20 Vile Pumpkins!

CHAPTER TWENTY Vile Pumpkins! Catalyst (noun). Substances that speed up a chemical reaction by providing a better pathway from the reactants to the products. Think of them sort of like wilderness guides. They know all the shortcuts! BACK IN THE LAB, Mom and Liam greeted me. "We've been anxiously waiting here hoping that you would get out on time," said Mom. "You did it. Congrats!" "Thanks," I said. "I didn't realize you knew about the escape room the entire time." I bit my lip. "I should have told you about it." "We can talk about it later," said Mom. "You know your father is going to want to have a long chat about this. It's not like you to keep anything from us. We did try to give you an opportunity at dinner to tell us." I hung my head. "Yeah. I remember. I'm really sorry." "I know," she said softly. "But it looks like you worked really hard to make it all right."

第二十章可恶的南瓜！催化剂(名词)。 通过提供从反应物到产物的更好途径来加速化学反应的物质。 你可以把他们想象成荒野向导。 他们知道所有的捷径！回到实验室，妈妈和利亚姆向我打招呼。 “我们一直在这里焦急地等着，希望你能准时出来，”妈妈说。 “你做到了。恭喜!”“谢谢，”我说。 “我不知道你一直都知道密室的事。” 我咬着嘴唇。“我应该告诉你的。” “我们可以以后再谈，”妈妈说。 “你知道你父亲会想要好好谈谈这件事的。 对我们有所隐瞒可不像你的作风。 我们确实想在晚餐时给你一个机会告诉我们。” 我垂下了头。“是的。我记得。 我真的很抱歉。”“我知道，”她轻声说。 “但看起来你真的很努力才把事情办好。”

Liam hugged my waist. "You're alive!" he shrieked. "I thought you had gotten eaten by ghosts and monsters." "Well, there was one ghost," I admitted, then explained about the steam cleaner. "I'm glad it wasn't a real ghost and just a speriment," cried Liam. "Experiment," corrected Mom with a smile. "Yay! No ghosties!" yelled Liam. Ms. Daly put her fingers to her lips. "Nobody can talk about what happened in the escape room. What happened in the lab stays in the lab." "We don't want to spoil the surprise for the other kids," explained Mom. Liam's lips curled down into a pout. "Now I know. And I'm a kid. I'll never get to go to an escape room." Mom ruffled Liam's hair. "Don't be silly. When you're in fifth grade, Ms. Daly will make an escape room for you. And Daddy was talking about going to an escape room as a family. Maybe over winter break when we visit Grandma Dort and Grandpa Jack in Texas." "Yay!" shrieked Liam. Then he looked at me with shining eyes. "You beat the bad guys." "Thanks," I said. "But I wasn't so sure it would happen."

利亚姆抱住我的腰。“你还活着！”他尖叫道。 “我还以为你被鬼和妖怪吃了呢。” “嗯，有一个鬼魂，”我承认，然后解释了蒸汽清洁器的事。 “我很高兴这不是一个真正的鬼，只是一个实验，”利亚姆叫道。 “实验，”妈妈笑着纠正道。 “耶!没有鬼！”利亚姆喊道。 戴利女士把手指放在嘴唇上。 “没有人能谈论在密室里发生了什么。 实验室里发生的事就留在实验室里吧。” “我们不想破坏其他孩子的惊喜，”妈妈解释说。 利亚姆噘起了嘴。 “现在我知道了。我还是个孩子。 我永远也进不了密室了。” 妈妈揉了揉利亚姆的头发。“别傻了。 当你在五年级的时候，老师。 戴利会为你腾出一个密室。 爸爸说要全家一起去密室逃生。 也许在寒假的时候，我们去德克萨斯州看望波特奶奶和杰克爷爷。” “耶！”利亚姆尖叫道。然后他用闪亮的眼睛看着我。 “你打败了坏人。”“谢谢，”我说。 “但我不太确定这是否会发生。”

