5 Getting Antsy

chapter 5 GETTING ANT-SY Andrew paddled frantically around the sponge, but he couldn't find Judy anywhere. "Where is she?" he asked. Then Andrew felt a tug on his foot. He looked down to see frizzy brown seaweed floating below. It was Judy's hair! "Judy!" Andrew yelled. Judy was stuck underneath the Um-bubble! "Grab on to my legs!" he yelled. The seaweed nodded. Andrew yanked his legs into the Umbubble. Snap!! The top half of Judy came in with them.

"Welcome to the Umbubble!" said Andrew. He helped her the rest of the way inside. The Umbubble sealed up behind her. Judy took a deep breath. "Ah… choof!" meep… "Bless oo!" said Thudd. "Thanks!" said Judy, pushing her hair away from her face. "That stupid bubble bath got up my nose. But it's better than being on a disgusting sponge with yucky ant antennas in my hair!" Judy flopped back against the Umbubble.

Thudd pushed his Goggle Scope button. The Goggle Scope flipped back up to the top of his head. meep… "How do you know if water friendly?" asked Thudd. "It waves! Hee hee!" Judy leaned over to look at Thudd. "I've never heard Thudd say anything silly" said Judy. "And how come his buttons are yellow?" she asked. Andrew explained how he and Thudd had fallen from a soap bubble into the bath. He also told Judy about Thudd's first joke and the snoozing. "Thudd isn't supposed to get wet," Andrew said. "I hope he's okay. But at least his buttons are yellow now. It's better than red." Judy tickled the bottoms of Thudd's rubbery feet. He always liked that. meep… "Thunkoo!" said Thudd. His face screen turned pink as a wide smile stretched across it. "Thudd seems okay now," said Judy. "Did Uncle Al call while I was gone?"

"Noop," said Thudd. More than an hour ago, Thudd had pressed the big purple button in the middle of his chest. It was supposed to contact Uncle Al in case of emergency. "What time is it?" asked Judy. meep… "2:15," said Thudd. "Five hours and forty-six minutes left." Judy frowned. They needed to get back to the Atom Sucker in Judy's backyard by 8:01. If they didn't set the Atom Sucker to UNSHRINK before then, it would get hot enough to blow up! And then they'd be stuck at microscopic size forever. Judy leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm pretty sure I saw the helicopter in Harley's ear," she said. "If we can get to it, I can fly us back to the Atom Sucker. There's an open window above the toilet. But how can we get up to Harley's ear?" They looked up at Harley's head, high as a cloud above them.

Andrew leaned back against the Umbubble, which was rocking gently on the waves. "You know," he said, "I think I have some waterproof matches in one of my pockets somewhere." Andrew patted his shirt. Judy rolled her eyes. "Andrew, you've probably got a kitchen stove in your pockets somewhere!" Andrew smiled as he poked his hands into his pockets. "Hot air rises," he said. "If we could heat the air in the Umbubble, maybe we could get the Umbubble to rise up to Harley's ear!" "Noop! Noop! Noop!" said Thudd. "No fire inside! Fire eat up oxygen in air! Drewd and Oody not breathe!" Judy sat up straight and stared through the Umbubble. "Look!" she said, pointing at the bottom of the sponge. "There's that ant again!" They watched it creep along the sponge. "What if the ant walks across the water to get us?" asked Judy. "Remember those water bugs we saw in the stream behind Uncle Al's house?"

Andrew nodded. "Water bugs were scampering around on the water like it was a sheet of plastic," he said. meep… "Water molecules hug tight, tight, tight!" said Thudd. "Top of water like thin, thin skin. Small thing can walk on water skin. Look!" Judy gave a little shiver. "Start paddling, Andrew!" she said. "That ant could walk over here any second!" "Noop!" said Thudd. "Cuz soap break water skin. Bug sink!" Suddenly Thudd's big purple button started to blink.