“We turn fourteen next week!”
“Yeah, I know. Mama's going to have a big party for us, and —”
“Let's not just have a party. I want to celebrate. I want to have fun!”
“Mikkel —”
“Look at this. It's Great-Grandma Signe's notes, so obviously it's okay for —”
“What are you doing with that? You have to put it back! I can't believe you took it!”
“I didn't damage it or anything else. And I'll put it back as soon as we finish.”
“Finish what?”
“These are instructions for making gunpowder. That's an explosive —”
“Mikkel! Are you out of your mind? We can't make explosives!”
“It's a really weak explosive. Now, see what she says here? We can use gunpowder to blow things into the air, where they explode. They're called fireworks, and they must be safe, because she says people used to shoot off fireworks for celebrations all the time, especially in Iceland.”
“Let me look at that. Carefully! Hmm. Okay, yeah, I think we could do that …”
“We can't finish these by the eleventh. We're not going to get our birthday, and it's all your fault.”
“It's not all my fault. You're the one who let it heat too long —”
“And you spilled the sulfur. Anyway, the whole gunpowder thing was your bright idea.”
“Yeah, okay. Look, this coop is almost done. I'll finish up, and you can herd the chickens in. And we can finish in time. We've got the system down, and we'll get the other one done quicker.”
“I have a better idea. I'll finish up, and you herd the chickens. If I leave it to you, you'll probably nail the door closed. Again.”
“I don't think it's fair we have to build two chicken coops when we only blew up one.”
“Go argue with Papa about that, then. And then for sure we won't finish in time.”
“Okay, okay. I'll go get the chickens. But, Michael, wasn't the explosion great? Now we know how to do it right, we can have great fireworks next year …”