4 Stomach Problems

Chapter 4 STOMACH PROBLEMS The stomach started churning like a washing machine. The stomach acid was sloshing. Judy managed to reach into her pockets and pull out a Bubble Duds patch. "This isn't big enough to help," she said. Just then a stomach rumble tossed Judy into a slimy pink heap. "Ick!" she yelled. As she kicked her way out, her foot got tangled in the bunch of silver birthday balloons. She pulled them off. One of the balloons was ripped. She untied its ribbon and tossed the balloon to Andrew.

"Here," said Judy. "Wrap the booby in this. These balloons are bad for sea animals. Dolphins and birds and seals can choke if they swallow them. But maybe this time a balloon can help a bird. "You can use the ribbon to tie the balloon on the booby," Judy continued. "But don't let him eat it." Andrew got tossed against the wall of the stomach. It felt like it was made out of bicycle tire. He braced himself against the stomach and stuffed the booby into the torn balloon. He tied it around the bird's foot with the ribbon. As the stomach acid swirled around the stomach, the krill got mushier. Andrew, Judy, and the booby didn't! Suddenly the purple button in the middle of Thudd's chest started to blink. Andrew and Judy's Uncle Al, the man who'd invented Thudd and the Water Bug, was about to visit them by hologram. Thudd's purple button popped open and a see- through purple hologram of Uncle Al zoomed out.

Andrew and Judy were tossing like underwear in the wash. Uncle Al's smiling face seemed to bounce all over the purplish stomach. "Hey there, guys!" said Uncle Al. "Hi, Uncle Al!" said Andrew and Judy. "Hiya, Unkie!" said Thudd. "I've been having a hard time reaching you," said Uncle Al. "You sound a little, um, blubbery." With his hologram, Uncle Al could hear them but couldn't see them. "That's because we're inside a whale's stomach!" said Judy, sloshing back and forth. meep… "Blue whale!" said Thudd. Uncle Al's fuzzy eyebrows poked up toward his shaggy hair. "Queen Isabella on a jelly doughnut!" he said. "You're inside the biggest animal that ever lived! I hope you're wearing the Bubble Duds."

"We've got the Bubble Duds on," said Andrew. "They're really comfortable!" "That's good," said Uncle Al. "Stomach acid can dissolve almost anything eventually. Even metal!

"The Bubble Duds will protect you, but only for two hours. Then they could start to, uh, come apart." "Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "How do we get out of here? Could we get the whale to throw up or something?" "Which stomach are you in?" asked Uncle Al. "The second one," said Andrew. "Hmm," said Uncle Al. "The whale can't throw you up from the second stomach. It looks like you'll have to take the long way out. You've got one more stomach to go—" "Oh, brother!" Judy interrupted. "Another stupid stomach." Uncle Al smiled. "You know that cows have four stomachs," he said. "So what?" said Judy. "Well," said Uncle Al, "whales are related to cows and some other animals with hooves. Fifty million years ago, the ancestors of whales lived on land. They looked kind of like hairy crocodiles and they had little hooves on their toes!"

"Bizarre-o!" said Judy. "Yup," said Uncle Al. "But let's get back to the most important thing—getting you home safely. Where's the Water Bug?" "It's under the whale's tongue," said Andrew. "Ah!" said Uncle Al. "Then the Water Bug must be caught in the whale's gigantic mouth pouch!" Judy mashed her fist into a little island of krill floating in the soupy mess. "Tough tomatoes!" she said. "Does that mean we'll have to go back into the whale's mouth?" "I'm afraid so," said Uncle Al. "And when you get back to the Water Bug, set the destination dial for Hawai'i and come back immediately." Andrew and Judy looked at each other. Their whale of a problem had started in Hawai'i. That's where Andrew had accidentally set the Water Bug on a search to find a giant squid. But the giant squids were in danger from a bad guy named Soggy Bob Sloggins. He wanted to capture some for his theme park!