Chapter 9

chapter nine Time has passed. Not sure how long. I blink open my eyes and see a blur of colors. I paw at my face, and my hands come away covered in some strange, half-liquid goo, like melted fruit snacks. And I feel something wet on my lips... STAY WITH ME, JACK. YOU'RE GOING TO BE OKAY. Wait, Globlet? Globlet's here?! And she's... attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? "Globlet, I'm OK!" I say, managing to sit up and pull her away from my lips. She shimmies off my chest. "We kissed!"

I wipe the back of my hand over my mouth. "You taste like Twizzlers." I spit out another stream of goo and glance around. We're on a raft, floating down a bubbling, rainbow-colored river. "Globlet! How are you here? What's going on?" "You landed in this river. We pulled you onto our nifty raft. Then I saved your life and you acted like a regular Wendy Peppercorn about it." "I'm not a regular Wendy—wait... we?" At that moment, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Hi, friend. WHY ARE YOU HERE?

"Geez-Louise, talk about making a fella feel unwelcome," Globlet says. She pats Quint's hand. "That's not what I meant..." I start. "But—" "I couldn't let you go through that rip-tear alone, Jack," Quint tells me. "So, I followed you." "And I got stuck to his jacket, like lint!" Globlet says. She sounds very proud to be like lint. I shake my head. "Quint! That was dumb!" But no matter how angry I try to sound, I can't help but feel relieved. There have been a lot of times I've been happy to see Quint, but this tops them all. At the same time... this complicates things. What if Globlet was wrong about this Shuggoth creature? I mean, I wouldn't trust Globlet to keep the class hamster alive for the weekend, yet somehow I've traveled to the monster dimension on her advice. If Shuggoth can't help us, then my stroll through the rip-tear hasn't just possibly stranded me here—but Quint, too. I shake away those thoughts and get down to business. "Guys, in that rip-tear I saw... something bad. But it's like... I don't know the words to describe it." "Ooh, I love this game." Globlet taps her chin. "OK, I'll go first: Person, place, or thing?"

"I don't know!" I say, suddenly feeling very tired. "Place? Thing? Monster? The last stop at the end of the universe? All of the above. No idea! It was... vague and fluctuating horror. But the Cosmic Hand started throbbing, and I felt like, whatever I was looking at... it was the key. That's why I stepped through." "Ahem. 'Stepped through'?" Globlet repeats. "You were yanked through by a tentacle! Kicking and screaming and sobbing and there was snot coming out of your nose! We saw. Don't pretend you did a big brave leap." "I was about to step through! And I wasn't sobbing with snot and whatever!" I exclaim. "Look, if this Shuggoth monster can decipher what I saw, I think I'll know the answer to the big question: HOW TO STOP .E...C.." Quint looks at me for a second. Did he glimpse that same horrifying nightmare? After a long moment, he says, "Odd. I saw nothing like that." I swallow. Great. Now it feels like what I saw was shown to me, specifically, for a reason. But what did I see? Was it the future? The past? Some really jacked-up monster dimension fast-food joint? I need to know!

I glance down at the Cosmic Hand, remembering the way it tingled and pulsed. That's when I first really take note of our raft—and realize it's not a rubber dinghy or one of those lazy river inner tubes. It's the rotted, bloated corpse of a monster. Oh, neat. You found the most revolting raft ever Be nice? Corpsey will hear you. Well, Quint says. "Now that we're all together, it's time we meet with Shuggoth. Globlet, lead the way!"

Globlet smiles timidly. "So... about that. I don't actually know where Shuggoth is." She glances at me, then quickly whispers to Quint. "Jack's gonna get real mad now, huh?" "Nope," I say, "not at all. 'Cause I know where Shuggoth is. Guess who I saw here?" Quint thinks for a moment, then says, "Chet Brophy." "Wait... huh?" I ask. "Chet Brophy," Quint says. "From homeroom." "Why would I have seen Chet Brophy from homeroom in another dimension?" Quint shrugs. "You told me to guess." Globlet leans forward, chin on her hands. "Soooo... What did Chet Brophy have to say?" "I DIDN'T SEE CHET BROPHY!" I exclaim. "I saw the Goon Platoon." "You did?! I'm jealous," Quint says. "How are they?" "I didn't ask." "Rude!" Globlet says. "Um, there wasn't exactly a lot of time to catch up! They grabbed me right when I came through the rip- tear." Then I tell Quint and Globlet everything that happened after I landed: the strayfurs, Debra-Bulb,