Vocab Bee

Narrator: At the city Convention Center and backup aquarium, the annual “Words are Nifty” competition is underway.

Judge: Alright, miss Botsford, your next word to define is “ suspicious .”

Becky:  Suspicious  means having the belief that someone is involved in a dishonest activity. For instance, that boy’s bulging pockets makes me  suspicious  of him!

Judge: Oh! Well done!. (applause from the audience)

Becky: I just really like words a lot. Thank you.

Judge: That concludes round one. (Looks at pocket watch) The competition will resume in precisely 1084 seconds. Sorry, I mean 1083 seconds. No, my mistake, 1082 seconds. Seems like it keeps moving every -- right, time. Uh, 1067 seconds.

(Backstage, Bob is giving Becky a shoulder massage.)

Scoops: Hey, Becky.

Becky: Oh, hey Scoops!

Scoops: Congratulations on a  perfect  first round!

Becky: Thanks! (Bob holds up a water bottle for her to drink from.)

Scoops: You really aced it!

Becky: (giggling) It’s no big. I mean-- you know, anyways, I just really like words. Thank you. Hey, how’d you get lucky enough to cover such a word-friendly event?

Scoops: Well actually, I’d rather be reporting on almost anything else.

Becky: Why? What’s better than defining words? Oh I know-- nothing! (laughs)

Scoops: Anyway, it’s just-- I’ve worked for this paper for so long, that by now I figured I’d be getting some meatier assignments, you know?

Becky: Uh-huh.

Scoops: If I could do something like-- expose WordGirl’s secret identity, why, it would take my career to the next level! Some day! (walks away)

Becky: Hey, what’ s that smell? Is that ground beef?

(She hears a distant voice saying “Yeah, just set the beans over there by the big pot. Ho-ho-ho, yeah! Heh-heh-heh!”)

Becky: That’s the Butcher! Wonder what he’s up to? Well, we have a few minutes before the next round. Come on, Bob!

Scoops:  (to himself)  Why is Becky leaving in the middle of the competition? And why am I not eating that cornbread?

Becky: Word UP! (flies out of the building, causing Scoops to look around.)

Narrator: Meanwhile, across town at the bank--

(WordGirl flies down with Huggy to confront the Butcher.)

WordGirl: Stop right there, Butcher!

Butcher: WordGirl!

WordGirl: You’re not robbing this bank on my watch, Butc-- what’s all this?

(The Butcher is standing next to a huge cooking pot, sitting on a huge warming plate.)

Butcher: Well, this is just part of my  perfect  plan to robbify this here bank!

WordGirl: Ugh-- you mean to rob this bank, but-- how?

Butcher: Well, that’s for me to know, and someone else to find out! (pause) Someone else being, you.

WordGirl: Well, uh, when will this all be done?

Butcher: Oh yeah, not for a little bit. I mean, I just started the chili. I mean, that’s an all-day thing!

WordGirl: Oh, well good, that actually works because I have to be somewhere! (takes off with Huggy)

Butcher: Oh, great! Well, see you in a few!

WordGirl: Did we actually fight any crime just then? (heads back to the Convention Center, lands behind a van, and they emerge as Becky and Bob.)

Becky: And with 24 seconds to spare!

Scoops: Hey, where have you guys been? (sniffs) And why do you smell like 500 pounds of chili?

Becky: Yeah, I went to, uh-- across the street to the chili place during the break!

Scoops: There’s no chili place across the street!

(A man is watching a TV behind the van, and a news broadcast comes on.)

Reporter: I’m here live at the bank, where local supervillain The Butcher is preparing 500 pounds of chili! Say, what’s all this chili for, Mr. Butcher?

Butcher: Oh please, just Butcher! Mr. Butcher’s my dad! Uh, but don’t worry, I’m leading up to something. Just bear with me!

Becky: (to Scoops) Why are you looking at me that way?

Scoops: What way?

Becky: You know,  suspicious ly!

Scoops: AM I.

Becky: Heh-heh. I have to go define more words. Uh, excuse me.

Scoops: Ex-CUSE you!

Becky: Alright, Bob, the Butcher could strike at any moment, so I have to get out of here.

Judge: Two seconds, one second, zero and we’re back!

Becky: Um, excuse me sir. Is it okay if I define my words for the next few rounds all at once? I’m in a bit of a hurry!

