was in school where he really excelled though. He quickly gained a reputation as the smartest kid in his elementary school. Of course this made him a prime target for bullies. Young Frink arrived bright and early to his class. He was in 5th grade and the school year had just started. Frink had fairly long tussled greenish brown hair. Parted down the middle the tips of it reached just past his temples and covered part of the legs of his glasses. His glasses were the typical thick round coke bottle shaped. His eyesight was so bad that you could not see his eyes through the thick glass. He'd gotten most of his adult teeth in, and his two front ones stood out very obviously even with his mouth closed. Frink loved bright colors and wasn't embarrassed to wear them. His shirt was a bright neon green matched with hot pink shorts. The whole look was finished off by bright black and white tennis shoes. He smiled at his teacher with a goofy grin and said, "I'm really looking forward to today's lesson on fractions, though I wish we would dabble in some higher forms of math, wa hey!"
"Oh now don't get too excited Frink. I just got word from the principal that we are having a special meeting today in the auditorium. There will be no math today." All the kids in their seats behind him broke into cheers. Frink's facial expression changed from brightness to surprise and then disappointment.
"WHAT? Um hey ah. But but…"
"Oh sit down and don't worry about it." Said the teacher with a smile. "I think you'll like this. It's a special announcement for the whole school. Everyone's gonna' be there."
Still not sure what to make of the situation he sat down at this desk and just thumbed through his books.

Later that day the entire school pilled into the auditorium lecture hall. The din of children's voices filled the air as they talked amongst themselves. Some were just glad to be missing class, while others wondered why they had all been herded into this place. Soon the principal walked onto the stage and leaned into the mic.
"Good afternoon children." He said in a solid voice. "Before I start can anyone tell me what the study of planets and space is called?"
"Good gracious that's an easy one. Astronomy!" Responded Frink almost instantly.
"Smarty strikes again." Responded the voice of some unseen bully from the back. Laughter rose up from the audience. It was no surprise to them, young Frink always had an answer for these types of question.
"Silence please!" Said the principal. "That is correct. I am here to announce that we are going to be adding an astronomy program to our science curriculum. It will be in full swing by next year. Honor students can get a jump on it now if they so desire along with studies in mechanics which will also be added next year as well."
Frink's face lit up. This was wonderful news. He would definitely be one of the first ones to sign up for all of this. His dad would be so proud to hear he had joined.
"I think many of you will find this very rewarding." Continued the principal. "Space is very interesting in it's vastness. Why the sun itself is….Hum. Does anyone here perchance KNOW how far away the sun is from the earth?"
Frink stood with his hand raised. "The distance that the sun wey hum is from the earth is uh hay hey…."
"Ninety-three million miles I believe is what you are trying to articulate." Responded a confident arrogant new voice. Everyone gasped and turned toward the stranger. There in the back stood a good-looking blonde kid, with a thin pointed face. His hair was angled over his forehead, and he wore a blue sweater with brown pants. He had thin rectangular glasses and a big smirk on his face. Had someone finally beaten Frink to an answer?
"Zoi! Who is that?" blurted out Frink in surprise. "I thought I'd memorized everyone's name in the school." He said to himself.
"Ah I'd almost forgotten." Said the principal. "Kids this is our new student, Owen. He just moved to Springfield and since he shows great potential we let him join even though the year's already underway. I hope you will all make him feel welcome."
Frink just stood there not sure what to make of what had just happened.

