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”Grandfather,” says Maria, standing in the doorway to his study with her hands clasped neatly behind her back. From behind her, Shadow peers into the room. “I have come with a proposal.”
Gerald hides his grin by pretending to have to write down one last thing in his notes before swiveling his chair around to face the children. “And what might that be?” he inquires, in the same formal tone as Maria.
Now Maria’s the one who struggles to suppress a grin. “A new area of study has recently been suggested,” Maria says. “Which shows much promise. For the continuation of Project Shadow… we require the three newest flavors of instant pudding.”
“Do you now?” says Gerald, picking up his notepad. “Well, tell me. What are these flavors?”
“Lime, and grape-” says Maria.
“And strawberry-banana,” Shadow adds, frowning a little. “You’ll get them for Maria, won’t you?”
He hasn’t quite caught on to the rules or the fun of the ‘grant application game’ yet, but since it amuses Maria, Shadow wants to play along. Maria and Gerald have been playing it since Maria was just a little girl, barely coming up to Gerald’s knee and very sickly besides – and yet, Maria had wanted to come along with Gerald everywhere and play scientists with him. It’s not all test tubes and lab coats, Gerald had told her, so she wouldn’t follow him into the lab where she could injure herself. We have to do a lot of paperwork, too.
But Maria, seven years old and curious about everything, wanted to know about the paperwork too. So Gerald had said well, imagine if you wanted something very badly, but to get it you had to say things like this…
“Of course I will,” says Gerald. Then, to Maria, “Your grant has been approved. But in the future Maria, remember to clearly outline the timeline of your project if the funding were to be granted, and furthermore-”
“I know, I know!” says Maria, turning around in the doorway. “Love you, grandfather!”
“Goodbye, Professor,” says Shadow, and hand in hand, they run off down the corridor. Gerald watches them until the automatic door finishes sliding shut, and then he turns back to his notes, still smiling a little. He’ll have to remember to put in that request for instant pudding for the supplies being sent up from the planet, since Maria and Shadow want it so much.