"Really?" said Birdie. "You seemed so confident." "Well, I was literally sweating," I admitted. "Me too," said Jeremy. "Me three," said Memito. "Me four," said Elijah. "Me five," said Phoenix. "Me six," said Birdie. "Big-time." Ms. Daly announced, "I have an offer that I think you won't refuse. If you agree to work as a team again, you can make a second pumpkin vomit during the Fall Festival on Friday. Julia, Avery, and Skyler as the winners of the Fall Science Challenge will stand in front, but all of you can be up onstage, too. The winners from the other half of the class will be showcasing a glow-in-the dark pumpkin later in the evening. And the rest of the kids will be demonstrating a drumming routine after that. So are you up for handling a Vomiting Pumpkin?" Everyone looked at each other. "Yes!" we all shouted. On Friday afternoon the Fall Festival had kicked off in a big way. And while kids and families could enjoy all kinds of booths, treats, and carnival

“真的吗？”小鸟说。“你看起来很自信。” “嗯，我真的在流汗，”我承认。 “我也是。”杰里米说。“我三个，”梅托说。 以利亚说：“我四个。”“我五个。”菲尼克斯说。 “我六岁，”小鸟说。“一流的”。 戴利宣布：“我有一个提议，我想你不会拒绝的。 如果你同意再次作为一个团队工作，你可以在周五的中秋节做第二个南瓜呕吐物。 茱莉亚，艾弗里和斯凯勒作为秋季科学挑战赛的获胜者将站在前面，但你们也都可以上台。 另一半班级的获胜者将在晚上展示一个在黑暗中发光的南瓜。 剩下的孩子将在那之后示范打鼓。 你准备好处理呕吐南瓜了吗？”大家面面相觑。 “是的！”我们都喊道。周五下午，秋季节日盛大开幕。 孩子们和家人可以享受各种摊位，美食和狂欢节

games, we headed into the gym area for our show. That meant everyone from the escape room, plus Julia's group, of course. Basically, all the kids in our Fall Science Challenge group. Julia and I were carrying the jack-o'-lanterns. And, naturally, we were all wearing our lab coats, gloves, and goggles. Last night, with some help from Dad, I had carved my group's pumpkin with a giant mouth and big round eyes. It was in the gym, so families could watch while they played some of the carnival games that were actually inside. There were all kinds of wonderful things laid out on a table for the silent auction, and they were even raffling off a bicycle. Plus, there was fun stuff like face and nail painting. Phoenix looked a little sad when she spotted a craft table. "I want to make a bracelet for Avery," she said, "just like this one." She pointed to the macramé one on her wrist. She frowned. "But I can't because of my hand." "That's okay, we'll help you later," said Birdie. "Definitely," I said. "You guys are the best," she said. Up onstage, a group of first graders performed a falling leaves dance. "So cute," gushed Birdie.

游戏，我们去体育馆表演。 那是指密室里的所有人，当然还有茱莉亚那群人。 基本上，所有参加秋季科学挑战赛的孩子。 茱莉亚和我提着南瓜灯。 当然，我们都穿着白大褂，戴着手套和护目镜。 昨天晚上，在爸爸的帮助下，我把我们小组的南瓜刻成了一个大嘴和大圆眼睛。 是在体育馆里，所以家人可以一边看一边玩里面的嘉年华游戏。 桌子上摆放着各种各样的好东西，准备无声拍卖，他们甚至还抽彩拍卖了一辆自行车。 此外，还有一些有趣的东西，比如脸部和指甲。 当菲尼克斯看到一张工艺桌时，她显得有些悲伤。 “我想给艾弗里做一个手镯，”她说，“就像这个一样。” 她指了指手腕上戴的那个花边项链。 她皱起了眉头。“但是我不能，因为我的手。” “没关系，我们一会儿帮你，”小鸟说。 “当然，”我说。“你们是最棒的，”她说。 在舞台上，一群一年级学生表演了落叶舞。 “太可爱了，”小鸟激动地说。

