In the Bathroom Read online

  Hiya! My name Thudd. Best robot friend of Drewd. Thudd know lots of stuff. How bug walk up wall. Why bubble break. How spider make web!

  Drewd like to invent stuff. Thudd help! But sometime Thudd and Drewd make mistake. Invention plus mistake make adventure! Thudd and Drewd go on adventure now. Want to come? Turn page, please!

  Get lost with

  Andrew, Judy, and Thudd

  in all their exciting adventures!

  Andrew Lost on the Dog

  Andrew Lost in the Bathroom

  AND COMING SOON!

  Andrew Lost in the Kitchen

  To Dan and Zack and Dad

  and the real Andrew, with love.

  —J.C.G.

  For Anne, wherever she may travel.

  —D.P.

  CONTENTS

  Andrew’s World

  1. A Terrible Flap

  2. Bubble Trouble

  3. Umbubble to the Rescue

  4. Skeleton Crew

  5. Getting Antsy

  6. Gloorp!

  7. A Distant Relative

  8. Slime City

  9. A Tangled Web

  10. Hold Your Breath!

  11. This Trip Stinks!

  12. Oops!

  True Stuff

  Where to Find More True Stuff

  ANDREW’S WORLD

  Andrew Dubble

  Andrew is ten years old, but he’s been inventing things since he was four! His newest invention is the Atom Sucker. It shrinks things by sucking the space out of their atoms.

  Andrew wanted to shrink himself and write a report about ants. But at noon today Andrew had a little accident. Now he, his cousin Judy, and his robot, Thudd, are so small they could use the dot at the bottom of an exclamation point as a trampoline!

  Judy Dubble

  Judy is Andrew’s thirteen-year-old cousin. She’s pretty annoyed with Andrew for shrinking them. But Andrew shrank her parents’ helicopter, too. If they can find it, she can fly them back to the Atom Sucker. But they have to hurry. In less than eight hours, the Atom Sucker will explode!

  Thudd

  Thudd is a little silver robot. The letters in his name stand for The Handy Ultra-Digital Detective. He’s Andrew’s best friend.

  Thudd has a super-computer brain. That means he knows just about everything. It also means he can never get wet. Unfortunately, he and Andrew and Judy are hanging off the ear of a dog that’s about to get a bath!

  Uncle Al

  Andrew and Judy’s uncle, is a top-secret scientist. He invented Thudd! When Uncle Al made Thudd, he put a big purple button in the middle of Thudd’s chest. Thudd is only supposed to press it in an emergency. He pressed it in the last book!

  Harley

  Harley is a basset hound. He belongs to Judy’s next-door neighbor, but Judy is his best friend. Judy and Harley got even closer today. Judy was inside Harley’s nose!

  A few minutes ago, Harley dove into a smelly garbage bag. Now he’s about to get a bath….

  Mrs. Scuttle

  Mrs. Scuttle is Judy’s next-door neighbor. Harley belongs to her. She is about to give Harley a scrubbing he won’t forget. Andrew, Judy, and Thudd won’t forget it, either!

  A TERRIBLE FLAP

  “Are we going to get out of this alive?” yelled Judy Dubble.

  “Sure!” Andrew yelled back. But he was thinking, If we get out of this alive, I’ll never, ever do anything like this again, ever!

  Thanks to an accident with his newest invention, the Atom Sucker, Andrew was smaller than a flea’s knee. And so were Andrew’s cousin Judy and his robot buddy, Thudd. Now they were all dangling from a hair of a dog’s floppy ear.

  Ahwoooo!

  The dog, Harley, was standing in a big white bathtub. Harley’s owner, Mrs. Scuttle, was about to give him a bath! Water thundered out of the faucet. Hot steam curled into the air. Mrs. Scuttle’s face was a huge, grumpy storm cloud above the tub.

  Andrew thought about the two things that might save them. One was a cube of Um-bubble in his back pocket. The other was the helicopter that had gotten shrunk, too. Andrew and Judy had been searching for it in the endless furry forest of dog hair. They hadn’t found it yet.

  Mrs. Scuttle wrapped her giant, squiddy fingers around Harley’s collar.

  “Get over here, mister!” she yelled. She yanked Harley to the front of the tub.

