snickering.
The girls started down the muddy road. Isabelle’s feet ached worse than ever. “We’ve got to hurry,” she said to Gwen. “My grandma needs her dinner.”
“I still can’t believe you actually talked to Mr. Supreme.”
“I had to. Please, can’t you walk faster?” Isabelle asked.
Gwen stopped. “I’m too tired. My legs are killing me. You go on.” She gave Isabelle a weak hug. “See ya in the morning.”
“See ya.”
Isabelle took off at a full run. She was the first of Mama Lu’s tenants to arrive home. She didn’t have to slam her body against the stubborn front door because it stood wide open—which was highly unusual. Rain fell into the entryway. The kitchen sat quiet. No cabbage soup bubbled. No one hollered, “Did ya check fer slugs?”
Something is wrong.
A series of thumps and bumps sounded above.
Isabelle took the stairs, racing up one flight, then the next. She didn’t even slow down for the super steep third flight. Her bedroom door also stood wide open. Shreddedclumps of moss lay in the hallway. Something flew out of the bedroom and landed with a splat against the wall.
“SLUUUUUG!”
Isabelle plugged her ears as the screech repeated.
“SLUUUUUG!”
Mama Lu stomped out of the room on the fourth floor and stood, blocking the entry. Her fuzzy bathrobe hung open; her striped long johns clung to ripples of cheese-fed fat. Her face was all scrunched up like a wadded towel. In one hand she held the slug garden, in the other her canister of salt. “SLUUUUUG!” she wailed as she poured salt over the garden. The poor creatures had no chance of escape.
“No!” Isabelle cried.
“YOU!” Mama Lu tossed the garden aside, then stomped back into the bedroom. Isabelle knelt beside the cracker box, hoping to find survivors, but Mama Lu reappeared in the doorway with the potato bug palace.
“Please don’t hurt them,” Isabelle begged.
Mama Lu scrunched her face even tighter. It turned bright red. “Ya did this. Ya brought these vermin into my house. Who do ya think ya are? This is
my
home.” She overturned the milk carton. The bugs fell onto the floor and immediately curled into balls. Mama Lu raised her slipper.
“Oh no. Please, no.”
Mama Lu stomped them flat. “Vermin. Nasty vermin.”
Isabelle trembled from head to foot. She wanted to fling herself at Mama Lu. She wanted to push the horrid womandown the stairs. But she and her grandmother had nowhere else to go.
“Ya want these bugs to crawl into my ear while I sleep? Ya want me to slip on slug slime?”
YES!
Isabelle wanted to scream. She grabbed a twig, onto which a few bugs clung. “Please stop. I’ll put them back outside. Just stop hurting them.”
“And what about them plants? What do ya think likes to live on plants? Slugs and bugs, that’s what. If God had intended plants to be inside, He wouldn’t have put them outside. Yer in big trouble.” She grabbed the twig and stomped it flat.
Poor little bugs.
Grandma Maxine would be worried, what with all the hollering and stomping. Isabelle tried to squeeze past her evil landlady but Mama Lu grabbed her by the hood. “I said, yer in big trouble.”
“Let me go.” Isabelle squirmed but the landlady’s grip held fast.
Boris and Bert appeared at the top of the stairs, with the Wormbottoms and Limewigs right behind. “Is something wrong?” Boris asked timidly.
“She’s what’s wrong,” Mama Lu said. “Always has been something wrong with this girl.”
“Let me go,” Isabelle cried, flailing and swinging her arms. “I want to see my grandma.”
“Ain’t no use seeing her.” Mama Lu let go of the hood. “ ’Cause she’s dead. Ya hear me? Dead.”
E very once in a while time decides to stand still. And that is what it did as Isabelle took in those dreadful words. Her heart stopped mid-beat; her breath froze. Only the moment existed—the moment between the old life that she had known and the new life that she didn’t want to
The girls started down the muddy road. Isabelle’s feet ached worse than ever. “We’ve got to hurry,” she said to Gwen. “My grandma needs her dinner.”
“I still can’t believe you actually talked to Mr. Supreme.”
“I had to. Please, can’t you walk faster?” Isabelle asked.
Gwen stopped. “I’m too tired. My legs are killing me. You go on.” She gave Isabelle a weak hug. “See ya in the morning.”
“See ya.”
Isabelle took off at a full run. She was the first of Mama Lu’s tenants to arrive home. She didn’t have to slam her body against the stubborn front door because it stood wide open—which was highly unusual. Rain fell into the entryway. The kitchen sat quiet. No cabbage soup bubbled. No one hollered, “Did ya check fer slugs?”
Something is wrong.
A series of thumps and bumps sounded above.
Isabelle took the stairs, racing up one flight, then the next. She didn’t even slow down for the super steep third flight. Her bedroom door also stood wide open. Shreddedclumps of moss lay in the hallway. Something flew out of the bedroom and landed with a splat against the wall.
“SLUUUUUG!”
Isabelle plugged her ears as the screech repeated.
“SLUUUUUG!”
Mama Lu stomped out of the room on the fourth floor and stood, blocking the entry. Her fuzzy bathrobe hung open; her striped long johns clung to ripples of cheese-fed fat. Her face was all scrunched up like a wadded towel. In one hand she held the slug garden, in the other her canister of salt. “SLUUUUUG!” she wailed as she poured salt over the garden. The poor creatures had no chance of escape.
“No!” Isabelle cried.
“YOU!” Mama Lu tossed the garden aside, then stomped back into the bedroom. Isabelle knelt beside the cracker box, hoping to find survivors, but Mama Lu reappeared in the doorway with the potato bug palace.
“Please don’t hurt them,” Isabelle begged.
Mama Lu scrunched her face even tighter. It turned bright red. “Ya did this. Ya brought these vermin into my house. Who do ya think ya are? This is
my
home.” She overturned the milk carton. The bugs fell onto the floor and immediately curled into balls. Mama Lu raised her slipper.
“Oh no. Please, no.”
Mama Lu stomped them flat. “Vermin. Nasty vermin.”
Isabelle trembled from head to foot. She wanted to fling herself at Mama Lu. She wanted to push the horrid womandown the stairs. But she and her grandmother had nowhere else to go.
“Ya want these bugs to crawl into my ear while I sleep? Ya want me to slip on slug slime?”
YES!
Isabelle wanted to scream. She grabbed a twig, onto which a few bugs clung. “Please stop. I’ll put them back outside. Just stop hurting them.”
“And what about them plants? What do ya think likes to live on plants? Slugs and bugs, that’s what. If God had intended plants to be inside, He wouldn’t have put them outside. Yer in big trouble.” She grabbed the twig and stomped it flat.
Poor little bugs.
Grandma Maxine would be worried, what with all the hollering and stomping. Isabelle tried to squeeze past her evil landlady but Mama Lu grabbed her by the hood. “I said, yer in big trouble.”
“Let me go.” Isabelle squirmed but the landlady’s grip held fast.
Boris and Bert appeared at the top of the stairs, with the Wormbottoms and Limewigs right behind. “Is something wrong?” Boris asked timidly.
“She’s what’s wrong,” Mama Lu said. “Always has been something wrong with this girl.”
“Let me go,” Isabelle cried, flailing and swinging her arms. “I want to see my grandma.”
“Ain’t no use seeing her.” Mama Lu let go of the hood. “ ’Cause she’s dead. Ya hear me? Dead.”
E very once in a while time decides to stand still. And that is what it did as Isabelle took in those dreadful words. Her heart stopped mid-beat; her breath froze. Only the moment existed—the moment between the old life that she had known and the new life that she didn’t want to
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