The Ooze (10 page)

Squish. Squish
.

I jerked my head up. The ooze creature loomed over me.

It was enormous now.

And so was its brain.

I could see it pounding, pounding, pounding against its quivering skull.

“I want the rest of your brain now!” it declared. “I want your brain.”

“No!” I shouted. “No! You can't have it. It's mine! It's mine!” I kicked and punched the creature's slimy ooze body. But it was too strong for me.

It lifted me off the floor.

It pulled me up to its awful mouth.

And then, with a horrible slurping sound, it shoved my head down its hot throat.

“L
et me go! Let me go!”

I kicked my legs.

I beat against the creature's slimy body with my fists.

“I'm coming, Al!” I heard Colin shout. “I'm coming!”

I struggled in the creature's hold, and suddenly I felt its grasp weaken. Weaken until it dropped me to the floor.

I watched as it rocked back and forth, moaning in agony.

And then it began to shrivel.

“It's shrinking!” Colin yelled. “It's shrinking! What did you do to it? What did you do?”

“I-I didn't do anything,” I stammered.

“You must have,” Colin insisted. “You must have done something!”

We stared at the creature as it withered away—growing smaller and smaller. Turning into a formless glob of ooze.

I could still see its brain. But it was the size of a pea.

I could still see its empty eyes.

And there was its mouth. “Look, Colin! Look!” I pointed to the creature. “It's opening its mouth!”

The ooze creature stared up at us.

It opened its mouth.

“
Arrf
.” It barked.

“Whoa! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!” I shouted.

“What? What?” Colin asked.

“Tubby's brain! Tubby's brain took over the ooze. It neutralized it!” I said. “I bet it could live on only smart brains. Tubby's dumb brain must have put him in shock or something. It couldn't handle Tubby's dumb brain!”

I glanced back at Tubby. He seemed exactly the same as always. I guess he didn't use his brain much.

“You were right, Colin. The ooze had to be neutralized. And Tubby's dumb brain did it! It destroyed the creature.”

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” Colin couldn't seem to say anything else.

“Hey! Colin! I'm smart again. I'm smart!” I realized. “I got my brain back! And—I
know
what we have to do next!”

“What?” Colin asked, puzzled.

“We have to get rid of it.” I jerked my head toward the small puddle of ooze. “We'll stuff it in the cooler and bury it.”

“Good idea,” Colin agreed. “I'll get the cooler.”

I kneeled and tickled Tubby's ears. He rolled onto his back, and I scratched him on the stomach—his favorite spot.

“You saved me, Tub-man,” I told him. “If I had a smart pet like Chester, I'd be ooze-food by now.”

I guarded the ooze puddle until Colin returned with the cooler and a shovel. We shoveled the puddle into the cooler and slammed the lid on. Then I tied a rope around it, just to make sure the lid stayed on tight.

We dug a deep hole in the backyard—under the apple tree.

Colin and I began to set the cooler into the hole when Colin said, “Wait!”

“What? What's wrong?” I asked.

“What's the capital of Brazil?” he asked.

“Brasilia,” I answered, without even thinking.

“Great.” Colin grinned. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

We dropped the cooler into the hole and covered it up.

We stomped on the dirt until it was hard and flat.

And that was the end of the ooze.

A
bout a week later everything was back to normal.

Michelle started to teach Chester how to multiply—now that he'd remembered how to add.

I gave up trying to teach Tubby how to fetch. It was hard enough when he
had
a brain. Now it would be impossible. But he's still a great dog.

The other Science Bowl kids all got their brains back, too. We apologized to Mr. Emerson. We blamed our weird behavior on the cafeteria food. We begged him to give us another chance, and he finally agreed.

Which is why I'm stuck outside today studying. I'm spending a great, sunny Saturday afternoon with
Science Teasers
and Mom, Dad, and Michelle. My three coaches.

“Next question, Al,” Dad announced. He turned the page of my
Science Teasers
book. “What was Galileo's earth-shaking discovery?”

“I'm sure you know the answer to that one,
son
,” Mom said with a laugh.

While I pretended to think, Michelle wandered over to the apple tree.

“What do you suppose these little orange drops are?” she asked as she gazed at the ground.

I felt my stomach clench as Mom wandered over to the tree. “I've never seen anything like them! They almost glow!” she exclaimed.

“Maybe it's some sort of pollution in the water table,” Michelle suggested. “I wonder if they feel as sticky as they look.”

She reached out her hand to touch one.

“Don't!” I shouted. “Don't go near it! It could be toxic or something.”

“Al's probably right,” Mom said, stepping back.

“I don't take advice from inferior life-forms,” Michelle declared.

Then she reached down and rubbed one of the orange drops between her fingers.