  Woof!

  Harley shook his head. His long brown ear flapped toward the roaring faucet.

  meep … “Hang tight!” squeaked Thudd from one of Andrew’s shirt pockets.

  Harley’s ear hit the spray. Water drops sloshed over Andrew and Judy.

  Andrew coughed and blew water out of his nose.

  Thudd pinched his way up Andrew’s shirt.

  meep … “Oody okey-dokey?” Thudd squeaked as loudly as he could.

  Judy pulled a strand of frizzy brown hair away from her eyes. “I’m smaller than the eye of a fly and hanging on to a soggy dog hair!” she yelled down. “What do you think?”

  “I’m really sorry about this,” Andrew called up to Judy. “I just wanted to write a great report on ants!”

  “Dirty dirty dog!” said Mrs. Scuttle, high above them. “This is what you get for rolling in garbage!”

  A shower of pink dust rained down past Harley’s ear. Andrew looked up to see that it was pouring from a jar in Mrs. Scuttle’s hand. The label on the jar read “htaB elbbuB.”

  Whoops! thought Andrew. I’m reading it upside down!

  “Bubble bath!” he said.

  “Ahhhh … chooof!” Judy sneezed. “I’m allergic to bubble bath!”

  Bubble bath dusted Harley’s head like pink snow. Harley shook his head. His ear flapped out like a furry magic carpet!

  “Andrew!” screamed Judy. “I see something shiny inside Harley’s ear! I think it’s the helicopter!”

  WHAPPPP! The ear smacked into the tub!

  “Yaaarghhh!” Andrew screamed as he lost his grip on his dog hair. With one hand, he pushed Thudd into his shirt pocket. With the other, he reached for the little cube of Um-bubble in his back pocket.

  BUBBLE TROUBLE

  “Oof!”

  Andrew crash-landed onto something wet and rubbery. It was slippery as a fish! He started sliding fast down a shiny, curving wall of swirling colors—green and pink and red and purple.

  When Andrew stopped sliding, he was upside down! His feet were caught in a drop of water at the bottom of a huge, clear globe.

  “Where are we?” Andrew wondered.

  meep … “Soap bubble!” said Thudd.

  Andrew looked down.

  Far below, mountains of suds rose from an ocean of water.

  “Wowzers!” he said. “It’s like we’re hanging from a cloud!” Then Andrew realized there was something he didn’t see.

  “Where’s Judy?” he asked.

  meep … “Oody bounce off bubble,” said Thudd.

  “Oh no!” said Andrew. “And we can’t even look for her because we’re stuck here!”

  meep … “Not for long,” said Thudd. He pointed up. “See top of bubble?”

  Andrew looked up through the bubble. The top was turning black!

  meep … “Bubble skin thin, thin, thin!” said Thudd. “Must pile up million bubble skins to be thick as page of book. Bubble color tell how thick bubble is. Black mean bubble skin thin as can be. Ready to go ‘Boom!’”

  “Uh-oh,” said Andrew. “I’d better get the Umbubble ready.”

  Andrew reached into his back pocket and pulled out one of his inventions. It was the size and shape of a piece of bubble gum. Bright blue letters on the white wrapper spelled UMBUBBLE.

  Andrew ripped off the wrapper and popped the little blue cube into his mouth.

  “Tastes
like grapes!” said Andrew, chewing. “The last one I made tasted kind of like—”

  Just then, the rainbow soap bubble burst into a billion tiny drops!

  “—MEATBAAALLLSSS!!!” Andrew yelled as he was blasted off the exploding bubble.

  But a moment later, it felt as if a parachute had opened. He was floating!

  “Neato mosquito!” said Andrew. “I wonder why we slowed down?”

  meep … “Air filled with lotsa little molecules,” said Thudd. “We so small, we bang into molecules! Make us fall slow. Like piece of dust! Look!”

  Thudd pointed to his face screen.

  “Cool!” said Andrew.

  He watched shimmering soap-bubble blimps float past them. Twisting fingers of steam reached up from the water. Andrew and Thudd glided over the top of a glistening bubble mountain.

  Then a drop of spray slammed into Andrew.

  “Yaaaargh!”

