Jenny landed on the sidewalk with a thud.
The lady's little dog barked and barked.
"Oh dear! Are you all right?" cried the lady.
Josh helped Jenny stand up.
Her knee was skinned, and she looked stunned.
"I'm okay," she said, brushing herself off.
"I guess I just didn't see the dog's leash."
Once I was sure that Jenny was all right, I looked at Molly again.
"So can I borrow your flower?"
This time Molly nodded.
"I made up my mind," she said.
"You can borrow it."
"Wow, thanks!" I said.
"I promise to take good care of it."
When we got to Molly's apartment, she took the flower off her headband.
Then she handed it to me.
"I'm going home right now to try my new invention on my mom!" I said.
"Good luck!" called Molly as I ran across the hall to my apartment.
At home my brother, Tate, was using the computer.
My mom was in the kitchen, making meatloaf for dinner.
"Guess what, Mom," I said.
"I have an idea for a great new invention!"
"Uh-oh," said Tate, looking up from the computer.
"He's going to make a big mess."
My mom winked at me.
"That's wonderful, Iggy," she said.
"Can I borrow your reading glasses?" I asked.
"They're on the kitchen table," my mom replied.
"Please be careful with them though.
I can't read a thing without them."
I took Molly's flower and my mom's glasses into my room.
Carefully, I unwound the metal stem of the flower.
Then I wrapped it around the frames of my mom's glasses.
The pink flower stood up, bright and tall.
My mom would never lose her reading glasses with that flower attached to them!
Then I realized something.
My mom never loses her reading glasses anyway.
She always puts them on the kitchen table.
How was I going to test out my new invention if my mom never lost her glasses?
That was a problem I could solve.
After all, Mrs. Romano had said that inventors are problem solvers, right?
"Iggy!" my mom called, "I need my glasses for a minute.
I have to check something in my cookbook!
"Okay, Mom," I said, walking into the kitchen.
"But first you have to find your glasses."
"What are you talking about?" asked my mom.
"You just took them into your room."
"I know," I said, "but now I'm going to hide them."
My mom looked puzzled.
"Is this some kind of game?"
"No," I said.
"But I want to test my new Fabulous Glasses-Finder invention.
And I can't test it unless you lose your glasses."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," called Tate from the living room.
"Well, okay," said my mom.
"But I don't have much time.
I'm in the middle of preparing dinner."
I grinned. "It won't take long," I said.
"The Fabulous Glasses-Finder is my best invention yet."
"Don't believe him, Mom!" said Tate.
"You're never going to see your glasses again!"
I told my mom to cover her eyes.
Then I hid her glasses on a chair in her bedroom.
That's the kind of place where someone might leave their glasses by mistake.
"Okay, Mom!" I said, "You can start looking now!"
It took my mom only three minutes to find her glasses.
It was very easy to spot them with Molly's pink flower sticking up.
My mom picked up her glasses and looked curiously at the flower.
"Well," she said. "I must say, Iggy.
This is a very clever idea."
"Did you hear that, Tate?" I shouted.
"My Fabulous Glasses-Finder really works!"