The day had seemed shorter because of the lecture the principal had given. Still there was so much to do now that Frink could hardly contain his excitement. He clutched his books happily as he began to walk home. The kid rounded some bushes when a shadow fell over him. He took a few steps and it followed him. Now this was strange. Perhaps a large bird or a plane had flown underneath the sun. He turned around to look up and came face to face with…
"AH!! Jake! Um how…are you?"
"Shut up, Frink!" Yelled Jake as he grabbed Frink by his hair and dragged him away.
"Ow ow, hurting, pain ow ow."
"I said shut UP!"
Jake was one of the many bullies that patrolled the school and made their kills during lunch and after school hours. He was a big kid with grey hair that stood at a point on the back of his head like a shark's fine. In fact his nick name was Sharky. In crowds or in line's Sharky was always easy to distinguish as his grey "fin" slicked through the other normal rounded hairdos. Still holding his hapless victim by the hair, he hurled Frink against the brick wall of the school and watched him cower.
"It's been over a month since I beat the stuffing out of you Frinky. You're over due." Sharky looked at his watch. "As soon as Tommy gets here with client number two we can begin." He continued as he beat his fist into his palm. It wasn't long before his ugly lackey Tommy appeared dragging in…Owen? What where they doing with him?
"Ah, good job buddy!" Exclaimed Jake. "Well the principal said to make you feel welcome, and believe me we ALWAYS welcome new students to our school."
"Woe he's a feisty one, Jake." Said Tommy as he tried to hold Owen down. Owen wiggled and tried to struggle free.
"They always are at first, but they learn. WELCOME!!" He said as he nailed him the stomach and sent him flying into the brick wall right next to Frink. "Well well, this will be fun. Today we get to beat on the two smartest kids in the school." Said Sharky as he picked up a fist full of mud. Frink's jaw dropped at the thought of what was coming.
"I'm sorry your first day had such a bad introduction." Said Frink as he looked over at Owen. "My name is John, but my friends call me…"
"Frinky!! I said SHUT UP!!" Screamed Sharky as he splattered Frink with a huge mud ball. Owen watched him go down and he sneered at the sight.
"You just let them DO this to you? Pathetic. Fight back man!" Just as he put up his fist a huge ball of mud hit Owen in the forehead so hard it veered him around in mid air and he landed face down in the puddle that lay at his feet. Frink watched him fall to his level and said softly.
"That's why you don't fight back."
"WOE!! Nice one, Tommy. That one had a rock in it!!!" Squealed Sharky happily. "That's right new boy. You better listen to your pall Frinky there. We do the fighting here, not you!"
They proceeded to pummel both Frink and the unconscious Owen with mud balls. One moment he was here, the next Frink found himself lying muddied and bruised in a grass field. It was time to go home. Tomorrow was another day.

The following day Frink ran down the empty hall of the school. It was time to sign up for the new honor courses the principal had talked about the day before. All the other kids were still in regular session, and it was kind of nice to be out of the classroom doing something new for a change. The sign up area was broken down by grades. He made his way to the 5th grade area. He looked too see who was joining out of the 6th graders. Hum a few kids here and there. Then he looked into the line of the 4th graders. To his surprise he saw Owen there. He wore a bandage just above his left eyebrow, the area where the rock had struck him. Frink had gotten off easy. His own first encounter with bullies hadn't been that rough. Once inside he decided to approach him. Most likely no one had made this kid feel welcome yet. Perhaps they could be friends.
"Greetings!" He said enthusiastically as he walked up to Owen. "Say I didn't know you were in 4th grade. You're a year younger than me. Wuh hay! Perhaps we could work together. You know, help each other out."
Owen just stared at him.
"I don't need your help, egghead. Some help you were to me yesterday." He said sharply. Frink was taken back by this unexpected statement. "So." Continued Owen.
"I hear you're the smartest kid in the school."
"Uh, possibly. Some kids say that but I don't know." He said rubbing his head modestly. He was almost blushing.
"Well you don't look so smart to me. Talk is cheap. Show me what you can really do."
"But I didn't say anything." By now Owen had already walked away. Frink stood there perplexed. Why had Owen been so mean, when all he'd tried to do was extend a welcoming hand? Well, whatever the case he was wasting time. He needed to get started on his project.

