With the Frogs Page 3

  They swam over to it. The exoskeleton was clear and felt like plastic. Andrew and Judy crept under it. They jiggled it to loosen it from the stem and balanced it on their heads. It was very light. Looking through the skeleton made things a little blurry, like looking through someone else’s glasses.

  Disguised as a fearsome water tiger, they crept down the water-lily stem, deeper into the pond.

  THE MYSTERY OF TOO MANY LEGS

  “Look!” said Judy, pausing on the water-lily stem. She lifted the exoskeleton to get a better look. “Tadpoles with legs!”

  “Wowzers schnauzers!” said Andrew. “They’ve all got tails, but some of them have just hind legs. And some of them have all four legs.”

  meep … “Few weeks after tadpole hatch from egg, hind legs begin to grow,” said Thudd. “Later, front legs grow under skin, pop through skin. Then tail begin to go away. Tadpole stop eating. Body turn tail into energy to use as food.”

  “What’s that?” asked Judy, pointing ahead.

  Through the murky water and blurry skeleton, it looked like two long, thin tree trunks were coming toward them.

  meep … “Legs of big bird,” said Thudd. “Legs of heron. Heron eat lotsa fish.

  “But heron do favor for fish, too. Fish eggs stick to feet of heron. When heron fly to other pond or lake, carry fish eggs to new place.”

  Judy shrugged. “As long as the heron isn’t interested in bug-sized things,” she said.

  “Woofers!” said Andrew, slipping down. He struggled to keep the exoskeleton over him and Judy and still hang on. “This stem is so slimy!”

  meep … “Stem covered with algae,” said Thudd. “Tiny plants. Too small to see with eyes.

  “Algae not got leaves. Not got roots. But algae use energy from sun to make food. Same as other plants. Algae make water look green. Lotsa animals eat algae.”

  Thudd pointed to a lump that was crawling up another stem. “Snail eat algae,” said Thudd. “Snail scrape off algae with thousands, thousands of tiny teeth.”

  The water swarmed with swimmers—insects and wormy things and tadpoles and frogs.

  A long, flat, ribbon-like creature swam so close that it almost knocked Andrew and Judy’s exoskeleton off the lily stem.

  “Cheese Louise!” said Judy. “What was that?”

  meep … “Leech,” said Thudd. The leech caught up with a small fish. It wrapped itself around the fish and held it

  tight.

  meep … “Leech sucking blood from fish,” said Thudd. “When leech drink enough blood, leech let fish go.”

  “Eeeeuw!” Judy shivered, pushing Andrew to move faster down the stem. “Leeches are vampires!”

  “Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!” said Thudd. “Leech saliva got special stuff to make bite not hurt while leech suck blood. Sometime big animal not know that leech biting.

  “Leech saliva got stuff to make blood flow fast.”

  Suddenly frogs, lots of them, sped by their exoskeleton.

  “Holy moly!” said Andrew, lifting the skeleton for a better view. “There’s a frog with six legs!”

  “And there’s one with just three legs!” said Judy.

  meep … “Short time ago, kids in Minnesota visit pond. Find lotsa frogs with lotsa problems. Some got too many legs. Some got no back legs. Some got just one eye.

  “Kids tell whole world that frogs got problems. Scientists investigate.”

  “Why are bad things happening to the frogs?” asked Andrew.

  meep … “No one know for sure,” said Thudd. “Could be lotsa things.

  “Could be kinda light from sun. Ultraviolet light hurt frog eggs. More ultraviolet light come from sun now.

  “Could be stuff that people use to kill bugs. Bug killers get into water. Frogs live in water. Breathe through skin. Bug killers get into frogs through skin. Do bad things, maybe.

  “Animals called parasites live in water, too. Parasites gotta use other animals to live, to make babies.

  “Some kindsa parasite burrow into back end of tadpoles. Mess up place where frog legs grow. Make frog grow more legs sometimes. Sometimes no legs.”

  “The poor frogs!” said Judy.

  meep … “Frog with leg problems have hard time catching food,” said Thudd. “Easy for predator to catch, too.”

  “We’ll tell Uncle Al about all this,” said Andrew as they crept carefully down the lily stem. “Maybe we can help save the frogs.”

