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Rick, knowing he was beat on this one, resigned to ask for help. He didn’t care at the moment, although he suspected, that his housemates were behind Snoopy being kidnapped. He’d play along. They wanted a game, he’ll rise to the challenge, Rick thought, that’s what Rick does best. Yes, this was too important, the stakes were too high, poor Snoopy was locked up somewhere on campus and he had only esoteric clues in the ransom note to help him find the stuffed dog.
It was not just any toy, though and his housemates knew that too. They must have really thought this was the only way to get his attention. Sadly, Rick knew they were right and resolved to see it through. Perhaps he’d learn something, like Jeff said, or maybe just everyone will be more cooperative and listen to each other, including himself.
The ransom note didn’t ask for money, which was good because Rick didn’t have any to spare! It did ask him to do a bit of research on the school campus, and possibly enlist Terry and Emily for help. Well, not in so many words, but Rick thought they were the most apt people he knew that fit “fireman” and “straw girl”. First, he had to solve three logic puzzles that would give him the type of structure in which Snoopy was hidden. The first two puzzles were easy once he got the hang of it. Some of the clues reminded him of things that have happened over the years in this house, which made Rick smile and reminisce. For the last puzzle though, he needed Jen’s help. He’d have to wait until Saturday morning when she was back from the sleep lab to ask. So far he only go “RO”.
Jeff had no clue about what was the missing piece was. So if only Jen could fit in the last logic puzzle would he please stop pestering Jeff about it? With Jeff finally satisfactorily calming Rick that Snoopy would come to no harm, Jeff went off to bed. Rick, unable to sleep without Snoopy, spent time on the “world wide waste of time” as Emily liked to call it, to find out more about the campus.
Rick looked up what the ransom note asked for and more. Seven classrooms, three laboratories, a dining hall, two professors, and thirty graduate students had names or official abbreviations starting with “RO”. He found engineering drawings of the three laboratories: the Robert Goddard physics lab, the Water Remediation / Reverse Osmosis laboratory, and the Robotics laboratory. The physics lab was so close to the robotics lab that it inherited the same room initials on the campus organization.
The obvious choice to get at Rick, close to home, was the robotics lab. It was too late. Unfortunately, the security lock didn’t accept keyed entry after midnight on Friday and weekends. That could be why he needed Terry. The last part of his research required that he read up on building sound American-style housing and the use of load bearing walls. The web fascinated him; he read about an American architect named George Nelson who invented the concept of storage walls in the 1940’s. It’s amazing something about houses so useful got marketed so recently. Closet space! Isn’t that what Emily, Jen and Jeff, and himself argued about recently? His mind spinning and wandering, Rick turned of his monitor and hunkered down on his desk. He’d have to wait still.
Saturday morning, Rick awoke to find Jen and Terry playing video games. It was dreary rainy day, not a good day for running around outside. Jeff had already gone to the swimming pool.
“Rick? Are you OK? Jeff told me something happened in your room?” Terry looked up as a bleary-eyed Rick came in to the living room.
“Oh, yeah. Of course you wouldn’t know about it, Terry,” Rick glared at Jen. “I got a ransom note about Snoopy. He’s been kidnapped and held somewhere on campus. Anyone want a cup of coffee?” Rick trailed off into the kitchen, not wanting to actually piss off Jen. He still needed her help, but he couldn’t help himself to not get a dig in. I really gotta work on that, thought Rick.
****
All be told, Rick had a lot of things to work on. It was finally Monday afternoon that the caper was solved. Terry, the gentle giant fireman that he was, plucked the Snoopy-containing robot out of the rubble, which was behind a hidden trap door, blocked entry in a tiny passage way only the robot itself could have made. With a few flicks of his Swiss army knife, he dissected the robot and pulled out the reverse vacuumed plastic bag containing the stuffed dog. Rick, mildly horrified, snatched the bag from Terry, glad Snoopy was in one piece. Terry was amazed, how exactly did that work that Snoopy fit into the robot. Rick didn't care.
Jen was surprised too to see how it ended. She left it up to Emily to program the robot to do something, well, unexpected. The robot crawled or was placed into the wall space and basically hid itself with its tools into the spaces between the walls of the Robotics lab. It was so cool! Good thing Terry was there to ensure they didn't do any damage to school property.
Rick tried to agree grudgingly. It wasn’t really working for him though, the anger. “Really, I’ve learned so much!” he tried to find his optimism. Emily’s there too, with her borrowed metal detector from her manufacturing work, and readily found the robot device that dragged the collapsed Snoopy into the wall. Rick found the release valve on the bag and pulled the wrinkled Snoopy out. It would be a little while before Snoopy was back to its normal shape. Rick tried to bubble how this was so unfair to take it out on Snoopy.
“No, Rick, we’re even,” Jen said, acknowledging that she thought something good came out of Rick's lessons.
Emily shook her head in agreement. “Yeah, for a while, you weren’t just house manager, you were judge jury and executioner, you took out all your anger on us, and tried to hide behind your apparent cuteness” explained Emily. “This whole "Snoopy Caper" was our way of trying to get you to see your other priorities and be a bit more compassionate to your fellow ‘mates.”
