Professor MacGuffin Stories

Every few months, Candlelight Stories has a new mystery writing contest. 
Candlelight Stories writes the beginning of a mystery, and students are charged with the task of finishing the story. 
We hope you read and enjoy our entries.

  Alyssa's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

            “Good bye!” said Gerald T. MacGuffin.  Now let’s get down to business! he thought aloud.

As he looked at the map, a colossal gust of wind swept it away.  Now how will I ever figure out a route to Hawaii, he mumbled aloud.  The professor was left with only a two day supply of food and his brains.  Gerald traveled and traveled until he saw a spectacular island to stop and rest, but he didn’t know what island it was.

 The professor thought, “If only I had my map.  I would know if this was Hawaii, he mumbled aloud.  

When he had landed on the beach, he called out “HELLO!” but none answered back. 

“Hello!” the professor yelled again.  This time there was a rustle behind him, but no voices.  He wondered what made the rustling noise.

 He looked around and tried one last time, “Hello?”  He turned and saw eyes from behind the bushes.

 A few people leaped out from where the eyes were.  They helped him and they gave him food and then sent him on his way.

 By the time he was back it was another Christmas Eve, his neighbor opened the window to let some fresh air in and saw a shadow. She was terrified.  When the shadow got close enough, she realized it was the professor and his yellow balloon.

 Then they had a reunion.  And one of the neighbors said, “This really is a Christmas miracle!”

And everyone agreed.

Bruce's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

            Professor MacGuffin floated to the North Pole.  He had a conversation with Santa about why he makes toys.

            He thought about his conversation with Santa while he traveled to Russia.  His balloon was going a second slower than the speed of light.  When he arrived in Russia, it was a Wednesday and he learned how to speak Russian. 

            On Saturday, he looked through the window of a store and he saw a book about Russian culture.  He knew that his friend, Michelle and her husband, Bobbie, knew the Russian language and would want to read this book.  He tried to open the book at the store, but nothing happened.  He pulled the door again, but it only opened a crack.  It was so slight that Professor MacGuffin could not get in.  Finally, he pulled with all his might and it opened all the way.  He bought the book and wrapped it in wrapping paper.  He knew that book would fit in his colossal balloon.  He couldn’t wait to give it to Michelle and Bobbie when he arrived home. 

            On his next stop, he landed in China and rushed to see every pagoda around. 

            For his final landing, he floated down to Kenya.  The people in Kenya were delighted to have some new weather.  Professor MacGuffin taught them how to make snowmen and they found out that snowball fights existed. 

            Then he took his balloon back to his own house.  His neighbors were fascinated whey they say him and yelled, “That is awesome!”

            He popped his gum balloon with a pin and gobbled it up. 

            The next day he mailed the Russian culture book to his friends, Michelle and Bobbie. 

            Then he got a new idea in his head. He would go around the world every year just in a different direction each time!

Cara's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

In the sky, Professor MacGuffin sees Santa.  VAROOM goes Santa’s sleigh.  Dr. MacGuffin catches up with Santa.

“So, Santa, did you get my kids the things they wanted?” 

“No, I didn’t,” said Santa in a sad voice.

DING! DONG!  The clock strikes twelve.  “Oh no!” shouts Santa, “I have to deliver the presents now.”

“Can you help me?” 

“Yes, I can help you,” said Professor MacGuffin.

“Then let’s do it!”  He hopped into the sleigh and off they went. 

They hadn’t gone far when suddenly Santa’s sleigh thumped to the ground.  They tried to restart the sleigh, but it didn’t work. They tried a second time, but it would not budge.  They tried it a third time and swoosh up went the sleigh. 

Professor MacGuffin and Santa delivered the presents.

Then Professor MacGuffin flew home, and his kids got all the toys they wanted.

Christopher's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

            The balloon continued to go north until it ended up in the North Pole.

              He went prancing in the snow.  Finally he met Santa.

            “Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas!” said Santa in a loud voice. What are you doing here now?” said Santa.

            “My name is Professor MacGuffin. I came here to tell you that I’ll be coming here every Christmas Eve.  I made a balloon so I can deliver presents with you.”

             “Thank you,” said Santa.  Santa gave him a reindeer named Jet and a sleigh.       Swoosh!  Professor MacGuffin gently hit Jet with a rope.  Jet didn’t go.  Swoosh!  He hit Jet again.  Jet snorted, but he still didn’t move.  Swoosh!  Jet went on his way delivering presents. 

            Professor MacGuffin fell asleep, and when he woke up he noticed that he almost hit a plane.  It frightened him very much.

             He realized that he was lost.