"I know it," said Julia. "It's hard to believe we were ever that little." "I wasn't," said Skyler, and we all laughed, since he's always been the tallest boy, even in kindergarten. "I can't believe Liam will be in first grade next year," I said. Each kid was dressed in golds, oranges, and yellows. They twirled around and sang a song about fluttering, falling leaves. "Okay, once they're done," said Ms. Daly, "the fourth graders are going to sing a couple of songs out front, which gives me enough time to get all set up." And before we knew it, we were walking onto the stage, ready to put on a truly disgusting show. As Ms. Daly promised, Julia's group was right up front and we were in the back, but I didn't mind. I was just happy to be up there doing science. "We're going to be so gross," said Birdie, who stood on my right. "Agreed," I said. "We're going to be disgusting." "Vile," added Phoenix, standing directly to my left. Avery, who was in front of Phoenix, gave a little twirl. Her short blonde braids twirled, too. "And sickening."

“我知道，”裘莉亚说。“很难相信我们曾经那么小。” “我不是，”斯凯勒说，我们都笑了，因为他一直是最高的男孩，甚至在幼儿园。 “我不敢相信利亚姆明年就要上一年级了，”我说。 每个孩子都穿着金色、橙色和黄色的衣服。 他们旋转着，唱着关于飘动的落叶的歌。 “好吧，等他们做完了。” 戴利说：“四年级的学生要在前面唱几首歌，这样我就有足够的时间准备了。” 在我们意识到之前，我们已经走上舞台，准备上演一场真正恶心的表演。 正如戴利老师所承诺的，朱莉娅的小组在最前面，我们在后面，但我并不介意。 我很高兴能在那里做科学研究。 “我们会很恶心的，”站在我右边的小鸟说。 “同意。”我说。“我们会很恶心。” “可恶。”菲尼克斯站在我的左边补充道。 艾弗里站在菲尼克斯前面，微微转了一下身子。 她的金色短辫子也在旋转。 ”和令人作呕”。

"Don't forget foul," said Julia from the front. "The most gross, disgusting, vile, sickening, and foul ever," called out Jeremy from Birdie's right. "Yeah!" shouted Memito and Elijah, who stood next to Jeremy. "You're ready?" asked Ms. Daly. "Definitely!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. On the other side of the gym, there was a spooky cakewalk. Paper pumpkins had been cut out and taped to the floor in the gym for the spooky cakewalk path. Parents and kids were walking around the path while a volunteer dressed in an apple costume played "Monster Mash." But while our demo was going on, the apple stopped the cakewalk so everyone could watch. I was so excited. Ms. Daly cleared her throat and grabbed the microphone. "Are you ready for the Vomiting Pumpkins demo?" she asked. The audience cheered. She pointed to our two tables. "These pumpkins ate way too much candy last night, and now they are sick to their stomachs," said Ms. Daly, "so we're going to see what happens when you eat too much candy."

“别忘了犯规。”茱莉亚在前面说。 “这是有史以来最恶心、最恶心、最卑鄙、最恶心、最肮脏的东西，”杰里米在小鸟的右边喊道。 “耶！”站在杰里米旁边的米托和以利亚喊道。 “你准备好了吗？”戴利问道。 “当然!”我说着，向空中挥舞着拳头。 在健身房的另一边，有一个令人毛骨悚然的蛋糕步。 纸南瓜被剪了下来，贴在体育馆的地板上，作为令人毛骨悚然的蛋糕步道。 父母和孩子们在小路上散步，而一名穿着苹果服装的志愿者则在玩“怪物土豆泥”。 但当我们的演示正在进行时，苹果停止了蛋糕步，这样大家就可以观看了。 我太兴奋了。戴利清了清嗓子，抓起麦克风。 “你准备好听呕吐南瓜的演示了吗？”她问。 观众欢呼起来。她指着我们的两张桌子。 “这些南瓜昨晚吃了太多的糖果，现在它们胃不舒服，”她说。 戴利说，“所以我们要看看吃太多糖果会发生什么。”