2 Bubble Trouble

chapter 2 BUBBLE TROUBLE "Oof!" Andrew crash-landed onto something wet and rubbery. It was slippery as a fish! He started sliding fast down a shiny, curving wall of swirling colors—green and pink and red and purple. When Andrew stopped sliding, he was upside down! His feet were caught in a drop of water at the bottom of a huge, clear globe. "Where are we?" Andrew wondered. meep… "Soap bubble!" said Thudd. Andrew looked down.

Far below, mountains of suds rose from an ocean of water. "Wowzers!" he said. "It's like we're hanging from a cloud!" Then Andrew realized there was something he didn't see. "Where's Judy?" he asked. meep… "Oody bounce off bubble," said Thudd.

"Oh no!" said Andrew. "And we can't even look for her because we're stuck here!" meep… "Not for long," said Thudd. He pointed up. "See top of bubble?" Andrew looked up through the bubble. The top was turning black! meep… "Bubble skin thin, thin, thin!" said Thudd. "Must pile up million bubble skins to be thick as page of book. Bubble color tell how thick bubble is. Black mean bubble skin thin as can be. Ready to go 'Boom!'" "Uh-oh," said Andrew. "I'd better get the Umbubble ready." Andrew reached into his back pocket and pulled out one of his inventions. It was the size and shape of a piece of bubble gum. Bright blue letters on the white wrapper spelled UMBUBBLE.

Andrew ripped off the wrapper and popped the little blue cube into his mouth. "Tastes like grapes!" said Andrew, chewing. "The last one I made tasted kind of like—" Just then, the rainbow soap bubble burst into a billion tiny drops! "—MEATBAAALLLSSS!!!" Andrew yelled as he was blasted off the exploding bubble. But a moment later, it felt as if a parachute had opened. He was floating! "Neato mosquito!" said Andrew. "I wonder why we slowed down?" meep… "Air filled with lotsa little molecules," said Thudd. "We so small, we bang into molecules! Make us fall slow. Like piece of dust! Look!"

Thudd pointed to his face screen. "Cool!" said Andrew. He watched shimmering soap-bubble blimps float past them. Twisting fingers of steam reached up from the water. Andrew and Thudd glided over the top of a glistening bubble mountain. Then a drop of spray slammed into Andrew. "Yaaaargh!"