Violet Irving had won the science fair.
"Violet Irving, you have won the science fair!" said Mayor Authorityfigure, who ran the science fair. "An exceptional well done on your cuttlefish project, and your drive and determination which has led to your beating of the competition. We are proud to present you with a scholarship to the widely respected scientific college, AtomTown McSciencePlace Community College. Everyone, give Violet a round of applause!"
The audience, mostly comprised of Violet Irving's many friends, erupted into fevered clapping and cheering. The girl herself was not as pleased.
"But I'm sure this isn't fair," Violet frowned. "Griselda couldn't even come today, she was at a funeral! How do we know I would have won? How do we know I even deserve this?"
"Rosalind Franklin died before she could get a Nobel Prize!" replied Mayor Authorityfigure with a wide smile. "Unfairness is prevalent in scientific history, am I right?" A resounding 'yes' echoed back. "Go ahead and take that scholarship, Miss Irving! You're a scientist now!"
A certificate was shoved unceremoniously towards Violet, and she was ushered off the podium by a gaggle of companions, chattering excitedly about the pizza they were now going to have at the only Italian restaurant in town.
One margherita pizza pie later, Violet Irving sat on the shoreline. Not many people wandered the beach on the evenings in Lixend Clackover. Mostly, they kept to the nightlife and played asinine arcade games until they ran out of change. Violet was alone- but not for long.
"Mrs Chromatophore?" Violet called out into the briny shallows. "Are you there?"
Something dark floundered beneath the groyne she sat on, and then an old-ish woman came out from underneath in a spray of salty droplets. She was dark-skinned with dreadlocked hair in tentacle-like formations, and she wore many layered, floaty cloths in different colours as clothing. Back in the day, this woman had also won the Annual Lixend Clackover Beauty Pageant, but this fact has nothing to do with the plot.
"Violet, dear," said Mrs Chromatophore, the old woman. "How lovely it is to see you. Win the Science Fair?"
"Not quite," Violet spat, her perfect face screwing up into a mixture of guilt and bitterness. "More like the Science UnFair."
"Puns are bad for the youthful complexion, sweetpea," Mrs Chromatophore chided her. "And there's no shame in losing. Next time, eh?"
"I didn't lose," Violet explained, "I won, but Griselda couldn't even be there! I
feel terrible about winning such a rig. I'm sure she feels awful right now."
"Is she the one who screams in terror whenever you draw near?" Mrs Chromatophore asked, narrowing her hooded eyes. "She seems a bit strange, and I say this as an old water witch who lives under a groyne."
"Well- I'm sure she has her reasons," claimed Violet, with an airy gesture of her hand. "She's the only other girl in this village who likes science! I'd really like to be friends with her."
YOU ARE READING
Pigeonholed
HumorGriselda Pules is a boring girl, the only unique scruple of her otherwise monotonous personality being her ardent love of science. However, the road to her future in the sciences is blockaded by the death of her grandfather, after which she must ta...
