In Uncle Al : In Uncle Al (9780307532572) Read Free

file. Now crowds of them were tumbling through the chicken-soupy plasma.
    thumpa … thumpa … thumpa …

    It was Uncle Al’s heart beating.
    White blood cells rushed like speeding jellyfish among the red cells.
    A giant white blood cell whammed into Andrew’s and Judy’s red-blood-cell disguises and flung them apart.
    “Androooooo!” hollered Judy.
    Andrew tugged the Drastic Elastic sharply. The next instant, Judy’s head banged against Andrew’s.
    “Youch!” hollered Judy.
    “See?” said Andrew. “All I have to do is give the Drastic Elastic a big jerk.”
    “You’re
the big jerk, Bug-Brain!” said Judy, rubbing her head.
    thumpa … thumpa … thumpa … thumpa … THUMPA …
    Now Andrew didn’t just hear the sound, he could feel it pounding like a drum.
    “Uncle Al’s heartbeat sounds really loud,” said Andrew. “We must be getting close to his heart.”
    The blood river sped them along. Through the plasma and red blood cells, Andrew thought he saw giant pink tent flaps! They sprung open. Then they instantly slammed shut.
    meep …
“Flaps called heart valve,” said Thudd. “Heart valve let blood into heart.”
    “What makes them open and close?” asked Andrew.
    meep …
“Electric signal,” said Thudd. “Kinda like electric signal open garage door.”
    The next second, the heart flaps opened again. Andrew and Judy were sucked into a huge dark cave.
    meep …
“Inside heart now!” said Thudd.
    Bzzzzzzzt …
    A powerful tingle zipped from Andrew’s head to his toes.
    “Oofers!” he yelled. “I got an electric shock!”
    meep …
“Electricity come from Unkie Al’s heart,” said Thudd. “Part of heart called pacemaker. Pacemaker send electric signal to open heart valve. Send signal to make heart beat.”
    “We got shrunk by an electric shock,” said Andrew. “If this shock makes us any smaller, we’ll totally disappear!”

YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE GUTS
    The blood river swooshed Andrew and Judy into a space crisscrossed by long, thick white strands.
    “These things look like
tent
ropes,” said Andrew.
    meep …
“Act kinda like tent ropes,” said Thudd. “Called heartstrings. Tent ropes hold tent in place. Heartstrings hold heart flaps in place.”
    Andrew whammed against a tough, stretchy heartstring and bounced off.
    The wide, fast river of blood zoomed Andrew and Judy up and up and around.
    “It’s like we’re on a blood roller coaster,” said Andrew.
    “Aaack!” yelled Judy. “I’m gonna be sick!”
    Whoosh … Whooosh … Whoosh …
    “Sounds like a big storm,” said Andrew.
    meep …
“Sound of Unkie Al breathing,” said Thudd. “Leaving heart now. Going to lungs.”
    “Super-duper pooper-scooper!” said Andrew. “We can get out of Uncle Al soon!”
    The blood carried them into a narrow passageway. They were in a lung capillary now.
    Whoosh … Whooosh … Whoosh …
    The blood cell ahead of Andrew was changing from deep purple to dark red.
    “Woofers!” said Andrew. “It’s getting easier to breathe!”
    meep …
“Red blood cells picking up oxygen from lungs,” said Thudd, pointing to his face screen.
    “So how do we get out of this stupid capillary?” asked Judy.
    meep …
“Get out same way big-eater cells get in,” said Thudd. He pointed to faint lines in the capillary wall.
    “Capillary wall made of single layer of cells. Kinda like patchwork quilt. Got spaces between cells where stuff get in, stuff get out. Food, oxygen, big-eater cells.”
    As the blood sped them along, Andrew ran his hands along the capillary wall, feeling for a space.
    His fingers poked through an opening between two cells. He grabbed on to the edge of one of them. Judy slammed into him.
    “Ergh!” Andrew groaned. The current of blood pulled at them. Andrew struggled to spread the cells apart.
    Suddenly he felt something soft creep across his fingers, then across the top of his hand. Long, thin tentacles came slitheringthrough the slit in the capillary. A tentacle