Super Schnoz and the Invasion of the Snore Snatchers by Gary Urey

here!” I yelled.
    Before I could say another word, the aliens lunged at me.They shoved a hose up each nostril. Instantly, I began to snore, a loud, grinding snivel that made the walls of my bedroom shake and the coffee can full of pennies on my dresser crash to the carpet.
    The aliens’ dark eyes beamed with fluorescent green light.They were communicating with each other, but I had no idea what they were saying. One of the aliens waved a lightning-bolt-shaped wand over my head. Suddenly, the room started spinning; my brains rattled against the sides of my skull. I felt like they were sucking my insides out through my nose!
    â€œDo…do…do something…” I managed to utter to my friends. But they just stood there (except for Mumps, who was still crashed out in his sleeping bag, completely oblivious to what was going on) with their mouths hanging open, fear etched on their faces.
    My bedroom door swung open. I looked up and saw Vivian. She dove at the aliens and managed to tackle one to the ground.
    â€œYuck!” Vivian cried out. “They’re all slimy and slippery!”
    Jimmy leaped into action. He grabbed the other alien and shoved him to the ground.
    â€œAnd they smell too!” Jimmy shouted.
    The alien Vivian was holding slithered from her grasp and came at me again. He gripped both hoses and shoved them deeper into my nostrils. I writhed in pain, begging my friends to help me. This time TJ lunged at the spaceman, ripping the hose from the alien’s bony hands and pinning the snore thief to the ground.
    â€œDuct tape them!” I yelled to Vivian. “Before they get away!”
    Vivian went to work, wrapping each Apnean in layers of silver duct tape. While she secured the bad guys, TJ flicked on the lights and gently pulled the hoses out of my nose.
    Mumps rolled over in his sleeping bag. “Did the aliens come?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
    â€œTake a look,” I told him.
    Mumps sat up, took a long gander at the duct-taped aliens, and then conked out cold.
    The aliens’ eyes lit up like a Fourth of July fireworks show. They were communicating with each other, so Vivian shut them up by blindfolding them with a strip of duct tape.
    â€œThat should keep you Apneans quiet for a bit,” she said.
    â€œWhat should we do with them?” TJ asked.
    I shrugged my shoulders. “Don’t know.”
    â€œLet’s haul them back to the Nostril,” Vivian suggested. “We don’t want Schnoz’s mom waltzing inside his room only to find two space aliens wrapped in duct tape.”
    â€œGreat idea,” I said. “We’ll carry the slimy buggers out of the house before my parents wake up.”
    â€œAhem…” Jimmy grunted, and then pointed to the floor.
    I looked down and saw for the first time how the Apneans stored my snores. They used some kind of large metal box that looked like a battery. Connected to the battery were the two hoses.The power of my snores went through the hoses and into the battery.
    â€œWhat do we do with that stuff?” TJ asked.
    â€œBring it back to Robo-Nose,” Vivian said, slipping on one of the alien costumes.
    Jimmy and TJ looked at each other with the same uneasy expressions on their faces.
    â€œDo you mean that we should still try to infiltrate Robo-Nose?” Jimmy asked.
    â€œOf course,” Vivian said. “That was the plan. Now get on your alien outfits.”
    Jimmy and TJ reluctantly pulled out their costumes and started to change. That’s when the light in the room dimmed like a storm cloud passing over the sun.
    â€œIt’s the shadow,” Vivian gasped. “Get on your costumes before it disappears!”
    The shadow was actually beautiful, almost hypnotic in a strange way. The shady gloom wasn’t distorted, but clear and crisp like a shadow puppet against a white screen. I lifted my nose, wondering if the thing had any smell, when