Today they were in mechanics. Frink looked at the worktable before him. On its surface was scattered all sorts of metal parts, screws, wires, nuts, bolts and bulbs. His eyes lit up with all the ideas he was coming up with. The other kids had already gotten a head start and were building all kinds of gadgets out of the spare parts. Frink smiled, for he already knew what to do with the junk before him. At the other table Owen struggled with his contraption. He'd managed to rig some wheels onto the device and had set to work on a grasping claw for his vehicle. At last he got the stubborn pieces to fit and articulate properly. He smiled and placed his work before the kids at his table. Lots of ooh's came from them as they watched the little arm move out as the small vehicle rolled forward. Like the pincer of a crab, the claw opened up; spread out full length and picked up a pencil that was lying on the table. Owen smiled proudly and gave all the on lookers a confident stare. A girl at his table reached out to touch the gizmo. As she did so something caught her attention, it was a blur, or a movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to look on the wall and saw a crawly thing going up it. It looked like some kind of bug, but something wasn't quite right.
"AH! What's that?!?!" She said as she pointed at the wall. Everyone's heads lifted up and turned in that direction. A simultaneous WOW came from them as they spied a tiny mechanical spider scaling the wall. From it's metal abdomen was a small blinking antenna. They all turned to look behind them and watched as Frink stepped up to the group holding a remote control with a blinking red light. When he moved the control to the right, the spider turned right, when he turned it left the spider moved left. It was a very delicate construct and the legs moved with a grace that mimicked the real deal. Owen's eyes went wide. How dare everyone shift their focus to this idiot's invention? Frink was all caught up in the control of his artificial animal, and he enjoyed just watching it walk around. Happy with the children's reaction to it, he hit a button on his control and the little arachnid jumped onto the table. The teacher walked in and instantly saw the intricacy and work that had gone into the little bug. She watched as the kids looked on as it scurried by them on the long table. As all eyes were on the toy, no one noticed that Owen had picked up a pipe. As the little spider scrambled by him he pulled back his arm. Frink happened to look up at that moment and saw the situation.
"Nooooooo!!!" He yelled as he ran across the room toward Owen, but it was in vain. Owen brought the pipe down in a deadly arch that smashed the tiny spider into thousands of pieces.
"No!" Said Frink as he made it to the table and stared at the pile of rubble. He was almost in tears. Owen looked up and saw that the teacher had seen the whole thing. He walked around the table and put his arm around Frink's shoulder.
"Oh, oh my. This was yours? I am soooo sorry. Gosh, it was so good that, that I thought it was a real spider. Good work, Frink." He said as he gave him an obvious fake smile. Frink just continued to stare sadly at the shattered toy. "Blab." He said disappointed. Everyone else was turning in their work, what else was there to do? He walked up to the teacher's desk and placed the debris on her desk.
"This was a spider, and it really worked uh hey. It was…it was…." His voice quivered.
"It's ok." She responded. "I saw the whole thing. You get an A. Your spider was very well built. Cheer up son."
He smiled weakly and scooped the ruins into his bag then left the room.

When he arrived home, Frink threw his bag onto the floor and went straight up to his room. He hopped on his bed, grabbed the nearest book and lay on his stomach. He wasn't actually looking at his book but mostly stared out the window at the trees and occasionally looked down at the pages. He'd turn them without really noticing where he was. His father noticed the strange silence. It wasn't like Frink to just drop his bag on the ground. He lifted it off the floor and went up to see what was the problem.
"Afternoon son. How as school today?" He said from the doorway. Frink looked back at him with an obviously less than happy face.
"Alright."
"Wasn't today the first day of honors classes?"
"Yes, blay."
"Well how did it go?"
"Not too good." He hesitated a moment but saw that his father was insistent that he go on. "There's this new kid….and I don't think he likes me very much."
"Now what makes you say that?"
"I had this really neat robot I had made, and he broke it, um hey."
"Oh. Perhaps it was an accident."
"Dad look in my bag. Does that look like an accident to you?"
"Oh I was wondering what all this rubble was." Frink just frowned and turned back to page through his book. Seeing that his son was still upset he lifted him up, set him on the bed and sat down beside him.
"So was this for a grade?"
"Yeah."
"And what did you get?"
An A."
"Well then, isn't that what matters? You obviously accomplished what you needed to do. If this boy is another bully, keep your work and yourself away from him. I'm proud of you son. You seem to be off to a great start in this new class of yours."
Frink looked up at him with a weak smile.
"Thanks, dad."
"Good. Well I brought up your book bag. I figured you might want your books to do your homework." Said his father. He watched as the boy's smile grew. He then laughed.
"Thanks again dad, but I already did my homework. I had some extra time during study hall."
Henry looked at his son proud then gave him a hug.

