11 Ch11-How to Stuff Stuff

Chapter 11 How to Stuff Stuff We slinked around some more, and then I came up with the greatest idea in the history of the world. "Hey!" I said. "Let's see what's in The Secret Room!" "A.J., you're a genius!" Michael said Andrea and Emily said we would get in trouble. But me and Michael slinked over to The Secret Room, and the copycat sisters followed us. Michael put his hand on the doorknob. "Don't open that door!" I warned. "Why not?" "Because when you open a door to a scary place at night, a horrible creature is waiting to jump out and kill you," I told him. "I saw that in a movie once." "That's silly," Andrea said. She grabbed the knob and pulled open the door. You'll never believe in a million hundred years what was in The Secret Room. It was Ms. Krup! She was holding that wild yak fur.

"What are you kids doing here?" she asked. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do, I had to think fast. "We're... uh... sleepwalking," I said. "All of you?" "It's dangerous to sleepwalk alone," I explained. "Are we in trouble?" asked Andrea, who I'm sure has never been in trouble in her whole life. "Of course not," Ms. Krup said. "You kids must love natural history, just like I do. When I was your age, I snuck into a zoo one night." People who sneak into zoos at night are weird. "You must be nocturnal," Michael said.

We looked around The Secret Room. There were heads and other parts of dead animals everywhere. It was creepy. "What is this place?" Emily asked. "This is where we prepare the animals," Ms. Krup told us. "You see, I'm a part-time taxidermist. Do you know what a taxidermist does?" "You drive people to the airport?" I guessed. "That's a taxi driver, dumbhead!" Andrea said. "Taxidermists mount animals for display." "Oh, yeah?" I told Andrea. "Well, maybe she mounts animals for display and then she drives them to the airport." Ha-ha-ha! In her face! That's why I'm in the gifted and talented program. Nah-nah-nah boo-boo on Andrea. "So, you stuff stuff?" Michael asked Ms. Krup. "The animals aren't stuffed," she told us. "The skin is mounted on its original skeleton, which is covered with wire and plaster. I try to make dead animals come to life." People who make dead animals come to life are weird. "Taxidermy is cool," said Andrea, the big brownnoser. "Hey," Ms. Krup said, "would you kids like to see a special exhibit I'm working on? It isn't even open to the public yet." "Sure!" we all said. "Follow me!" Ms. Krup led us down the hall to an unmarked door. She put a key in the lock. Then she turned the doorknob.

"Don't open that door!" I shouted. "Will you calm down, A.J.?" said Emily. Ms. Krup opened the door. There was a big sign on the wall. This is what it said: THE AMAZING WORLD OF POOP!