  UMBUBBLE TO THE RESCUE

  Andrew stuck to the outside of the drop. It was like riding a giant water balloon!

  Plop!

  The drop crashed and dragged Andrew under the churning water near the faucet.

  Thudd! thought Andrew as he held his breath and swam to the surface. Uncle Al had warned him that Thudd should never get wet!

  As soon as Andrew popped into the steamy air, he pulled Thudd out of his pocket and held him above the water.

  The buttons on Thudd’s chest were blinking red. They were supposed to be green!

  meep … “Where sheep go to get haircut?” asked Thudd. There was a goofy smile on his face screen.

  “What?” asked Andrew.

  meep … “Baa baa shop!” said Thudd. “Hee hee!”

  Then Thudd’s eyes closed. “Schnurm … schnurm … schnurm …”

  It sounded like Thudd was snoring!

  “Thudd?” said Andrew.

  He shook Thudd gently. Andrew was worried. Thudd had never told jokes before. And he’d never gone to sleep, either.

  The Umbubble in Andrew’s mouth was nice and soft now. Andrew started blowing a clear blue bubble.

  When the Umbubble was twice as big as he was, Andrew stopped blowing. The Umbubble floated gently on the water.

  There was a little hole in the Umbubble where Andrew had been blowing. Andrew pushed himself through it. The walls of the Umbubble were thin and rubbery and a little sticky. They stretched tightly around Andrew and kept the water out, then snapped shut behind him.

  I’d better keep my legs in the water so I can paddle around the tub, thought Andrew. He pushed his legs back through the Umbubble.

  As soon as the Umbubble sealed up tight again, Andrew started blowing on Thudd, trying to dry him off.

  Thudd’s eyes opened.

  “Are you all right, Thudd?” asked Andrew.

  meep … “Wet! Wet! Wet, Drewd!” Thudd whimpered. “Dizzy, too.”

  Andrew stuck Thudd to the wall of the Umbubble to dry.

  “Drewd seen Oody?” Thudd asked.

  “Not yet,” said Andrew. “Did you see where she landed after she bounced off the bubble?”

  meep … “Oody fall near there!” said Thudd. He pointed to a mountain of bubbles between the faucet and one of Harley’s towering legs.

  “She’s so small,” said Andrew. “Do you think we can see her?”

  meep … “Thudd use Goggle Scope!”

  The Goggle Scope was a clear, flat mask that let Thudd see things in different ways. It sat on top of his head when he wasn’t using it.

  Thudd pressed the Goggle Scope button on his chest, and the Goggle Scope flipped down over his face screen. Thudd pressed another button to set the Goggle Scope to “telescope.” This made faraway things look near.

  Andrew kicked through the choppy bathtub sea toward the bubble mountain. Blobs of soapsuds rained down as Mrs. Scuttle scrubbed Harley.

  Ahwoooo! Harley howled.

  “Down, mister!” yelled Mrs. Scuttle.

  Harley’s paw smacked the water.

  “Whoa!” Andrew yelled as a swirl of water caught the Umbubble and dragged it toward the bubble mountain. An avalanche of bubbles began to tumble down from its top!

  The bubble mountain collapsed, and a dark, craggy island came crashing through it!

  SKELETON CREW

  The huge mound loomed high above them. It was brown and covered with deep, dark caves and shaggy ridges. And it was headed straight for the Umbubble!

  “It looks like an asteroid!” said Andrew as he paddled quickly away from it.

  meep … “Sponge!” said Thudd.

  “Jeepers creepers!” said Andrew. “It doesn’t look like a sponge. The ones we use to wash the dishes are all bright colors and shaped like rectangles!”

  meep … “Drewd use fake sponges,” said Thudd. “Fake sponges made in factory. Real sponge here. Real sponge is skeleton of sponge animal that live in sea. Look!”

  The sponge was getting closer.

  “That’s a real weird skeleton,” said Andrew as he paddled faster. “I thought skeletons had to be hard.”

  meep … “Sponge animal got squishy skeleton,” said Thudd.

  Andrew looked into the sponge’s dark, spooky caves. “What are all those holes?” he asked.

  meep … “Sponge animal not got mouth,” said Thudd. “Sponge animal suck water through holes. Eat little stuff that float in water.”

  Sccreeeek!

