1 The Big Buzz

Chapter 1 THE BIG BUZZ I guess you should never count on a bug to solve your problems, thought Andrew Dubble as he flew above the garden on the back of a fly. Bzzzzzzzz… The fly wings behind him buzzed like a noisy engine. The wind whooshed against his face. Next to Andrew was his thirteen-year-old cousin, Judy. She was clinging to a hair behind one of the fly's huge black eyes. Andrew's little silver robot, Thudd, was hanging tight to the same hair as Andrew. A few minutes ago, they'd almost become part of an afternoon snack for Judy's neighbor Mrs. Scuttle. But just in time, they'd managed to flee

on the fly. Now they were zooming above Mrs. Scuttle's garden. Kraaaack! Mrs. Scuttle's screen door slammed. "Disgusting fly!" yelled Mrs. Scuttle. She ran from the kitchen waving a yellow fly swatter. "I'll get you!" Below them, Andrew and Judy could see a brick path. It led from Mrs. Scuttle's kitchen door to a cement patio with a picnic table. All around the path was Mrs. Scuttle's garden. Purple daisies and pink lilies waved in the breeze. Rosebushes grew next to a white fence that separated Mrs. Scuttle's yard from Judy's. "Look!" said Judy, pointing to her yard. "I can see your stupid Atom Sucker!" The Atom Sucker was Andrew's latest invention. At noon today, it had shrunk them so small they could take a hike on the head of a pin. To get unshrunk, they had to get back to the Atom Sucker by 8:01, before it blew up!

Andrew and Judy felt a gust of wind as Mrs. Scuttle's fly swatter swished by them. The fly flew in dizzy circles to get away. Floating through the air were things that looked like spiky Ping-Pong balls. Some of them got stuck in Judy's long, frizzy hair. meep… "Pollen!" squeaked Thudd. "From flowers! Make baby plants." "Oh, great!" said Judy, trying to pull the sticky things out of her hair. "I'm allergic to pollen! Ah… ah… ahhhhh… chooof!" The fly swatter was right above them when Mrs. Scuttle let out a scream.

"Harley, noooo!" Harley was Mrs. Scuttle's basset hound. He was standing next to the white fence. He was raising his leg! Suddenly Andrew felt his stomach fluttering up to his mouth. The fly was going into a dive! The wind rushed against his face so hard he could barely keep his eyes open. The garden turned into a green blur. Andrew and Judy almost flew off the fly as it landed in the dirt. Their noses filled with strange moldy smells. On one side of the fly was a huge leaf bristling with hairs. On the other side was the brick path. The fly crept along the ground. It stopped in front of a pile of shiny black goo and un-rolled a fat hose from below its eyes. It dipped the hose into the goo. meep… "Fly eating!" said Thudd. "What's it eating?" asked Judy. meep… "Oody not want to know," said Thudd. "Yes I do," said Judy.

meep… "Bug poop!" said Thudd. "Eeeeew!" said Judy. "Let's ditch this yucky bug!" She started unwrapping the stretchy strands of Drastic Elastic that Andrew had used to hold them on the fly. It was another one of Andrew's inventions. "Don't tangle the Drastic Elastic," said Andrew. "We might need it later." Judy finished unwrapping herself and handed the long loops of Drastic Elastic to Andrew. He snapped it like a yo-yo, and it shrank drastically. It was only as long as one of Andrew's fingers! Andrew tucked the Drastic Elastic into the secret pocket under his shirt collar. He zipped the pocket closed. "I'm out of here!" said Judy, sliding down from behind the fly's eye. Andrew followed her. Since they were as light as dust, they floated gently down. Suddenly a scream rattled Andrew's ears.

"Cheese Louise!" Judy hollered. "This is more disgusting than when we were flushed down the toilet!"