  “Humph,” grumped Judy. “We can’t even figure out how to save ourselves. This is all your fault, Bug-Brain!”

  Through the cloudy water, Andrew could see rocks at the bottom of the pond.

  “There must be some rocks that don’t have anything nasty living under them,” he said.

  Judy rolled her eyes. “And the way we can tell is by whether or not we get eaten,” she said. “Nice!”

  Andrew and Judy were half an inch from the bottom of the pond now. Suddenly the exoskeleton whacked Andrew on the side of his head. And then it zoomed off!

  Andrew watched another water tiger speeding away with their camouflage!

  “Cheese Louise!” hollered Judy as they touched down in the squishy mud. “We’ve got nothing to protect us!”

  “We can hide under that giant rock ahead,” said Andrew. “It’s so big, it will be easy for Uncle Al to find it.”

  They tried to hurry. It wasn’t easy to do underwater. With every step, their tiny feet stirred up little swirls of muck.

  As they were passing by a clam-like creature buried in the mud, they saw that a small fish seemed to be struggling at the edge of it.

  “That poor little fish is stuck,” said Judy. “Let’s help it.”

  “Noop! Noop! Noop!” said Thudd. “Not real fish!”

  BAD STUFF AT THE BOTTOM

  Just then, a big fish darted toward the little fish at the edge of the shell and bit it.

  A cloud of tiny dark specks puffed out of the shell. The specks rained down on Andrew and Judy and the big fish. The big fish backed off and swam away.

  Andrew and Judy shook off the specks. They looked like teeny clams with hooks.

  meep … “Big shell buried in mud belong to animal called mussel,” said Thudd. “Mussel got strange life cycle. Mussel larva got hooks. Hook on to gills of fish. Suck blood from fish for a while. Then drop off.

  “To get fish to come close, mussel got lure that look like little fish. When real fish come to bite fake fish, mussel shoot larva at fish. Mussel make millions and millions of larva babies.”

  “Wowzers schnauzers!” said Andrew. “That’s amazing!”

  Andrew and Judy kept shuffling through the silky mud and tangled stems.

  Andrew tripped over a twig. But as he got up, he saw it wasn’t a twig. It was a tube made of grains of sand and tiny pebbles. It was moving and something was sticking out of one end of it.

  meep … “Caddis-fly larva,” said Thudd. “Larva make silk. Use silk like glue. Stick stuff together. Make case to hide in.”

  “There are a lot of these cases,” said Andrew. “Some of them are empty.”

  meep … “When caddis-fly larva grow, leave old case,” said Thudd. “Make bigger case to move into.

  “Later, caddis-fly larva turn into flying bug.”

  “Cheese Louise!” said Judy. “A lot of bugs start out not looking like bugs at all! And they spend most of their stupid lives in the water!”

  “Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!” said Thudd. “But bugs not so stupid. Bugs been living on earth longer than any other animals. More kindsa bugs than any other animals. Many million times more bugs on earth than humans.”

  Suddenly a large, flat, round shape tumbled through the water and landed a few inches away from Andrew and Judy. Then another plopped down closer.

  “We’re getting bombed!” yelled Judy.

  A dark, oval shape scooted sideways and buried itself in the mucky bottom.

  “Hmmmm …,” said Andrew. “This reminds me of something… .”

  Judy kicked A
ndrew’s leg. “Move it!” she said. “Before we get smooshed.” “I’ve got it!” said Andrew. “People are skipping stones up there! If we get back to the surface fast, we can find them!”

  “Noooo!” said Judy, bounding toward the big rock. “We’ve gotta wait till the stones stop falling. We could get crushed.”

  She arrived at the rock and quickly scooped muck from under it. Then she squeezed herself into the hiding place. Andrew wiggled in beside her.

  “Stop shoving me,” said Judy.

  “I’m not shoving you,” said Andrew.

  “Yes you are,” said Judy.

  “No I’m not,” said Andrew. “You’re shoving me.”

  Andrew reached over to touch what was nudging him. He felt something cold and hard and sharp. A shiver ran down his spine.

  SUPER-DUPER POOPER-SCOOPER!

  “Let’s get out of here, Judy!” he said. “Now!”