Judge: Well that’s totally against the rules miss Botsford, but I’ve been known to get a tad crazy, so yes you may. Your words are frantic, drudgery, and confident. Go!

Becky: Frantic. Wild or distraught with fear or anxiety. Drudgery. Hard, menial or dull work. And confident. Having no uncertainty about one’s own abilities or correctness. LIke knowing that I defined those three words totally right

Judge:  Perfect ! Next round. (Becky runs off stage.)

Scoops: Wow! That was an amazing display.

Becky: I-- yeah, thanks!

Scoops:  Suspicious ly amazing! You know what  suspicious  means, don’t you?

Becky: Sure, it’s when you believe that someone may be doing something wrong and trying to hide it!

Scoops: That’s right. You know, you’re very good with words, AND you’re a girl!

Becky: All right, well uh, I have to go somewhere else, so… (walks out the back of  the building)

(Huggy says something to her.)

Becky: Don’t worry about Scoops, we have to go stop the Butcher!

Scoops: What is Becky up to?

(Scene: Back at the bank. WordGirl lands with Huggy.)

WordGirl: Huh! Ok, I’ll bite. What is going on here?

(There is a large hippo sitting next to the bank, and a high-wire performer.)

Butcher: Ah-a-a! It’s all part of my  perfect  plan. You’ll have to wait and see, WordGirl! I don’t want to spell the surprise!

WordGirl: I think you mean spoil the surprise.

Butcher: Oh good, ‘cause I’m not sure I could spell surprise.

(WordGirl then hears the judge saying, “All contestants please return to the stage for the final round. You know, the really important one! No pressure.”)

WordGirl: (to Huggy) Uh-oh, I have to get back to the competition. (to Butcher) Uh hey, do you mind just giving me a few more minutes?

Butcher: Oh yeah, no problem! I’m still waitin’ for the spotlights to get here.

Delivery man: I got 17000 metal springs for a-- B. Utcher?

Butcher: Oh great! Uh, put ‘em on the giant trampoline! (A poodle is doing backflips on it.)

WordGirl: This is gonna be some crime! (takes off)

(Back at the Convention Center, WordGirl lands at the front door and changes back to Becky, then she and Bob walk in.)

Becky: Whew! Just made it!

Scoops: Okay, Becky! Why do you keep sneaking away, and WHAT IS THAT? (Part of her cape is hanging out from under her shirt.)

Becky: Uh-uh-uh-yeah, that! That’s uh, uh, a birthmark?

Scoops: (gasps, then starts laughing) Ha-ha-ha! You’ve been acting  suspicious ly because-- wait for it-- you’re WordGirl!

Becky: Ha! WordGirl? That’s ridiculous! Ha-ha!

Scoops: It all fits! You’re  perfect  word-defining abilities, smelling like ground beef, dressing as WordGirl every year for Halloween--

Narrator: Really?

Becky: What? I already have the costume.

Scoops: Ha! I am going to tell everybody that you are WordGirl!

Becky: You’re jumping to-- I am NOT WordGirl, no way, I mean, I can’t fly!

Judge: The final round will commence in 4000 milliseconds. 3000 milliseconds. 2000 milliseconds. 1000 m--

Becky: Oh, I got to go back on stage. Uh, uh, good talking to you, let’s get some pizza later, bye!

(Scoops is jumping up and down for joy.)

Becky: I don’t know what I’m going to do, Bob! But I have to convince Scoops that I’m not WordGirl, and fast!

Scoops:  (writing)  Oh, WordGirl’s secret identity revealed! By Todd Scoops Ming.

(Becky steps up to the mic. She sees Scoops writing in his notepad at the back of the room. She thinks, “I can’t believe Scoops figured out my secret identity!”)

Narrator: (whispering) I know… weird, huh?

(Becky thinks, “How can you hear my thoughts?”)

Narrator: Well, I’m the narrator! I hear everything!

(Becky thinks: “Oh. Well, there’s only one thing I can do-- I’m going to have to get my next word wrong on purpose.”)

(The narrator gasps)

(Becky thinks: “I know. This goes against everything I stand for, but it’s the only way to protect my secret identity! And it won’t look  suspicious  because it’s the final round, and the words are really hard!”)

Judge: Miss Botsford, your final word is…  perfect .

