The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow Read Free Page B

shelf held several strange devices that looked like handheld vacuum cleaners and seventy-six jars containing a black
     liquid. Each jar was dated, labeled with the words “Pop Tunz solution,” and identified as a different sound. Sounds like “barking
     dog,” “dad’s guitar,” “police siren,” and “Mom’s voice.” These were all failed attempts at creating the world’s first sound
     bubbles.
    Vincent had successfully created a magnetic bubble solution by adding dishwashing detergent to his self-drawing ink invention.
     He hoped to build a bubble-blowing device that would allow him to record sound, and even music, into the bubble solution.
     The device would then create bubbles that carried the sound until they popped and then released the recorded sound for everyone
     to hear.
    Pop Tunz was his mom’s favorite invention. They had spent several months working on it. And they had some success. They had
     trapped a variety of sounds in bubble solutions, including his mother’s voice. However, the messages were so faint they were
     hard to hear. Vincent needed a way to amplify the sound waves. But he hadn’t worked on Pop Tunz since his mother had died.
    Vincent had been working on Mood Paintz this morning when the experiment exploded in a mess of clear paint that quickly turned
     blue. He had succeeded in creating a color-changing paint, but instead of changing colors to match the viewer’s mood, it matched
     the mood of the artist. Vincent was sure he could get it to change with the viewer’s mood if he could just get the paint solution
     hotter. Even though heating the solution had caused the explosion in the first place. The hair dryer in the hall closet had
     given him an idea: Maybe if the paint was stirred rapidly
while
it was heating, it wouldn’t explode.

    Vincent took a screw-driver from his toolbox and opened the hair dryer. He removed the motor and the fan, which he knew would
     make an excellent high-speed stirrer, and then placed Gwen’s now fanless hair dryer back in the closet.
    He spent the rest of the afternoon trying to clean up from the explosion.

SNONKEY THE GREAT
9
    Vincent didn’t need his lab alarm to tell him Anna was coming; he could hear her bounding up the stairs. He closed the hidden lab door and was crawling out of his
     closet just as she burst into his bedroom.
    “Give ’em back, Vincent!”
    “What are you talking about, Anna?”
    “Elli and Stretch are missing. I know you took them. Now give them back!” Anna stamped her feet.

    “I have no idea what an elongated stench is and I hope to never find out. Now get out of my room.”
    “What were you doing in the closet?” Anna asked.
    Stella walked into Vincent’s room, wondering what all the commotion was about.
    “Great. A party in my room. Why don’t we invite the rest of New York?” Vincent said.
    “Elli and Stretch are missing and I know he took them,” Anna said as she stomped, this time on Vincent’s foot.
    “Ouch!” Vincent yelled, hopping on one foot while holding the other. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
    “Elli and Stretch are two of her stuffed animals. An elephant and a giraffe,” Stella said.
    “Oh. Well, I assure you I don’t have an elephant or a giraffe,” Vincent said. And technically, he was right. He had cut them
     apart and sewn them together, making one new Mixablez he named Snonkey the Great.
    “Why do you blame me for everything?” Vincent asked Anna.
    “Because it’s always your fault!” Anna said as she stormed out of Vincent’s room.
    “Here’s your homework.” Stella set a stack of books on Vincent’s desk. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. And you don’t
     look so blue anymore.”
    Vincent followed Stella downstairs to the kitchen. Gwen was standing in front of the open refrigerator, just staring in.
    “Hi, Gwen,” Vincent said, more as an experiment than a greeting.
    “Hey, Vic,” she said without looking up.
    Well, at least she