3 Bad Things in Small Packages

Chapter 3 BAD THINGS IN SMALL PACKAGES Thudd's purple button popped open and a purple hologram of Uncle Al zoomed out. Andrew and Judy's Uncle Al was a top- secret scientist. He'd invented the Water Bug—and Thudd! "Hey, guys!" said the Uncle Al hologram. "So glad you're back, Uncle Al!" said Andrew, slipping the compass into a pocket. "You've been gone a long time!" said Judy. meep… "Hiya, Unkie," said Thudd.

Uncle Al was smiling, but his eyebrows were scrunched together in a worried look. "Have you, um, gotten out of the whale yet?" he asked. When Uncle Al visited them by hologram, he could hear them but not see them. Judy rolled her eyes. "We sure did," she said. "We, uh, got pooped out," said Andrew. "That's great," said Uncle Al. His smile stretched across his face. "Great?" said Judy. Uncle Al shrugged. "It's a lot better than not getting out at all," he said. "But where are you now?" Andrew brushed away a purple-striped fish nibbling on the knee of his Bubble Duds. "The Water Bug got trapped in a fishing net," he said. "We're outside untangling it. It looks like we're near a coral reef." Something that looked like a baseball swam up to Andrew's face mask. It had eight little tentacles.

"Wowzers!" said Andrew. "That's weird!" "What is?" asked Uncle Al. "It's a tiny little octopus," said Andrew. "Look!" said Judy. "It's got beautiful blue rings. They're flickering like a neon sign!" "Good golly, Miss Molly!" yelled Uncle Al. "That's a blue-ringed octopus! Move away from it. Now!" Andrew ducked. Judy crossed her arms. "What's the big deal about a cute little octopus?" she asked. Uncle Al's eyebrows wiggled up his forehead like fuzzy caterpillars. "Judy, that cute little octopus is deadly!" said Uncle Al. "Bizarre-o!" said Judy, backing away. "Where's the octopus now?" asked Uncle Al. "It's circling around us," said Andrew, "like a fly looking for a place to land." "Do you see any shells or small stones?" asked Uncle Al.

Andrew picked up the lava boogers he had removed from the Super-Sniffer. "Got some," said Andrew. "Throw them as far as you can," said Uncle Al. Andrew threw them one at a time. The octopus followed! "The octopus is going after them!" said Andrew. "Great!" said Uncle Al. "The octopus probably thinks they're clams or mussels. It likes to eat them." Uncle Al rubbed his chin. "The good thing about the blue-ringed octopus is that it tells me where you are," he said. "Those deadly little guys live around the Great Barrier Reef. It's a coral reef near the eastern coast of Australia." meep… "Great Barrier Reef more than one thousand miles long!" said Thudd. "Made by lotsa tiny coral animals. Great Barrier Reef biggest thing ever made by animal!" "Wowzers!" said Andrew. "We were inside the blue whale, the biggest animal that ever lived.

Now we're right next to the biggest thing that animals ever made!" Uncle Al nodded. "The Great Barrier Reef is a strange and beautiful place. It's also home to the most dangerous animals on earth! Danger comes in small packages there. And sometimes you can't see it at all." "Huh?" said Judy. "Well," said Uncle Al, "blue-ringed octopuses are hard to see. They can be as small as Ping-Pong balls, and they don't show their beautiful blue rings until they get mad! Then it's too late." "'Too late'?" asked Judy.

"Like all octopuses," said Uncle Al, "our blue- ringed friends have sharp, parrot-like beaks. They could bite right through your Bubble Duds! The poison in their saliva can kill a person in minutes. So rule number one is never make a blue-ringed octopus mad." "But I didn't do anything to get it mad," said Andrew. Uncle Al scratched his head. "That's strange," he said. "There are other creatures to watch out for too, like the—" meep… "Sea wasp jellyfish!" Thudd interrupted. "Ah, yes," said Uncle Al. "If there was a contest for the most dangerous creature on earth, the sea wasp would win. It's a small, box-shaped jellyfish with tentacles fifteen feet long. Its sting can kill a person in seconds!" meep… "Sea wasp clear like glass," said Thudd. "Hard to see. But Bubble Duds protect Drewd and Oody from sea wasp."