Morgan, too, tried to push away the twisting, curling darkness, but it did no good. It was all she could do to keep from getting her hands caught in the strangle hold of the oozing snakes.

In a panic, Morgan started shouting anything and everything she could remember about the Curies and their experiments. "Radiation causes heat, which can boil water, which can produce steam, which can turn a turbine, which can generate electricity!"

"The Curies invented x-rays!" Collin yelled into the void. "I remember that."

In spite of her fear, Morgan smiled at Collin and nodded.

"And Marie Curie paved the way for other women scientists," Collin added.

Thunder rolled again and again and again, shaking the invisible walls and the invisible floor below. Lightning struck near their feet. The awful snakes slithered higher.

Fear pushed any other thoughts about the Curies from Morgan's mind, but Collin was frowning as if he was remembering something important."

"You can't hurt us," he finally screamed at the thunder and the advancing darkness. "You're lazy and slow, and all you do is slither around trying to devour people ..."

Quiet!

"I won't be quiet and I won't give up! You know what I learned from Marie Curie? That no matter what happens, you don't give up when things aren't perfect. People may not like who you are or what you are, but if you're searching for something important, all the obstacles in the world don't matter."