No I want you to loan me 97 Will I get it back Dandy asked Malcolm grinned All in one piece Dandy stood with his mouth wide open as Malcolm brought out his newest prize Wow Is that your mom’s curling iron Dandy asked No Malcolm said It’s my latest find And close your mouth before you swallow a fly Dandy snapped his mouth shut for a moment Where’d you find it In the back of one of my magazines Malcolm answered It’s made especially for fusing metal When I turn it on a red-hot laser will melt the money together Are you ready 9
Malcolm stacked the coins on the counter biggest on the bottom He pointed his fusion wand then flipped the switch No humming No buzzing No whirring Just a click A thin stream of white light shone down on the coins I thought the laser would be red Dandy said Shhhh Malcolm snapped giving Dandy a warning look It’s hot Like a white flame The boys stared at the money Dandy sniffled If it’s that hot wouldn’t it burn a hole in the counter Malcolm didn’t answer even though it was a good question Time’s up he finally said clicking off the fusion wand 10
Both boys inched slowly toward the table Shouldn’t there be smoke Dandy asked Gosh Dandy don’t you know anything Lasers heat differently than fire They leaned forward their noses just inches from the coins Shouldn’t it smell hot Dandy asked Malcolm reached his pointer finger toward the money Slowly slowly slowly Dandy wiggled impatiently Well Did the change uh change Malcolm’s finger touched the stack and it came toppling down He picked up one of the pennies It wasn’t even warm What went wrong he muttered 11
