6 Splitting Up!

Chapter 6 SPLITTING UP! Mrs. Scuttle's knife chopped the tomato in half. Andrew and Judy were caught on opposite sides! Andrew peered toward the other half of the tomato. Mrs. Scuttle was slicing it! She plopped three dripping slices onto the cheese-covered bread. Then Mrs. Scuttle shook some salt onto the tomato slices and laid a piece of bread on top of them. "Now I'll get my little sandwichy into the oven," she said. "Mmm-mmm-mmm!"

She glanced at the microwave oven and then at the toaster oven. "Eeny meeny miney moe…." meep… "All food got water inside," said Thudd. "Microwave make water molecules flip around fast, fast, fast! Get hot, hot, hot! Then water molecules make other molecules hot. Toaster oven work different. Make all molecules hot." "I think I'll use the microwave," said Mrs. Scuttle. "It's faster!" She grabbed the sandwich off the plate and popped it into the microwave oven. She set the timer and turned the oven on. "Oh no!" yelled Andrew. "If Judy's on that sandwich…" "Oody!" whimpered Thudd. His eyes closed. "Shnurm… shnurm… shnurm…" Thudd was snoring again. "I'd better put the rest of this tomato in the fridge," said Mrs. Scuttle. The kitchen became a blur as Mrs. Scuttle whisked Andrew's half of the tomato away and

opened the refrigerator door. From the edge of the tomato, Andrew saw the top shelf of the refrigerator. It was crowded! There were bottles of orange soda, a carton of milk, and a cooked turkey. Jars of jelly and mustard and mayonnaise were piled on top of each other. "Hmm," mused Mrs. Scuttle. "There isn't room for another crumb in this refrigerator." Mrs. Scuttle leaned down to the middle shelf. It was jammed, too. There were jars of pickles and olives, a water jug, and chocolate cupcakes. In the center of the shelf sat a big cabbage with part of its top cut off. "I guess this will have to do," said Mrs. Scuttle. She set Andrew's half of the tomato on top of the cabbage and slammed the refrigerator door shut. The light in the refrigerator went off. Jars and bottles clanked against each other. The cabbage tipped, and Andrew's tomato slid to the edge of the cabbage and bumped into a jar of pickles.

Andrew shivered. It was cold! He snapped his flashlight on. Splot! A big drop of something plopped down onto the tomato. meep… "Whazzit?" Thudd said as he woke up. Andrew shined his light up. The milk carton was above them. "It must be leaking," said Andrew. meep… "Milk mostly water," said Thudd. "Milk white cuz of little protein blobs and little fat blobs. Milk got germs, too. Milk alive!"

Andrew beamed his flashlight at the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Far below, he could see an open carton of yogurt, a bowl of eggs, and a half-eaten sandwich on a glass plate. There was a wedge of cheese with blue streaks running through it. And then Andrew spied it. "Super-duper pooper scooper!" he said. "Look, Thudd! A stick of butter!" meep… "Why did elephants get thrown out of pool?" asked Thudd. "Not keep trunks up! Hee hee!" Thudd's big purple button began to blink. It snapped open, and Uncle Al appeared at the end of a thin purple beam. "Hey there!" said the Uncle Al hologram. "I tried to stay with you last time, but Thudd's antennas are starting to rust. I'm reaching you with a high-power hologram. Where are you now?" "We're in Mrs. Scuttle's refrigerator," said Andrew.

"Good work!" said Uncle Al. A proud smile spread across his face. "I knew you'd find a way to get into the kitchen! Any progress with getting Thudd buttered up? If his antennas get rustier, I won't be able to reach you." "There's some butter on the refrigerator shelf below us," said Andrew. "But I don't know how we can get it." Uncle Al grinned. "I think I have an idea…," he said.