  Andrew looked up. Mrs. Scuttle was turning the knob on the faucet. Niagara Falls turned into a trickle and stopped!

  meep … “Drewd!” Thudd cried. He pointed toward the top of the sponge. “Look! Oody!”

  Andrew strained his eyes. “I guess she’s too small for me to see without the Goggle Scope,” he said.

  Thudd pressed another button on his chest. A beam of light popped out of a little hole at the top of Thudd’s head. At the end of the beam, Andrew saw a picture of Judy standing near the top of the sponge. It was like watching television!

  Judy had taken off her blue denim jacket. She was waving it frantically.

  Then something crept up behind Judy. At first all they could see was a shiny black head and long antennas. Its jaws looked like an enormous lobster claw!

  “An ant!” yelled Andrew. His eyes widened. “Oh no! It’s coming toward Judy!”

  The ant tapped its antennas on the sponge behind Judy. But Judy didn’t seem to see it.

  meep … “Scout ant,” said Thudd. “Use antennas to find food and water. Eyes not see much.”

  “Let’s hope it can’t see Judy!” said Andrew.

  meep … “Smell and taste stuff with antennas. Then scout make smell trail for other ants to follow.”

  The ant stopped tapping the sponge. It was suddenly very still. Andrew held his breath. Then the ant raised its antennas high.

  Andrew and Thudd watched in horror as the ant tapped Judy on the head with an antenna!

  Judy turned. Andrew was too far away to hear her scream, but he could see the scream on her face! Her feet scrambled! It looked like she slipped! Then she cartwheeled off the sponge and disappeared into a cloud of steam!

  GETTING ANT-SY

  Andrew paddled frantically around the sponge, but he couldn’t find Judy anywhere.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  Then Andrew felt a tug on his foot. He looked down to see frizzy brown seaweed floating below. It was Judy’s hair!

  “Judy!” Andrew yelled.

  Judy was stuck underneath the Um-bubble!

  “Grab on to my legs!” he yelled.

  The seaweed nodded.

  Andrew yanked his legs into the Umbubble. Snap!! The top half of Judy came in with them.

  “Welcome to the Umbubble!” said Andrew. He helped her the rest of the way inside. The Umbubble sealed up behind her.

  Judy took a deep breath. “Ah … choof!”

  meep … “Bless oo!” said Thudd.

  “Thanks!” said Judy, pushing her hair away from her face. “That stupid bubble ba
th got up my nose. But it’s better than being on a disgusting sponge with yucky ant antennas in my hair!”

  Judy flopped back against the Umbubble.

  Thudd pushed his Goggle Scope button. The Goggle Scope flipped back up to the top of his head.

  meep … “How do you know if water friendly?” asked Thudd. “It waves! Hee hee!”

  Judy leaned over to look at Thudd.

  “I’ve never heard Thudd say anything silly” said Judy. “And how come his buttons are yellow?” she asked.

  Andrew explained how he and Thudd had fallen from a soap bubble into the bath. He also told Judy about Thudd’s first joke and the snoozing.

  “Thudd isn’t supposed to get wet,” Andrew said. “I hope he’s okay. But at least his buttons are yellow now. It’s better than red.”

  Judy tickled the bottoms of Thudd’s rubbery feet. He always liked that.

  meep … “Thunkoo!” said Thudd. His face screen turned pink as a wide smile stretched across it.

  “Thudd seems okay now,” said Judy. “Did Uncle Al call while I was gone?”

  “Noop,” said Thudd.

  More than an hour ago, Thudd had pressed the big purple button in the middle of his chest. It was supposed to contact Uncle Al in case of emergency.

  “What time is it?” asked Judy.

  meep … “2:15,” said Thudd. “Five hours and forty-six minutes left.”

  Judy frowned. They needed to get back to the Atom Sucker in Judy’s backyard by 8:01. If they didn’t set the Atom Sucker to UNSHRINK before then, it would get hot enough to blow up! And then they’d be stuck at microscopic size forever.

  Judy leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. “I’m pretty sure I saw the helicopter in Harley’s ear,” she said. “If we can get to it, I can fly us back to the Atom Sucker. There’s an open window above the toilet. But how can we get up to Harley’s ear?”