(Becky thinks, “Oh come on! Not only do I have to mis-define a word, it has to be a word I could define in my sleep! I don’t know if I can do this--”)

Judge: Ten seconds!

(Becky thinks, “Here goes.)

Becky:  Perfect .  Perfect  means… something that… has no… (She thinks, “Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t do it.”)

Narrator: Will Becky actually be able to mis-define the word  perfect ? Will Scoops reveal her secret identity? Is that cornbread really that good?

Becky:  Perfect  means-- ugh-- to massage a duck’s feet while wearing rubber shoes!

Judge: Wow! Is that ever wrong!

(Scoops looks up in shock.)

Judge:  Perfect  means having no mistakes or flaws. That means… Jeremy, you’ve won!

Jeremy: Yeah! (He falls down)

(Becky walks off stage.)

Scoops: Oh, well I’m sorry, Becky, you are obviously NOT WordGirl! I mean, WordGirl never would have gotten that wrong! Oh, hello Bob. I was just about to leave.  PERFECT  timing! You see Becky? Now THAT’s how you use the word  perfect  in a sentence!

(Becky is fuming inside, but manages to keep herself under control.)

Becky: Gee. Thanks.

Scoops: Well, see ya!

(Bob raises a finger.)

Becky: Save it, Bob. Come on, let’s go stop the Butcher.

Narrator: (to Bob) You have to follow her. It’s in your contract!

(Scene: WordGirl flying over the city, in a much better mood.)

WordGirl: My, what a  PERFECT  day to solve a crime! And by  perfect , I mean without any flaws.

Narrator: Don’t worry, we know you messed up on purpose! We were there.

WordGirl: Okay, well just in case… anyone wasn’t paying attention... I just wanted to make sure!

(She lands in front of the bank, and Huggy shows up beside her, evidently having walked from the Convention Center. He points up, then falls to the ground.)

Butcher: WordGirl! I’m glad to see you came back!

WordGirl: Okay, this is a little much! Polar bears, garbage trucks, and a giant parakeet?

Butcher: Yeah! My plan is  perfect ! Say goodbye to all the town’s money, WordGirl! (He wedges a large spoon under the bottom of the pan, and tips it over.) Pot-of-chili-potomus!

(The hippo gets up and starts running.)

WordGirl: We’ve got to stop that hippo! Oh no, we’re too late! (pause) Uh, your hippo is just licking the chili off the bank.

Butcher: (sighs) Yeah.

WordGirl: Is that what you expected to happen?

Butcher: Well, no, no, not at all…

WordGirl: Why don’t you walk us through this?

Butcher: Okay, you see… (shows her a diagram) I was gonna pour the gigantic pot of chili onto the bank, then the very hungry hippo was supposed to run over to said chili and eat it up, also eating the building underneath, giving me easy access to the loot.

WordGirl: Okay, so what’s with all this other stuff?

Butcher: Well, the hippo was getting bored, see. So I brought in the clowns to entertain him. But the clowns wanted some free advertising in exchange, so I brought in the sky writer. But the sky writer only works if there’s a giant trampoline beneath him, because he doesn’t like landing on hard surfaces. He’s kind of superstitious. (pause) You know, to be honest, this whole thing just kind of got away from me.

WordGirl: Well Butcher, your  perfect  plan has been foiled by the unstoppable duo of WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face!

Butcher: Actually, the hippo’s really the one who ruined the plan.

WordGirl: Oh-- well, I guess you’re right. (A policeman escorts the Butcher away.)

Butcher: Yeah.

Scoops: Hello there, WordGirl, I’m Todd Scoops Ming, ace reporter for the Daily Rag.

WordGirl: I know who you are, we’ve met, Scoops.

Scoops: Oh, sorry! Hey, funny story-- earlier I thought my friend Becky was you, because she kind of looks just like you, and has a pet monkey, and was wearing a cape-- but then, she didn’t know what the word  perfect  meant! Can you believe it?

WordGirl: Well, not everyone is good with words.

Narrator: So once again the city is safe, thanks to WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face, and once again WordGirl has avoided  suspicion  and kept her secret identity  perfect ly safe! (Huggy gives him a thumbs up.) Thank you, I worked on that!

(WordGirl flies off with Huggy.)

Narrator: Join us again next time for another  perfect ly entertaining episode of… WordGirl!