5 Eau de Corpse Flower

Eau de CORSPSE FLOWER

On Saturday morning, Stink could not wait to start his new career. He set up his lab in the kitchen sink. He laid out tweezers and eyedroppers on a towel. He lined up ten empty little spice jars on the counter. He collected a whole jar of real toilet water— from the toilet! Perfect! The doorbell rang. "Hi, Eliz— I mean, Sophie of the Elves," Judy said. "C'mon in. Dr. Frankenstink is in his lab. Stink! Your friend with the funny name is here!" Stink came out of the kitchen wearing Mom's apron and green rubber scrub gloves. "Hi, Sophie," said Stink.

"Stink's making stinky perfume," Judy explained, drawing circles in the air for the cuckoo sign. "Want to help?" Stink asked. "Sure," said Sophie. "I like making magic potions and stuff." "Magic potions!" said Judy. "You mean love potions?"

"Let's go," said Stink. "Maybe we can make some potions that turn big sisters into warthogs." Back in the Franken-stink lab, Stink got out Mom's measuring cups and spoons. Sophie stirred together spices and food coloring. "Are you entering the smelly sneaker contest next Saturday?" she asked Stink. "Definitely," said Stink. "Me too," Sophie said. Stink looked down at Sophie's sneakers. They were bad, all right. Her toe poked out of one, the laces were almost black, and the tongues hung sideways, worse than a slobbery dog. "They smell like a swamp!" said Stink, even though he knew his stinkers could beat hers any day. "And these aren't even my worst pair!" Sophie grinned.

Uh-oh, thought Stink. "Well, I sure hope one of us wins," Sophie said. "Yeah, and I hope the one of us is me!" Stink joked.

"Here, add some toilet water," Stink said, pouring the water from the toilet into the blender. They added green pickle juice. They added P.U. garlic. They added slimy dead-flower water. "Disgusting," said Sophie, staring at the oogey green murk in the blender. "What else stinks around here?" asked Stink. "Besides you?" said Judy, walking past the kitchen. "Hardee-har-har," said Stink. "This potion smells bad, but it's not even close to corpse flower," said Stink. He ran upstairs and came back in a flash, holding up a small, amber glass vial. "Toad food!" "Tofu?" asked Sophie. "Tofu doesn't smell." "No, toad food. Actually, it's dead shrimp eggs from my science kit. Even Toady won't eat it." Stink shook the bottle till it was empty, then pushed the buttons on the blender. Mix. Whip. Puree. LIQUEFY! Stink and Sophie watched the