Another day of school. Frink sat at his desk waiting for class to begin when his friend, Tim nudged him.
"Hey Frink, have you heard the news?"
"News? What news?"
"We're going to be having a science fair."
"A science fair? Zoi. No I was unaware of this. Gosh, you know I have to enter that."
"Heh, I thought you might say that." Said Tim. "The whole school's gonna turn out for it."
"What's the first prize."
"Oh probably just a blue ribbon."
"Oooh, a blue ribbon. Sounds great." Said Frink excited as he thought about what he could enter.
In a near-by 4th grade classroom, Owen was having a similar conversation with his friend, Jason.
"A science fair, eh? I bet I can take first place easily." Owen said as he thought about the competition. His smile quickly fell from his face. "Is that Frink kid going to be entering? Of course he is." He added before Jason could respond. "It's just like that dweeb to enter something like this. He could prove to be a challenge. Jason! Spy on him. Find out what his project will be and any dirt you can get on that kid."
"Heh heh, no sweat, Owen." Responded Jason as he rushed of on his little task. The bell rang suddenly and it was time for lunch.

The lunchroom was large with several round tables for the students to eat at. Frink sat toward the front with a group of his buddies. They had their books positioned around their trays and they discussed their homework while they ate. Just further down Sharky and Tommy sat looking rather disgusted at the food.
"I can't believe they expect up to eat this crap!" Yelled Tommy. Sharky twirled his mashed potatoes, or what he thought were mashed potatoes, with his fork making it into a curly Q.
"Hey, I bet I can hit that fat kid over there." He said as he looked up from his lunch. Sharky gooped on a good portion of the potatoes onto his fork, pulled back and catapulted it at the head of the unsuspecting fat kid. He nailed him right in the back of the neck and it slid down into his shirt. Owen who sat at a table adjacent to Frink's watched as the bullies made the first strike in what he knew would unfold into a nasty food fight. He couldn't have been more right. The fat kid stood up and saw Sharky laughing his head off. He picked up a drumstick and hurled it at the bully. Fast on his feet, Sharky ducked and it wacked the girl behind him right in the forehead. She retaliated with a piece of artichoke. This cascaded through all the tables until everyone was not chucking food back and forth. Frink ducked left and right as he tried to avoid the flying food.
"Gentlemen, hide your books." He said to his friends. He looked back as the captain of the girl's softball team nailed a kid with an apple knocking him flat on his ass.
"Zoi! That thing must have been traveling at least 15mph! Um Hey!" exclaimed Frink at the sight of that. Several kids laughed at the ridiculous remark, and the frenzy of the food fight seemed to diminish after that. Owen could not stand the fact that once again all eyes were on Frink.
"Hey Frinky!! Why don't you tell me how fast THIS is going?" He yelled as he flung all his mashed potatoes at Frink. They smacked him dead on in the face.
"HEY!" He screamed, then whipped away the mush from his face. An instantaneous "OOOOOOOOH!" rose from the other students as they were now fully aware of the rivalry between these two.
"Woe! Well judging from the impact and force I'd estimate that those mashed potatoes must have had a velocity of at least 20mph." The kids all laughed again.
"Shut up." Said Owen annoyed as he plastered him again with some peas.

