The Ooze Read Free Page A

breath.”
    â€œDon’t you mean your nose ?” Colin snickered.
    I snickered, too. Then I poured the yellow powder into the beaker.
    We scrunched farther down behind the couch and waited. But nothing happened.
    â€œTake a whiff,” I whispered.
    Colin put the tube up to his nose. “It doesn’t smell at all.” He sighed.
    â€œYou jerks! What are you doing back there?” Michelle leaned over the back of the sofa, looking meaner than usual. “What is in that beaker, Al?” she demanded.
    â€œIt’s nothing,” I lied. “Honest!”
    â€œYou’re not supposed to use your chemistry set until I show you how,” she snapped. “Don’t you ever follow directions?”
    â€œBut we did follow the directions!” Colin exclaimed, holding up the orange paper. “It’s not our fault the stink bomb didn’t go off!”
    Thanks, Colin, I thought. Thanks a lot.
    â€œYou were trying to stink bomb my meeting?” Michelle screeched. “Wait till I tell Mom and Dad. Just wait.”
    Colin and I took off into the kitchen.
    â€œAnd leave that chemistry set alone,” Michelle called after us.
    â€œYour little brother can’t even figure out how to make a stink bomb?” I heard someone say to Michelle. “Are you sure you two are related?”
    I felt like a total jerk. Getting caught using the chemistry set was bad enough. But it was worse knowing Michelle and her friends thought I was too dumb to make a stink bomb.
    â€œWhat should we do with this gunk?” Colin asked when we returned to the basement.
    â€œThrow it out, I guess.”
    â€œIn the garbage?” Colin asked.
    â€œNo, I’ll pour it down the sink.” I reached for the beaker and noticed that the solution was turning a funny orange color. Neon orange.
    â€œIt’s working now ?” Colin groaned.
    I smelled the gloppy mess. “No. No, it’s not working. It still doesn’t stink,” I told him.
    I placed the beaker on the table. “Let’s put the chemistry set away, before my mom gets home. She’ll go ballistic if she knows I fooled around with it—without Michelle’s help.”
    â€œWhy bother?” Colin asked. “Michelle’s going to tell on you anyway. You know she will.”
    He had a point. She probably would.
    Chester still sat in the corner of the basement. I had forgotten he was even there. He let out a long meow. Then stood up—and leaped onto the table.
    He strolled toward the beaker, his tail flicking back and forth.
    â€œShouldn’t you be doing your math problems, Chester?” I asked. Chester padded closer to the beaker.
    â€œOff the table. Off!” I gave the cat a little push—and knocked over the stink bomb.
    The orange goo poured out. It oozed across the table. Thick and slimy.
    Some of it slid over one of Chester’s front paws.
    All his hair stood straight up.
    He arched his back. Flattened his ears.
    He hissed at the gooey stuff, baring his sharp white teeth.
    Then he leaped off the table, raced up the stairs, and cowered near the door.
    â€œLook at it!” Colin said, amazed. “It’s oozing everywhere.”
    Colin was right. The stuff had oozed across the table. Down the table legs. Onto the floor.
    Now it started oozing across the room.
    â€œMy mom will kill me if we don’t have this stuff cleaned up by the time she gets home!”
    I hurried over to the sink and pulled out a big roll of paper towels. I ripped off a long sheet and handed it to Colin.
    â€œDon’t get any of it on you,” I instructed. “I don’t know what these chemicals do to skin.”
    Colin wrapped the paper towels around his lefthand until it was covered with a wad as big as a catcher’s mitt.
    Then we went after the ooze.
    It didn’t soak into the paper towels the way I expected it to. Every time I touched it, it broke into little balls and rolled