11 It’s Mad Science Time

CHAPTER ELEVEN IT'S MAD SCIENCE TIME Franny looked at the kids. They looked even more afraid of her now than they ever had before. She thought about trying to be sweet or less scary, but that just wasn't going to get things done. "Do as I command!" she said in her most scary mad scientist voice. "Go get your lunches!" The kids stopped running in circles and ran to get their lunches. Mad scientists, even when they're only four feet tall, can be very persuasive.

"Put the bread in one pile and the lunch meat in another," she barked. The kids did as they were told and quickly disassembled their sandwiches. Franny was busy examining the bottom of the trash can. "I think there's just enough of this unstable industrial waste left to do the trick."

Franny worked fast. She told the kids exactly how to arrange the lunch meat and how to get the bread ready. They were afraid, but they did what she said, and they did it quickly. Being the only mad scientist around, she was the expert on unstable industrial waste, so she took care of that personally. Then Franny pulled a needle and thread from her backpack. "This will require absolute silence," she said, and the kids watched her begin stitching the lunch meat together.

Franny worked quickly as the kids watched in terror, occasionally handing her additional slices of salami or bologna when she so instructed. They knew they were watching something not of this world, something that no human eyes had ever seen before, and in that moment the pants wetter decided to let loose one more time.