             So then he figured Santa had a tough job.  He made a turn to the right and almost fell out of the sleigh. 

            By the time he got back home to his house from delivering his share of the presents, it was exactly 12:00 AM.  Professor MacGuffin showed Jet his new home in the backyard, and Jet fell fast asleep in the sleigh. 

            Professor MacGuffin happily tiptoed upstairs and snuck into bed exhausted.   

DJ's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

The neighbors were wondering where he went, but no one asked questions.  Then someone spoke up.  “We can’t make him come back,” she said.

Professor MacGuffin said his plan to himself over and over again. …Then he said it out loud, “I will make it really look like Christmas…I’ll make it snow.” 

He steered into the biggest cloud.  How will I do this…he thought to himself, but it was hard to think in such a thick cloud but he couldn’t get out. He tried to steer it out of the cloud, but the wheel wouldn’t move.  He tried again.  The balloon turned slightly to the right, but it didn’t get out.  He tried again.  It completely turned around and went off into the night sky.    

He said to himself, I will not go back in there!  Now, I can’t make it snow.   

But his balloon was running out of air and popped not far off the ground!  Everyone came running out.  They asked what happened and he told them the whole story!

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

The neighbors were wondering where he went, but no one asked questions.  Then someone spoke up.  “We can’t make him come back,” she said.

Professor MacGuffin said his plan to himself over and over again. …Then he said it out loud, “I will make it really look like Christmas…I’ll make it snow.” 

He steered into the biggest cloud.  How will I do this…he thought to himself, but it was hard to think in such a thick cloud but he couldn’t get out. He tried to steer it out of the cloud, but the wheel wouldn’t move.  He tried again.  The balloon turned slightly to the right, but it didn’t get out.  He tried again.  It completely turned around and went off into the night sky.    

He said to himself, I will not go back in there!  Now, I can’t make it snow.   

But his balloon was running out of air and popped not far off the ground!  Everyone came running out.  They asked what happened and he told them the whole story!

Jordyn's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

Then he said to himself, Maybe I could run into Santa Claus because after all it is Christmas Eve.           Then all of a sudden the balloon started to fall down and it landed on a housetop.  KABOOM!  He thought that he woke up the entire house.  Then he bumped into something.           

It was Santa and he turned around and said, “Santa?  Hi, Santa. I was just going to ask if I could come with you back to the North Pole until I found somewhere to stay.”

“What did you day?”  Professor MacGuffin said, “Can I stay with you until I find somewhere to stay?” 

“I still can’t hear you!” 

“Oh, can please come with you to the North Pole?’

 Santa said, “Yes” and took Professor to the North Pole.  When he got to the North Pole, he got into bed and had hot chocolate.  He wished that the next day he would have a ton of presents to open.  He woke up and was amazed by prancing elves and thousands of presents!  Then he had eggs and bacon for breakfast and said, “Santa, can you take me and my wonderful presents home?”

“Sure,” said Santa.       

            So they headed to the Professors’ home! Everybody was worried because they thought he would not come home. Then the neighbors looked up in the sky and saw Professor in Santa’s sleigh. And the professor and his family lived happily ever after.

Kendra's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

Gerald T. MacGuffin flew up above the mountains. 

Suddenly poof, an idea popped into his head.  He noticed it was not snowing and it was Christmas Eve!  He knew his family would be upset if there wasn’t any snow on Christmas.

On his way to fix the problem he saw Santa. Gerald T. MacGuffin called to Santa, “Help.”  Santa did not come.  He kept going away.

Gerald T. screamed to Santa again, “Help.”  Still Santa flew further away.

He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Santa, get over here now!”  Santa turned around and flew over to Gerald T. MacGuffin.  

Santa questioned, “Are you talking to me?”  “Sure, I am,” responded Gerald T. MacGuffin, “Who else would I be talking to?”  Gerald told Santa about the problem with the snow. 

  Gerald T. talked to Santa who fixed the problem by throwing fluff into the air, and turning it into snow.  The fluff magically turned into snow.   After the toys were delivered, Gerald zoomed to the North Pole with Santa.  He met three elves who taught him how to make toy trains.  Soon he left. 

When Gerald T. MacGuffin finally landed back at his house, he told everyone about his exciting adventure!

Kristopher's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

“What if it doesn’t work?” questioned his neighbors. 

“Don’t worry,” screamed Professor MacGuffin. Curious, but tired the neighbors went back to bed wondering what happened to Gerald!

 One month later, Gerald found himself in the clouds of the heavens.  In Heaven, Gerald met Ray Charles and his favorite baseball player, Babe Ruth.

