Outsmarting the Camels: Amina and Her Team's Wild Science Adventure

A camel is a horse created by a committee.

"Thank you, Mr. Darwin," Amina muttered to herself as she stepped carefully around a line of chairs set out in front of the class and began to lay out her materials. This was not going to be easy. She could tell that much already.

The science fair had been Mrs. Quirke's idea, and it was a good one, Amina had to admit. The kids were generally pretty excited about it; it gave them something different to think about and work towards, other than their grades or whatever video game they were playing whenever they weren't in class anymore. And anyway, Mrs. Quirke was a solid educator who could usually be counted on to give her students a chance to learn something new and exciting if for no other reason than she hadn't taught it yet and wanted someone else to do it for her.

The problem was that Amina didn't much care for science fairs, and the main reason was right there in front of her: the project guidelines. They were painstakingly detailed and specific, which made sense because everyone had only an hour between classes to get their work done. But Amina didn't see why she should have to follow all these rules when they only got in the way; after all, how boring would a camel be if it wasn't trying to wreck things?

Rule number one: Each team must present at least two projects.

Amina gritted her teeth and ground down into a chair with one foot until the legs squealed against the tile floor and then pulled out another one to use as a support so she could lean on it while she screwed in an eyehook into the wall above her table. Rule number two: Projects must meet specified requirements.

Amina sighed through clenched teeth as she screwed in the hook while balancing precariously on one chair leg with her other foot flat against another chair so that she could reach the hook without having to bend over or even kneel down on the floor or risk knocking anything over--not that there was anything important enough on this table to knock over, but still, no reason to take chances, right? Rule number three: All projects must be labeled with team numbers as outlined on page six of the project guidelines booklet distributed last week during homeroom period (see exhibit B). Amina rolled her eyes; this was just getting ridiculous now. Oh well, at least she'd been keeping up with her schoolwork lately--no point giving up now! She'd already gotten this far. Rule number four: All projects must be turned in within an hour of being presented for judging by their respective teams' designated representatives (please refer back to rule number three). Aaaaaand rule number five: No team may use any kind of power tools or machinery during this competition under any circumstance whatsoever. Amina let out an exasperated sigh as she looked over at Wade's desk where he was busy sawing off some boards with his father's circular saw; this rule was something he just couldn't understand, he'd said when he'd offered her some help with her project earlier in homeroom period this morning after Mrs. Quirke had announced the details of the competition yesterday afternoon.

"What are you doing?" asked Macsen suddenly from across the aisle after finishing up his own work; he'd caught sight of Amina looking over at Wade's desk while holding what appeared to be an apple in one hand and an egg in another with a puzzled look on her face like someone who didn't know why she'd put them there in the first place."Making breakfast?" he added after a moment's pause when he realized that she hadn't heard him ask his question because she was still focused on Wade's display--an attempt at crosscutting various types of wood with his circular saw that appeared more like someone having gone berserk inside Home Depot than anything else--and didn't notice him walk up behind her carrying what looked like a large chunk of driftwood in both hands. "Because I'm pretty sure eggs don't go on apples," he added after another moment's pause as he started peeling off some of the extra bark from his...whatever it was...with his thumb nail while looking at Amina expectantly as if waiting for some sort of answer from her; apparently he wasn't going anywhere until she answered him. "Um," Macsen went on after another moment's wait when Amina still hadn't responded beyond staring blankly at him while Wade continued sawing away loudly behind them, "I mean besides black forest ham," he added quickly once realization dawned upon him because he'd caught sight of Amina's blank look--she really didn't know what black forest ham was--and decided that answering Macsen's question would be easier than figuring out what black forest ham was automatically if for no other reason than avoiding explaining what black forest ham might be, which would probably lead into telling him all about Germany and how many sausages they ate over there too (Schnitzel anyone?). "But how does that make sense if you're making breakfast?" Macsen asked finally after giving up hope for any sort of answer from Amina despite trying again just a few seconds later only louder now because evidently loudness had worked before but not now--she still hadn't moved or said anything since catching sight of him walking up behind her when she began working on her project several minutes earlier (the egg hadn't really helped either except maybe as something interesting to stare at). "Because eggs are kind of morning food," Macsen tried again after several moments more when Amina still hadn't responded beyond staring blankly at him again while Wade continued sawing away loudly behind them (Macsen glanced over at Wade distractedly without stopping what he was doing since continuing seemed like the only thing left to do since whatever conversation they'd been having seemed lost now) before finally deciding after several moments more that apparently Amina wasn't going anywhere until she answered his question even though clearly not hearing anything that Macsen had just said because otherwise why would anyone carry an apple around with them everywhere they went unless they were planning on eating it later? "I mean unless you plan on eating your eggs sometime today," Macsen tried again finally after giving up hope for any sort of answer from Amina despite trying again just a few seconds later only louder now because evidently loudness had worked before but not now--she still hadn't moved or said anything since catching sight of him walking up behind her when she began working on her project several minutes earlier (the egg hadn't really helped either except maybe as something interesting to stare at). "But eggs are kind of morning food," Macsen tried again after several moments more when Amina still hadn't responded beyond staring blankly at him again while Wade continued sawing away loudly behind them (Macsen glanced over at Wade distractedly without stopping what he was doing since continuing seemed like the only thing left to do since whatever conversation they'd been having seemed lost now) before finally deciding after several more moments more that apparently Amina wasn't going anywhere until she answered his question even though clearly not hearing anything that Macsen had just said because otherwise why would anyone carry an apple around with them everywhere they went unless they were planning on eating it later? "I mean unless you plan on eating your eggs sometime today," Macsen tried again finally after giving up hope for any sort of answer from Amina despite trying again just a few seconds later only louder now because evidently loudness had worked before but not now--she still hadn't moved or said anything since catching sight of him walking up behind her when she began working on her project several minutes earlier (the egg hadn't really helped either except maybe as something interesting to stare at).

"Oh hi Macsen!" said Amina cheerfully once finally snapping out of whatever thoughts had been distracting her all this time and noticing that someone else was standing next to her looking confused about something; apparently thinking about eggs for who knew how long had been pretty distracting! Anyway, it would seem that somehow Macsen had managed somehow during their brief conversation--which somehow included him walking closer towards where Amina stood along with saying something about breakfast food--to get close enough next to her so that he could see everything lying neatly lined up along the edge of both sides of the table next to where she stood working silently away including what looked like half-eaten apples sitting neatly beside a straightened wire coat hanger propped against one side along with balloons full of helium resting gently alongside the coats hanging neatly arranged along another corner next to those stacks upon stacks of folded cardboard boxes piled neatly atop each other while most everything else appeared to be complete chaos because apparently Amin [sic] couldn't stand rules or order or really anything else according [sic] what people thought ought [sic] happen [sic] or even existed according [sic] SOPs [sic] which meant also forgetting [sic] setting boundaries between countries who wanted [sic] borders therefore no surprise why [sic] eventually wars happened [sic] dividing countries [etc]. Apparently having thought about nothing but those stupid eggs for minutes upon minutes did absolutely nothing good for people who couldn't stand rules or order...or wars...or borders