See? Didn't I tell you that Michelle was just a little too smart for her own good?

Are you ready for another walk down Fear Street?

Turn the page for a terrifying sneak preview.

M
om smiled, then stood up and headed for the door. “Sleep well,” she said, and flicked off the light.

I watched her leave the room.

I heard her gently shut my door.

The room instantly darkened.

I gulped and glanced up at the ceiling.

The same ceiling I saw every night. No shadow.

Then why did I feel someone—or something—was watching me?

I quickly felt under my bed for my silver Eveready flashlight. I keep it there for late-night reading under the covers.

I flicked on the flashlight. The beam of light caught the ceiling. My dresser. My closet.

Nothing unusual. Still, I had that creepy feeling—as if a pair of staring eyes were stalking me.

I clicked off the flashlight. Then I clicked it on again. Having it on made me feel better.

I clutched it to my chest and sat up in bed. I slid up against my headboard, my knees pressed to my chest. I pointed the beam of light out in front of me.

The clock on my dresser said midnight. I felt sleepy, but I couldn't close my eyes. I couldn't stop thinking about that big, black claw reaching for my throat. And now that I was all alone again, it seemed more real than ever. I shivered and pulled the comforter up to my chin.

I stared up at the ceiling.

The head, the horns, the snapping jaw, the shadowy body taking shape on my ceiling. I had seen it. I had no doubts.

I knew that the shadow monster on my ceiling was real.

And I knew it was still there. Somewhere.

And I knew something else.

I knew it was after me.

* * *

Brrring!

The noise shot straight through my brain. I bolted up in bed, lost my balance, and hit my head against my headboard.

I rubbed the sore spot with one hand and shut off
the ringing alarm clock with the other. Then I flopped back down on my pillow.

“Yeow!”

I banged my head against the flashlight. Now both sides of my head ached.

What a day
. And I wasn't even out of bed yet.

I picked up the flashlight, trying to remember why I had slept with it.

The shadow!

My eyes shot up to the ceiling. Rays of sunlight streaming in from the window lit up the constellations of star stickers there and made them sparkle.

No shadow.

I sighed with relief—until I glanced at my clock. And groaned. I'd gotten only three hours of sleep last night.

I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I felt so tired I could hardly push my legs into my jeans. It took all my strength to pull my T-shirt and sweater over my head.

Down in the kitchen I swallowed a few spoonfuls of cereal, then headed for school.

When the bell rang, I sat at my desk, my head propped up in my hand. Mr. Ridgely waddled in and stood at the front of the room.

“Good morning, people,” he greeted us in his droning voice. “Let's go over last night's reading assignment.”

I opened my book and stared down at the page. I tried to focus on the words, but they swam in front of my eyes.

My eyelids began to droop. My head began to nod.

Bang!

I shot up in my seat. My heart thudded in my chest.

Two rows over I spied Bobby bending down to pick up his textbook. “Sorry,” he muttered.

I thought Bobby's scare would keep me awake for a while, but it didn't. My eyelids felt like two twenty-pound weights. I couldn't keep them open.

I tried pinching myself whenever they began to close. It worked, but only for a few seconds.

Finally, I sat up straight. I stared wide-eyed at my textbook.
Concentrate! Concentrate!
I ordered myself.

The next thing I knew, I felt a trickle of drool drip down the side of my chin.

And something hit me in the head.

I bolted up. Blinked my eyes. I heard everyone laughing.

I spotted the chalkboard eraser on the floor next to me.

Mr. Ridgely stood at the front of the room, arms crossed, staring.

“Sorry to wake you up, Vinny. Have a nice nap?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer—and yawned. Which made everyone laugh even more.

“Do you have the answer, Mr. Salvo?” Mr. Ridgely asked stiffly.

Everyone in the classroom grew silent. “Answer?” I chuckled nervously. I didn't even know what the question was.

I glanced at the chalkboard. There were numbers scrawled across it. We were doing math.

I peered over at Bobby for a clue. He shrugged his shoulders.

I was toast.

“Vinny, I'm waiting,” Mr. Ridgely said, sneering. “The whole class is waiting. What is the answer?”

I gulped.

“Four?” I squeaked.

Mr. Ridgely's sneer faded from his face. “That is correct, Mr. Salvo. I apologize. I thought you weren't paying attention.”

Whew!
What a lucky guess.

When Ridgely turned back to the chalkboard, I glanced at Bobby again. He wiped his hand across his forehead and mouthed “How did you do that?”

I didn't know how I did it—but I did know I wouldn't be that lucky again. Which definitely kept me awake for the rest of the morning.

An hour later, a voice boomed over the loudspeaker system. It was our principal, Mr. Emerson.