Mallory Maloney

My Biography. By Mallory Maloney, BioFables

I have a twin sister, Mel. We were born at the same time, kinda. Mom and Dad won’t say which of us came first. They don’t want Mel or me to think that one of us is older than the other, even if it’s by just a couple of minutes. My sister is definitely not a sissy, as some people call their sisters. She can run as fast as me and sometimes beats me when she gets an unfair head start. That’s what happened at Old Faceful. (Book 1, Whoosh) Mel beat me to the geyser, and then a big wind blew and covered Mel with steam. I got scared. A couple of drops fell and burnt my bare arm, but Mel was completely covered. But she’s okay. Whew!

We met a nice lady there who explained a lot of stuff about Yellowstone. Her name is Dr. Ethyl. She took us to a hot spring that had different colors, like green and yellow and blue.  You could tell by the color how hot the water was, she said. She used an eyedropper to pick up water with different colors and put them under her microscope. We could see little microbes — I think that’s what she called them — swimming around. Most microbes like to live in the same temperature we do. But these like it hot. Dr. Ethyl called them extremophiles. We asked if Mel could be an extremophile. She said no. Only microbes are extremophiles Nobody believed us about Mel. Except Grandpa, when we told him.

Grandpa gave Mel and me a really special birthday present when we got to be seven years old. A small trip every month for a whole year! Grandpa says travel is broadening. I don’t know what that means. Mom and Dad pick where to go every month.

After Yellowstone, we went to a farm owned by Mom’s cousin, Uncle Frank. (Book 2, E-I-E-I-Uh Oh) He’s married to Aunt Martha. People on farms don’t have big grocery stores, so they keep their extra food in a place with a big freezer. I got scared this time, too. I got closed up inside the big freezer. I wasn’t cold at all, but it was so dark that I didn’t know which way the door was. Nobody saw except Mel. She yelled at me when I got out, and we decided not to tell anybody. I guess I’m an extremophile, like Mel, except she likes hot and I like cold.

Next we went to Indiana Dunes. (Book 3, Sand Sack) I found a sack with money buried in a big hill when Dad and I were coming down. Mel and Mom kept going up to the top, but it was too hot for Dad and me. We went to the police station. The sergeant explained how wind could push the sand so whoever left the sack couldn’t find it when they came back. I found a big rock with lots of little animals or insects turned into rock. I like rocks a lot. We hiked up a BIG rock at our next trip (Book 4, Palisades Escapades). Rufus scared some bats in a cave, and they scared him so he ran away, but we found him. Oh, I didn’t tell you that Rufus is our dog. He’s a black labrador. We named him Rufus because it kinda sounds like his bark. Woof, woof.

I really like to eat, even broccoli — except I never used to like fish. I changed my mind at this island we went to in Door County in Wisconsin (Book 5, A Stone’s Throw). We got there at dinner time, and Grandpa thought it would be a good idea for all of us to share the same kind of fish cooked in different ways. Yum! Grandpa always thinks up neat things like that when he wants somebody to change their mind about something. Mom was happy because she says fish is good for you. I hope she’ll let me help her the next time she cooks fish. I’d like to tell you all about the two islands we went to, but this is supposed to be about me and not places we went to. One thing I want to tell you. Do you know how Door County got its name? It’s not about a regular door, like I thought. It’s because of this place in the water called Death’s Door. We went through Dath’s Door on the boat to the island.  Neat, huh?

Dr. Ethyl told me that a man called Mallory was a famous mountain climber. I want to be an explorer or a mountain climber when I grow up. Or maybe I could be both, an explorer who climbs mountains. Tops of mountains have snow, and I like snow.

Okay, I have to stop now. Bye.