4 That Sinking Feeling

Chapter 4 THAT SINKING FEELING "Eek! Eek!" Thudd squeaked. "Smell something big! Bad!" His antennas were going crazy. "Cockroach!" Thudd pulled himself off the Umbubble wall and scuttled over to Andrew. meep… "Shiny tiles are cockroach eye!" Thudd said. "Cockroach eye made of two thousand little eyes. But they not see much. Mostly just see when stuff move." "And what's this hairy tree branch thing?" asked Judy.

Thudd hurried over to Judy's side. meep… "Antenna," said Thudd. "Antenna taste stuff. Antenna feel stuff move." The circle of light above them was getting bigger. "I think the cockroach is climbing into the sink," Judy said. meep… "When cockroach get to kitchen," said Thudd, "cockroach look for food. Then hide. Go find big cockroach family behind wall." "Then we'd better dump this bug," said Judy, "before we end up having Thanksgiving dinner with a cockroach family!" Judy jostled against the wall of the Umbubble. Andrew did, too. But they couldn't get loose.

Then the cockroach twitched its antenna. The Umbubble floated free! The cockroach scrambled up the drain ahead of them. Andrew shut off his mini-light and attached it to his belt loop. Then he got back to blowing the Umbubble to the circle of light. At last they popped into the sink. It was a skyscraper city of dirty dishes! Eeeeeee! came a loud screech. Judy covered her ears. "What's that?" she asked. Andrew shook his head. Then he heard softer clicking sounds. "That sounds like—" meep… "Harley paws on kitchen floor!" Thudd said. Thump! Thump! Thump! came heavy footsteps. Mrs. Scuttle's voice shook the Umbubble. "Harley, you bad dog!" she yelled. "How dare you poop on the floor!" Ahwoooo! Harley howled.

"No!" Mrs. Scuttle shouted. "You're not going out! You'll head straight for the garbage again. Right after I've given you a bath, too! You've already wrecked my day and my bathroom!"

Judy sighed. "Mrs. Scuttle doesn't deserve a great dog like Harley," she said. Andrew blew the Umbubble up through the pile of dirty dishes. On a white plate below them, they saw the yolk of a fried egg. It looked like a sun that had crash-landed in a desert of toast crumbs. Near the egg yolk, a chunk of apple was turning brown. meep… "What is difference between fire and brown apple?" asked Thudd. "I don't know," said Andrew. meep… "Not a lot!" said Thudd. "Fire happen when stuff get together with oxygen fast! Brown apple happen when stuff get together with oxygen slow." Thudd pointed to a huge tangle of rusty wire at the bottom of the sink. It was a steel-wool pad for scrubbing dirty pots. meep… "Rusty thing on slow fire!" said Thudd. If we don't find some butter soon, thought Andrew, the same thing could happen to Thudd.

EEEEEEE! The screech was still going on, only now it was louder and higher. "It's worse than chalk on a blackboard!" Judy complained. The Umbubble floated out of the sink. Now they could see the whole kitchen. Next to the sink, the kitchen counter was piled high with fruits and vegetables. Next to the counter was the stove. Andrew realized that was where the screech was coming from. It was a teakettle! Mrs. Scuttle lifted it off the stove. "I'd better have my cup of tea before the next disaster," she said to herself. meep… "When water boil, little water molecules get lots of energy from heat! Go off into air. Sound happen when lotsa molecules rub against spout of kettle!"