Babe Ruth taught Gerald all the techniques of batting homers.  Babe Ruth made Gerald pitch to him, and Gerald learned never to be afraid of the ball.  Then, Gerald played game with Babe.  He lost 63-10.  He felt miserable after such a loss, but he still had fun. 

Then Gerald started to hang out with Ray Charles.  Ray Charles taught him all the keys to the piano.  Ray Charles practiced every album with Gerald.  They even tried to play the harp with permission from an angel named Joe, but they both stunk at it. 

After his experiences with Babe and Ray, Professor MacGuffin chose to head home on his balloon boat.  He struggled to get it going.  He pressed his hyper speed button, but nothing happened.  He tried it a second time slamming the button down, but the balloon boat made only the slightest wiggle.  Then he tried banging the button with both hands.  The balloon boat’s engine motored across the sky’s dark twilight and soon he was out of sight!  It looked as though he had disappeared. 

Finally, after seven days, he was reunited with his great, loving family.

Sami's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

This might be my one big chance to see Santa Claus in action, thought Gerald. “First I …I…I want to make snow!” he said.  “But how?  I know… I’ll  use my Snowmaker 2000!”

 He pushed the button one time.   Not even the slightest drop of snow.  He pushed the miniscule button a second time.  A big boom came from the engine, but nothing else happened.  In a frenzy, he smashed the tiny button down a third time and SWISH!  Out came snow!  

Suddenly, his balloon popped.

Gerald thought he was going to crash.  “Could this be the end?” he wondered. 

Unexpectedly, Gerald landed directly on Santa’s sleigh with a thump.  Gerald was so happy because he finally got to see Santa. 

Santa said that he would take Gerald back to the North Pole with him.  Gerald got to see everyone, even the elves.  They ate chocolate chip cookies and milk.  Gerald felt so excited that he thought he would explode into millions of pieces!

 As the clock struck midnight, Gerald whispered to the gang, “I must go now.”  After all, his neighbors would be very worried about him.

 The elves helped Santa get his sleigh ready for the long trek back to Gerald’s house.  After Gerald pranced into his house, Santa took off into the shimmering night sky thinking what a whimsical man Gerald was to invent such a giant yellow balloon.  At that very same moment, Gerald thought what a whimsical man Santa was for going all over the world delivering presents to children.   

Stella's Entry

For months, Gerald T. MacGuffin had been toiling in his garage. Into the late hours of the night he would hammer, saw, measure and weld. He consumed all of the local hardware store supply of nuts and bolts. He used up all the silk from the local textile mill. In fact, he'd become something of an absolute nuisance about town.
            But on this night, Christmas Eve night, he was finished.
            He lifted the garage door and rolled the great contraption out onto his driveway.
            To the neighbors, the thing appeared to be a big yellow boat. But when Professor MacGuffin opened the valve screws and let the helium tanks start hissing a giant yellow balloon lifted up and expanded until it was swaying in the breeze over the professor's house.
            He climbed into his balloon boat as it lifted off the ground. Within moments, the balloon rose into air and drifted over the chimney.
            Professor MacGuffin's next door neighbor lifted the kitchen window and cried, "Gerald! Where on earth do you think you're going?"
            The professor shouted, "Nevermind! I have a plan!"
            The professor and his great balloon vanished into the moonlit clouds, leaving his good neighbors in complete wonderment….

As he flew he noticed beautiful flashing red and green lights.  He zoomed down to where the lights were. Whoosh a big sound was heard.

When the professor walked out, of the balloon he saw a sign that said Santa’s Workshop.  He knocked on the door and the door opened real slow. He looked down and saw an elf.

           “Hi my name is Bob,” said the elf.

            The elf went inside the workshop and so did the professor.  The professor saw elves making gifts.

          “Wow!” the professor said because there were trains, dolls, board games, video games, DVDs, videos and many more exciting toys.

The professor asked some elves if he could help and they said, “Yes.” 

He was so glad he was jumping up and down.  He made only a couple toys and messed up the whole workshop.  There were scissors, glue, string, toys and many more things splattered everywhere.  The elves were mad.  They cleaned it up but the professor did the most.  The professor made more toys without making a mess.

            When the professor stopped making the toys, he went outside and looked at Santa’s reindeer, found their food, and fed them. 

He heard “Ho, ho, ho.”  He looked around the workshop.

The professor heard “Ho, ho, ho.”  He spun around, nothing. 

Again, he heard real loud, “Ho, ho, ho.”  He looked around and saw Santa and pranced around with glee.

The professor told Santa what happened to his hot air balloon for five minutes.

“No problem,” said Santa smiling.  Santa hopped in his sleigh, so the professor hopped in with him.