4 Big Green Lips

Chapter 4 BIG GREEN LIPS The thing thumped down right in front of them. It was huge and clear and hollow. It looked like a Jell-O mold of a blimp-sized bug! meep… "Bug skeleton!" said Thudd. Andrew touched it. "Feels like plastic!" he said.

meep… "Old skeleton from bug called cicada," said Thudd. "Bug grow. Get too big for skeleton. Grow new one." Judy frowned. "I don't like the buzz-saw racket cicadas make on hot summer days," she said. "And these stupid bugs even made me lose a spelling bee!" "Huh?" said Andrew. Judy rolled her eyes. "I thought cicada started with an 5 because that's the way it sounds." meep… "Seventeen years ago, lotsa this kinda cicada hatch from eggs," said Thudd. "Little cicadas dig deep into ground. Stay underground seventeen years! Suck tree roots. One night in June, cicadas crawl out of ground together!" "After seventeen years, they all suddenly decide to come up at once?" asked Andrew. "Yoop!" said Thudd. "Need safe place to get out of old skeleton. Crawl up tree. This skeleton from cicada that come up early. Million cicadas coming up soon!"

"When?" asked Judy. meep… "Tonight, maybe," said Thudd. Judy shook her head. "So far today, we got snuffled up into a dog's nose, flushed down a toilet, and nearly melted onto a cheese-and-tomato sandwich. Now we could get trampled by a bug stampede!" Kraaaaaack! Mrs. Scuttle stomped out of the kitchen carrying a big white platter heaped high with sandwiches. "Quick!" said Judy. "Get onto the leaf!" The enormous leaf was touching the ground. Still, climbing onto it was like climbing a cliff.

Luckily, the leaf was covered with hairs. Judy grabbed one and pulled herself up. Andrew was right behind her. "Cheese Louise!" shouted Judy. "This leaf's got lips!" Andrew looked out over the leaf. It really was covered with lips. And they were all open! meep… "Plant mouths," said Thudd. "Plant get food from air. Not eat us!" Judy squinted at Thudd. "Are you sure?" "Yoop!" Judy and Andrew climbed farther onto the leaf. Suddenly the big purple button in the middle of Thudd's chest started to blink. "It's Uncle Al!" said Andrew. Thudd's purple button popped open and a beam of purple light zoomed out. Andrew and Judy sat down on the leaf. "Hi guys!" said the hologram of their uncle Al. He was a little purple and they could see right through him. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

"We're sitting on plant lips!" said Judy. "But they're pretty comfortable," said Andrew. "You got yourselves into the garden!" said Uncle Al. "And my signal is reaching you better. You must have stopped Thudd's antennas from rusting. You guys are really using your heads!" "Uncle Al," said Judy. "We don't have much time left to get unshrunk." meep… "7:25," said Thudd. "Thirty-six minutes till 8:01!"

"I'll be landing at the airport in thirty minutes," said Uncle Al. "But it will take ten minutes to get from the airport to you. Right now, I want you to think about the sign over my office door." "Oh, yeah!" Andrew nodded. "It says, 'Questions have many answers.'" "You've got it!" said Uncle Al. "It's the best magic I know. It works for anything. You can use it to make a pizza, find new planets, or get unshrunk!" ssssssss There was static in Uncle Al's signal. "I'm flying through some storm clouds," said Uncle Al. "My signal might cut out. But remember what I told—" sssssssSSSSSSSSSSSS The static grew louder, and Uncle Al disappeared. KAPOCKETA POCKETA POCKETA KAPOCKETA POCKETA POCKETA "The Atom Sucker is getting louder," said Judy.