6 Gloorp!

chapter 6 GLOORP! meep… "Uncle Al!" said Thudd. "Finally!" said Judy. "Uncle Al will know what to do!" Thudd's purple button popped open and a beam of purple light flashed out. A see-through, slightly purple Uncle Al floated outside of the Umbubble at the end of the beam. Uncle Al's shaggy hair made him look as if he had just pulled a shirt over his head. The shirt he was wearing had a picture of a tarantula spider on it. Andrew and Judy had given it to him for his birthday.

Uncle Al's face crinkled into a smile. "Hey there!" he said. "Uncle Al, thank goodness you're here," said Judy. "You see, we've got this little problem—" "I'm away from my laboratory at the moment," continued the slightly purple Uncle Al. "Huh?" said Andrew. "Oh no!" said Judy. "It's not Uncle Al, it's some kind of answering machine!" "Your message has reached my Hologram Helper," said Uncle Al. "If you're calling to have a friendly chat, please press one. If you have

discovered life on another planet, please press two. If you want to complain about smells coming from my laboratory, please press three. If this is a purple-button emergency, I will contact you in person as soon as possible." Uncle Al waved. "Good-bye! Have fun! Think big!" The Uncle Al hologram faded and disappeared. Judy kicked her foot against the Umbubble. Boing! "Great!" she said. "Where's Uncle Al?" "Don't kick the Umbubble, Judy," said Andrew. "Uncle Al got our signal. He'll call us back." But Andrew's voice was softer than usual. "Ahwoooo!" howled Harley high above them. "I'm going to wash that dirty doggie face whether you like it or not!" said Mrs. Scuttle gruffly. A black shape dived toward the Um-bubble. It was Harley's nose!

"Cheese Louise!" cried Judy. "Not again! I refuse to drown in dog snot twice in one day!" The nose swooped so low they could look into the midnight darkness of Harley's nostrils! Just two hours ago, they had been inside them! Then the nose lurched away. They heard Harley's paws scratching at the front of the tub, and then a strange sound. gloorp… "What was that?" Judy asked.

The Umbubble started moving in a circle gloorp… gloorp… "Bad dog!" boomed Mrs. Scuttle. "You pulled the plug!" "Oh no!" Judy moaned. "Harley opened the drain!" The Umbubble was picking up speed! The water was carrying the Umbubble toward the drain! gloorp!… gloorp!… Andrew stuck his legs back through the Umbubble and started kicking as hard as he could.

But the current was too strong! gloorp… gloorp… GLOORP! The front of the bathtub was getting closer. They were about to get sucked down the drain!