  They scrambled out. Andrew felt something scraping the rear of his Wannabee pants.

  Andrew turned and squinted. Through the murk, he glimpsed one of the scariest things he had ever seen.

  It was a huge, dark head with wide-open jaws that looked like giant pliers. Long legs with claws at their tips jutted from its centipede-like body.

  Eek! “Hellgrammite!” squeaked Thudd. “Larva of big, big fly.”

  Andrew spied one of the skipping stones and started paddling toward it. “Let’s hide under that pebble, Judy!” he said. “It’s our only chance!”

  As they buried themselves under the pebble, the hellgrammite reared up. Its jaws stabbed at a caddis-fly larva inside its case. The hellgrammite crushed the case, dragged out the larva, and stuffed it between its twitching jaws.

  “How will we ever get out of here alive?” asked Judy.

  Andrew scratched behind one of his antennas. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a tiny cube wrapped in white paper. Blue letters on the wrapper spelled out UMBUBBLE.

  Andrew had invented the Umbubble as a way for Judy and him to protect themselves if they were caught in a watery environment. The umbubble had worked very well when they were flushed down the toilet.

  Andrew unwrapped the cube, crammed it into his mouth, and chewed. Then he tried to blow it up like bubble gum. But it was much harder to blow the Umbubble up in water than in air. Andrew huffed and puffed. The Umbubble blew up to the size of Andrew’s tiny nose. Then it blew up to the size of his little head. But Andrew couldn’t get it any bigger.

  “Help me blow up the Umbubble, Judy,” said Andrew.

  “Eeeeuw!” complained Judy. “I’m not putting my mouth on anything you’ve had in your mouth!”

  Andrew cocked his head. “Would you rather be a hellgrammite snack?” he asked.

  Judy rolled her eyes, chomped down on the Umbubble, and they both began to blow.

  The Umbubble started to puff up. Suddenly it was as big as a Ping-Pong ball. When Andrew and Judy stopped for a breath, it sucked them both inside! The Umbubble slowly rose up through the green pond. It passed fish and tadpoles and bristly bugs chasing prickly bugs. I hope the Umbubble doesn’t look tasty, thought Andrew.

  A few seconds later, they popped to the surface. The sun had disappeared behind dark, fast-moving clouds.

  Putt putt putt putt putt …

  VRRRROOOOOOM!

  Through the pale blue wall of the Umbubble, Andrew could see boats on the water—toy boats. There was a tugboat, a speedboat, and a big sailboat—with a helicopter on the back deck.

  “People!” yelled Judy, pointing toward the shore.

  On the edge of the pond, four kids about Andrew’s age were laughing and using remote controls to guide the boats.

  A boy with curly red hair was skipping stones.

  “If only we could get on one of those boats,” said Judy. “But they’re moving so fast.”

  “Wait a minute!” said Andrew. “I still have the remote from the GNAT. It works on all kinds of things. Maybe it will work on these boats—or the helicopter!”

  Andrew pointed the remote at the helicopter and clicked. The rotor at the top started to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster, till it was almost invisible.

  Andrew pressed the controls. The helicopter lifted off the deck of the sailboat.

  “What is that?” came a voice from the edge of the pond.

  “It’s the helicopter!” came another voice. “It took off by itself!”

  Andrew steered the helicopter toward the Umbubble and guided it down till it touched the water.

  “Do you think it’s gonna sink?” said someone on the shore.

  Andrew and Judy punched their way out of the Umbubble and paddled to the helicopter. They climbed in through the open window.

  It was only mid-afternoon, but the sky was getting dark fast. Fat raindrops began to pelt the water. Water splashed into the helicopter’s cabin.

  Using his remote, Andrew made the helicopter lift into the air.

  “Woofers!” he cried. They were flying!

  Even though it was raining hard now, the kids on the edge of the pond stood perfectly still. All eyes were on the helicopter.

  “It’s coming this way!” said a tall, dark-haired girl.

  “It’s like there’s a pilot!” said a short boy with a high voice.

  The next instant, the sky exploded with light.

  ZAAAAPPPP!

  Andrew tingled all over. Suddenly he felt like he was being shot out of a cannon! Then everything went black.

