Incredible Shrinking Kid! (7 page)

Ripped-open bags of rotten potatoes?

A pretzel for a flagpole?

A sunroof in the gym?

Smelly green ooze?

When Liz stepped back into the cafeteria she was trying hard to make some sense of it all.

She was trying so hard, she didn't notice right away that something was different. Very different.

The clock said 12:35. Still lunchtime. All the tables were filled. First-, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-grade kids. Normal kids.

Well, thought Liz, as normal as you could get in this school. In this town.

No, it was something else. Then Liz realized what it was. The kids, nearly three hundred of them, were absolutely quiet. No sound at all.

The cafeteria, jammed with kids, was silent!

“Strange,” Liz hissed. “Definitely very straaa—”

Then she saw the reason. Well, she didn't actually
see
it. It was more like she
felt
it. It was the floor beneath her. The floor was humming.

It wasn't humming a tune.

It was—vibrating. A little at first, then a lot. The vibrating turned into rumbling. The rumbling turned into quaking.

Then the linoleum floor tiles began to crack.

And split. And pop.

A bulge heaved up in the middle of the floor.

“This is new,” said Liz. Holly, Sean, Jeff, and Mike stepped around the hump and over to her.

Suddenly, the floor itself gave out an awful, grinding, ripping, tearing sound.

KKRRREEEEEOOOWWNNNCH!

Chairs and tables went flying. Everybody ran to get out of the way as the floor burst apart.

And something came out.

The first thing Liz saw was the thing's head.

It was the size of a garbage can. It was green and all scaly, with burning red eyes and a long snout.

Under the snout was an enormous open jaw filled with teeth as long as bananas.

Sean looked over at the head twisting in the hole. He tapped his sister, Holly. “Is that Dad surprising us in one of his monster costumes?”

Just then the cafeteria doors swung open and Mr. Vickers appeared with a movie camera on his shoulder. “Hi, kids. I'm here to film!”

That's when the silence broke.

“Ahhhh!” screamed everyone at once.

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About the Author

Over the last two decades, Tony Abbott has written dozens of mysteries, comics, and adventure books for young readers aged six to fourteen, with series including Danger Guys, the Time Surfers, the Weird Zone, Underworlds, Goofballs, and the long-running fantasy series the Secrets of Droon. He is also the author of the fantasy epic Kringle and the realistic novels
Firegirl
(winner of the 2006 Golden Kite Award for Fiction),
The Postcard
(winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery), and
Lunch-Box Dream
. Among his latest novels is
The Forbidden Stone
, the first installment of the twelve-book saga the Copernicus Legacy. Tony has taught on the faculty of Lesley University's MFA program in creative writing, is a frequent conference speaker and visitor to schools, and presents workshops to creative writers of all ages. His websites include
www.tonyabbottbooks.com
,
www.thecopernicuslegacy.com
, and the literary blog
www.fridaybookreport.com
.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1996 by Robert T. Abbott

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

ISBN: 978-1-4804-8652-2

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com

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