Emily flipped her arms around like a bird, wanting to fly, glad the whole thing was over. Emily did her little cheer dance for Rick. It wasn’t perfect, but the three of them smiled and vowed to try harder at being better housemates.
Word count: 1116 (wow!).
It was not just any toy, though and his housemates knew that too. They must have really thought this was the only way to get his attention. Sadly, Rick knew they were right and resolved to see it through. Perhaps he’d learn something, like Jeff said, or maybe just everyone will be more cooperative and listen to each other, including himself.
The ransom note didn’t ask for money, which was good because Rick didn’t have any to spare! It did ask him to do a bit of research on the school campus, and possibly enlist Terry and Emily for help. Well, not in so many words, but Rick thought they were the most apt people he knew that fit “fireman” and “straw girl”. First, he had to solve three logic puzzles that would give him the type of structure in which Snoopy was hidden. The first two puzzles were easy once he got the hang of it. Some of the clues reminded him of things that have happened over the years in this house, which made Rick smile and reminisce. For the last puzzle though, he needed Jen’s help. He’d have to wait until Saturday morning when she was back from the sleep lab to ask. So far he only go “RO”.
Jeff had no clue about what was the missing piece was. So if only Jen could fit in the last logic puzzle would he please stop pestering Jeff about it? With Jeff finally satisfactorily calming Rick that Snoopy would come to no harm, Jeff went off to bed. Rick, unable to sleep without Snoopy, spent time on the “world wide waste of time” as Emily liked to call it, to find out more about the campus.
Rick looked up what the ransom note asked for and more. Seven classrooms, three laboratories, a dining hall, two professors, and thirty graduate students had names or official abbreviations starting with “RO”. He found engineering drawings of the three laboratories: the Robert Goddard physics lab, the Water Remediation / Reverse Osmosis laboratory, and the Robotics laboratory. The physics lab was so close to the robotics lab that it inherited the same room initials on the campus organization.
The obvious choice to get at Rick, close to home, was the robotics lab. It was too late. Unfortunately, the security lock didn’t accept keyed entry after midnight on Friday and weekends. That could be why he needed Terry. The last part of his research required that he read up on building sound American-style housing and the use of load bearing walls. The web fascinated him; he read about an American architect named George Nelson who invented the concept of storage walls in the 1940’s. It’s amazing something about houses so useful got marketed so recently. Closet space! Isn’t that what Emily, Jen and Jeff, and himself argued about recently? His mind spinning and wandering, Rick turned of his monitor and hunkered down on his desk. He’d have to wait still.
Saturday morning, Rick awoke to find Jen and Terry playing video games. It was dreary rainy day, not a good day for running around outside. Jeff had already gone to the swimming pool.
“Rick? Are you OK? Jeff told me something happened in your room?” Terry looked up as a bleary-eyed Rick came in to the living room.
“Oh, yeah. Of course you wouldn’t know about it, Terry,” Rick glared at Jen. “I got a ransom note about Snoopy. He’s been kidnapped and held somewhere on campus. Anyone want a cup of coffee?” Rick trailed off into the kitchen, not wanting to actually piss off Jen. He still needed her help, but he couldn’t help himself to not get a dig in. I really gotta work on that, thought Rick.
****
All be told, Rick had a lot of things to work on. It was finally Monday afternoon that the caper was solved. Terry, the gentle giant fireman that he was, plucked the Snoopy-containing robot out of the rubble, which was behind a hidden trap door, blocked entry in a tiny passage way only the robot itself could have made. With a few flicks of his Swiss army knife, he dissected the robot and pulled out the reverse vacuumed plastic bag containing the stuffed dog. Rick, mildly horrified, snatched the bag from Terry, glad Snoopy was in one piece. Terry was amazed, how exactly did that work that Snoopy fit into the robot. Rick didn't care.
Jen was surprised too to see how it ended. She left it up to Emily to program the robot to do something, well, unexpected. The robot crawled or was placed into the wall space and basically hid itself with its tools into the spaces between the walls of the Robotics lab. It was so cool! Good thing Terry was there to ensure they didn't do any damage to school property.
Rick tried to agree grudgingly. It wasn’t really working for him though, the anger. “Really, I’ve learned so much!” he tried to find his optimism. Emily’s there too, with her borrowed metal detector from her manufacturing work, and readily found the robot device that dragged the collapsed Snoopy into the wall. Rick found the release valve on the bag and pulled the wrinkled Snoopy out. It would be a little while before Snoopy was back to its normal shape. Rick tried to bubble how this was so unfair to take it out on Snoopy.
“No, Rick, we’re even,” Jen said, acknowledging that she thought something good came out of Rick's lessons.
Emily shook her head in agreement. “Yeah, for a while, you weren’t just house manager, you were judge jury and executioner, you took out all your anger on us, and tried to hide behind your apparent cuteness” explained Emily. “This whole "Snoopy Caper" was our way of trying to get you to see your other priorities and be a bit more compassionate to your fellow ‘mates.”
Emily flipped her arms around like a bird, wanting to fly, glad the whole thing was over. Emily did her little cheer dance for Rick. It wasn’t perfect, but the three of them smiled and vowed to try harder at being better housemates.
Word count: 1116 (wow!).