Having had enough Frink left the chaotic lunchroom and went to the restroom to clean his face and glasses. The whole situation had been ridiculous and should never have even started. There was no point in going back. Class would start again soon so he figured he'd go to his locker, get a few things and make his way back to the room. He closed the door to his locker and found Sharky standing beside him. He'd been hiding behind the door the whole time. It didn't take long for Tommy to appear after that.
"Wah ha! Uh, hi Sharky. Fancy meeting you here."
"Can the pleasantries Frinky. You know why I'm here."
"Uh, sorry I'm all out of money." Said Frink nervously.
"Oh is that so? That's ok. I'm feeling generous today. I will beat you for free."
"Ow! Pain in the glayvin!"
It didn't take long for them to have him on the ground as they punched. Owen chanced to walk by on the way to his own locker. He stopped short and stared wide eyed. The shock quickly faded into a wicked grin. Sensing his eyes on him Sharky veered around and faced Owen.
"HEY what are you looking at, geek! You ain't seen NOTHING here!"
Owen smiled at him and said calmly.
"Absolutely. I saw NOTHING." And he walked on nonchalantly.
"Help…me…" cried Frink.
Both bullies stopped and just watched as Owen went on his way.
"You know?" remarked Tommy. "He could almost be one of us."
"NAH!" Said Sharky. "It's some kind of weird geek competition. Besides, we get HIM tomorrow. Let's go."

The weekend had finally arrived. Timmy was over at Frink's house helping him prepare for the science fair. The two worked away in the back yard, and the ground was littered with all kinds of mechanical parts.
"I still think it would have been easier had you done your project on electricity, like you had first mentioned." Complained Timmy as he turned a nut with his wrench.
"Easy doesn't get me first place. Let's test the alignment now."
"Frink, tell me; what application does a cantaloupe launcher have?"
Frink looked up from his calculations perplexed. "I don't know, but I bet we can make these babies fly at least three blocks. Bwah hay. Not only that but it's a really sweet cannon."
Convinced that was a good enough answer as any, Timmy tilted the launcher on its axis. If it really worked he wanted to be one of the first to see it.
"I think we're ready!" Said Tim fairly excited.
"Great! Our first test run." Added Frink. "Hand me a cantaloupe."
Tim did so and watched as Frink lifted it up and slid it into the barrel. They heard it roll down to the end, a perfect fit. Together they aimed the cannon up at an arbitrary patch of sky. The whole thing ran on hydraulics so there was no need to worry about explosive devices. It was hydraulics and pressure that would rocket him to first prize, or so Frink hoped.
"Alright." He said. "Ready. Aim. FIRE!"
BOOSH!!!
"YES!" The two boys cheered. Their hearts soared with the flying fruit and they watched it turn into a dot on the horizon as it went further away. It cleared three blocks easily and then began it's decent. Shortly after it fell behind the roof of a house the two heard a loud CRASH!!!!
They looked at each other, horror in their faces.
"I'd say that sounded like a car getting smashed." Said Frink nervously.
"Car. Definitely." Added Tim. There was what seemed to be a long silent pause then,
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" yelled the two simultaneously. Tim began to run around in circles. Frink grabbed his cannon and threw it into the garage, destroying it in the process. He ran back to the yard, grabbed Tim, who was still running in circles, by the arm and pulled him upstairs to his room. There the two sat in silence and terror at the foot of Frink's bed. What seemed like an eternity finally passed when Frink's father came into the room.
"Hey fellows." He said. "What are you guys doing cooped up in here on a nice day like today."
"We're uh…" said Tim struggling for an idea.
"We're…doing a round robin story." Said Frink at the spur of the moment.
"Stories huh?" Said his dad. "That sounds like fun. Say son, have you finally decided what to do for you science fair project?" The boys looked at each other with blank faces.
"Yes. I think I'll do it on electricity."

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