The Master of DELETE

By Jackie Horsfall • Illustrated by Blanche Sims

Jeddie covered the mouse with his hand and double-clicked. The computer whirred and loaded the Wordspell program. Jeddie keyed in the first word on his spelling list.

“Hey, Jed-man.” Matt slid into the seat at the next computer station. “What’s happening in cyberspace? Haven't contacted any aliens yet, have you?”

“Nope. Just getting ready for the big spelling test,” Jeddie said, entering another word from his list.

Matt’s eyes grew huge. “Oh, great! I forgot all about today’s spelling test.” He clutched his stomach. “Call the nurse. I think I’m getting sick.”

Jeddie looked up at the screen and frowned. He clicked the mouse over a word and pressed the DELETE key. The misspelled word instantly disappeared from the screen. “Too bad I can’t delete the whole spelling test,” he said, keying in the word again.

Matt popped forward in his seat. “Go ahead, Jed-man. Give it a try. Anything’s possible in cyberspace.”

Jeddie typed SPELLING TEST on his screen. He clicked his mouse over the words and hit the DELETE key. The words disappeared.

“Class! Class, we have a full day ahead of us, so please take your seats for attendance.” Jeddie and Matt swiveled around to face their teacher. “Take out a sheet of paper and number it to twenty-five for the unit spelling t—”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Fire drill!” called the teacher.

Jeddie and Matt filed outside and waited as students poured out of the building. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. Still no “all clear” signal.

Their teacher checked her watch. “Tomorrow,” she finally announced. “We’ll have the unit spelling test tomorrow.”

“Yes!” Matt whispered. He turned to Jeddie and bowed. “Way to go, O Master of DELETE.”

After school, Jeddie sat at his bedroom desk and brought up the Wordspell program on his computer. “Hey, Lissa!” he called to his teenage sister. “Can you come here a sec?”

Lissa poked her head around the door. “Make it snappy, OK, little bro? I’m on the phone.”

“I need you for an experiment,” Jeddie explained.

“Like what?”

“Like tell me one thing that Mom really hates. One thing she wishes would go away forever.”

Lissa thought for a moment. “Sometimes she comes home really tired, stressed out from work. Like yesterday when she got tied up in traffic for more than an hour. She always says there aren’t enough hours in the day.”

“Mom definitely needs a break,” agreed Jeddie, fingering the keyboard. “No problem. I can handle this. Now watch.” Jeddie typed MOM’S STRESS on the screen. Clicked the mouse. Hit DELETE. Gone.

“Hi, kids,” Mom called from the doorway. “You’ll never believe this! My company is letting me work from home now.” She held up a small black briefcase. “With my own laptop computer. I’ll drive in only one morning a week for meetings. Think of the time I’ll save!”

“S-super, mom,” stammered Lissa in a stunned voice.

Mom looked at her watch. “Let’s go, Jeddie. Dr. Patel wants to fit you for your new glasses.”

Oh no! Glasses! Jeddie had completely forgotten. “Mom, I don’t want to wear glasses,” he pleaded. “My hockey helmet won’t fit over them.”

“The doctor says he has special glasses for hot-shot skaters,” Mom reminded him. She wrapped Jeddie up in a bear hug. “You can’t get that hat trick if you can’t see the puck, big guy!”

Jeddie wriggled away and turned back to his computer. He stared at the screen, then typed GLASSES on the keyboard. Click. DELETE. Gone. Jeddie smiled.

Lissa flung open the back door when she heard Mom’s car pull up in the driveway. “Come on out, Jeddie,” she called. “Where’s my new, improved bro?”

Jeddie walked into the kitchen, head down. Dark-framed glasses were perched on his nose. “It didn’t work,” he muttered. “I’m not the Master of DELETE anymore.”

“Why don’t we all celebrate?” Mom suggested cheerfully. She reached into the refrigerator for a pitcher of fruit punch. “Let’s have cookies and punch to celebrate Jeddie’s new look.”

She opened the cupboard and stared at the empty shelf. She peered into the dishwasher. “Where are they?” she wondered out loud. She checked the sink and drainboard. “Have you kids seen them?”

“Seen what, Mom?” Jeddie asked.

“The glasses,” Mom said, sounding puzzled. “What happened to all the glasses?”