  “YEEOUCH!” Andrew hollered. A terrible pain shot through his butt. His hands touched something hard below him. He had slammed down on a rock at the edge of the pond.

  The kids he had seen on the shore were standing over him. Their mouths were open so wide, they could have swallowed tennis balls.

  “Hoooeee!” said the red-haired boy. “You guys got hit by lightning!”

  “Ooooooooh …” It was Judy, groaning. She was leaning on her elbows in a patch of nearby cattails. And she was the size she used to be when she was a regular thirteen-year-old girl!

  Andrew’s eyes grew wide as he looked at his legs and his hands and his arms. They were the size they used to be when he was a regular ten-year-old boy! “Super-duper pooper-scooper!” shouted Andrew.

  Next to his right hand was the tiny little rotor from the top of the helicopter.

  The sky was a lighter shade of gray now and the rain had stopped. “Looks like the storm is over,” said Andrew to the kids standing over him.

  “You were out for five minutes from the time you crashed,” said the dark-haired girl. “You were about the size of a peach pit when the helicopter cracked open, and you kept growing like a crazy weed.”

  Andrew heard the sound of bushes rustling. He looked up to see the head of a tall man with shaggy hair bobbing up behind the kids.

  “Uncle Al!” shouted Andrew.

  “Hiya, Unkie!” squeaked Thudd.

  “What took you so long?” asked Judy.

  “Christopher Columbus on a Krispy Kreme doughnut!” gasped Uncle Al. “You’re back to normal size!”

  “They were cuter when they were tiny,” said the dark-haired girl.

  Uncle Al introduced himself to the kids. “I’m Andrew and Judy’s uncle,” he said.

  He shook his head and smiled at Andrew and Judy. “How on earth did you get un-shrunk?” he asked.

  The kids began to speak at once.

  “They got hit by lightning!”

  “They took off from the pond in a toy helicopter!”

  “The helicopter crashed on the shore,” said the dark-haired girl. “They were teeny-tiny for a minute, then they started to get big—fast!”

  “It was so cool!” said the red-haired boy. “Like those little toys you put in water and they grow!”

  “The lightning got us big again,” said Andrew. “It was the electricity.”

  “I feel like Frankenstein,” said Judy.

  Andrew chuckled. “You look like—”

  “Andrew
!” interrupted Uncle Al with a twinkle in his eyes. “Act your size!”

  Andrew laughed. “We sure have a lot to tell you about frogs!” he said.

  “Great!” said Uncle Al. “Let’s discuss it over a pepperoni pizza. Who wants to come?”

  “Super-duper pooper-scooper!” said Andrew. “I’m starving.”

  “Me too!” said the short boy with the high voice.

  “Hot doggies!” said the red-haired boy.

  “Let’s go!”

  “Can we have mushrooms?” asked the dark-haired girl.

  “I want mushrooms, too!” Judy chimed in. “And sausage!”

  meep … “Everything okey-dokey now!” said Thudd.

  TRUE STUFF

  Thudd wanted to tell you more about frogs, floating brains, and other weird pond stuff, but he was too busy saving Andrew and Judy from hungry spiders and water tigers. Here’s what he wanted to say:

  • When cold winters come, some frogs do more than hibernate—they actually freeze solid! Their hearts stop beating, their brains stop working, and their eyes turn white! When the weather gets warmer, the ice in the frog’s body begins to melt. In a few hours, the frog comes to life again.

  Scientists are trying to figure out how frogs can freeze, shut down their organs, and still survive. It may be because the ice forms outside their cells but not inside.

  When water freezes, it expands. If the water inside tiny, delicate cells froze, it would rip the cells apart. The water inside these frogs’ cells has an “anti-freeze” made of a kind of sugar!

  • When a frog swallows a meal, its eyes close and its eyeballs go down into its head! Frogs use their eyeballs to help push food down their throats!

  • The biggest frog in the world lives in Africa, is a foot long (not including its legs), and can weigh more than seven pounds. The world’s smallest frog would barely cover your pinkie fingernail!

  • When a frog eats something that could make it sick, it throws up. But it doesn’t just throw up the bad food, it throws up its whole stomach! While its stomach is hanging outside its mouth, the frog uses its front legs to clean the stomach off—then swallows it to get it back down!