by R. L. Stine
“Well, get them!” I insisted. I was really angry.
“I’m going, I’m going,” Sheena said. She brought my fish and my snail back, and I gently returned them to their bowl.
“Don’t ever touch them again!” I told my sister. “I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
I watched the fish swim around for a minute. They didn’t look right. I shook my head. “Something’s the matter with them,” I said.
“Give them a little plankton, Billy,” Dr. D. suggested. “That ought to perk them right up.”
I grabbed the glass bottle and pulled off the stopper. I poured a little of the slimy gunk into the bowl.
The fish darted to the surface and started eating. They looked much happier.
“Wow,” I said. “They love it!”
“I thought they would.” Dr. D. smiled, but his eyes clouded over with worry. “Now, kids, no more jokes, please. I’m going back to the lab to examine that giant minnow. And I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“We’ll be quiet,” Sheena promised.
Dr. D. hardly seemed to hear her. “There’s something strange going on here,” he murmured. “Something very, very strange…”
Little did we know that things were about to get much stranger.
7
I paced the deck, thinking hard. I was dying to get Sheena back for that stupid doll trick.
She seemed nervous the rest of the afternoon. Waiting for me to strike.
But I hadn’t thought of anything good enough. I’d spent all night thinking, until I fell asleep.
Now it was the next day. Sheena’s guard was down. Maybe she’d forgotten—forgotten that she’d been the last one to play a trick on me.
And now it was her turn to be fooled.
What would make her hair stand on end? I wondered. What would scare her so much, she’d scream her head off?
The shark trick with the pillow had backfired. So I really owed her two tricks.
Maybe I could leave something gross in her bed?
The morning sun beat down on me. Summer days were hot in the Caribbean. I started to get a headache.
But I finally thought of something good to do to Sheena.
I grabbed my snorkeling gear and pulled it on. I decided to sneak off and explore a little.
Dr. D. wanted us to stay close to the boat. But he didn’t want to be disturbed. So snorkeling seemed like a good idea.
Mask and snorkel in place, I started down the boat ladder.
“Caught you!”
Sheena’s squeaky voice pierced my eardrums. She was always catching me doing something.
“Where are you going?” she demanded. “Dr. D. said to stay close.”
“I won’t go far,” I insisted. “I’m hot and I’m bored. I can’t sit on deck another second.”
“Then I’m coming with you.” She snatched up her gear and started tugging it on.
I dropped off the ladder and into the water. She slipped in beside me.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered. “What if that shark comes back?”
“The shark is gone,” I said. “Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen.”
“Promise?” she asked, pulling down her mask.
“Yeah. Sure. I promise,” I said.
It was a peaceful, sunny day. The waves were as gentle as a lake. What could happen?
Sheena and I swam out over the sunlit, gleaming water. We thought we’d see lots of pretty little fish.
We found something else. Something we never expected in a million years.
8
I dunked Sheena’s head under the water. When she popped back up for air, I shouted, “Shark! Shark!”
Sheena clonked me on the head with her fist. “Don’t even joke about it, Billy.” Still, I caught her glancing around nervously.
I scanned the horizon too. No signs of a fin anywhere.
A school of lemon-yellow fish drifted by, glowing like little suns in the water. Swimming slowly, I followed them to the coral reef.
Wow, I thought. The coral made a cool shape at that spot. The fish swam through a big pink ring of coral and around a pointy coral peak.
Sunlight filtered down on it through the water. It looked like the tower of a magic sand castle.
A tiny crab popped out of one of the holes in the coral tower. It saw me coming and disappeared.
The yellow fish suddenly rose to the surface, up to a plankton bed that floated on top of the water.
The plankton looked just like the stuff Dr. D. kept in those bottles in his lab.
I watched the fish nip at the plankton, just as my goldfish did.
I surfaced and spit my snorkel out.
“Sheena, check this out,” I called.
No answer.
“Sheena?”
I saw a splash on the other side of the reef. Another splash.
I glimpsed Sheena’s flippers as they slapped the water.
I swam after her. She had her head down, snorkeling. She must have been watching something very closely. She swam fast, kicking her fins in a rapid, steady rhythm.
“Sheena!” I called again. She couldn’t hear me.
She wouldn’t hear me if I swam up beside her and screamed. She’s like that sometimes. Like when she does her homework. She gets so into it, she blocks everything else out.
Of course she gets straight A’s. My mom and dad are constantly bragging about it.
I sighed and paddled after her. I had to go get her. She was swimming out to sea without even realizing it.
I watched her through my mask as I swam. What was that up ahead of her? A patch of cloudy water?
Whoa. No. Not water. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Sheena didn’t seem to see it. She was swimming steadily, straight for it.
And, to my horror, it began to move!
I blew water from my snorkel tube and squinted hard through my mask. The thing drifted closer. It was pink and rubbery. Like a soft blob of bubblegum.
It billowed toward Sheena.
And as I stared at it, it appeared to stretch.
It billowed and stretched, billowed out like a pink parachute. Until it was bigger than Sheena.
What is that thing? I wondered. Sheena, turn around! Didn’t she see it? Didn’t she see it expanding, curling out, stretching in front of her?
“Sheena! Turn around! Turn around!”
I wanted to shout. But I couldn’t shout underwater.
I thrashed hard. Kicked. Spun around. Desperate to get her attention.
Sheena!—turn around! I thought. Get away from that thing! Get away—now!
But she kept her head down. And swam straight into the billowy pink blob.
And as I stared on helplessly, it wrapped itself around her. Like an enormous pink clam, it opened wide… wider… and slipped itself around her.
Held her. Held her tight. Pulled her inside.
And swallowed her.
9
For a moment, I froze in terror.
Then I pulled myself to the surface. Tossed off the mask. And started to swim toward her.
I splashed across the water, racing toward the pink blob. It writhed and wriggled with my sister inside it.
What is it? I wondered. What can it be?
And then, as I pulled myself closer, I knew what it was.
I was staring at a jellyfish!
A jellyfish bigger than a human.
Whoa!
I could see through it. I saw the white, filmy slime and the red veins that made it look pink.
And Sheena—trapped inside!
Poor Sheena. Squirming. Kicking. Slapping at the gooey pink sides of the creature.
Her face pushed up against the veiny jellyfish skin! Through her mask, I saw her eyes wide with terror.
The ugly creature wrapped around her like a slimy blanket, covering her whole body.
She pushed both fists against the filmy, pink curtain.
I knew she
didn’t have much air left in her lungs.
I had to do something. But what?
Sheena’s face twisted in panic.
I’ll have to pry it open somehow, I decided.
I swam up to the wriggling blob. I tried to grab its side.
Ugh! My hands slid right off.
I grabbed for it again. No way. I couldn’t get a grip on it. It was like squeezing Jell-O.
Its skin slapped against me, so slimy and sticky.
Sheena stared out at me, eyes bulging with terror.
I tried to wrestle the ugly creature. I dug my fingernails into it.
It wriggled and throbbed. But it didn’t open.
Then I realized what I had to do.
The thought made me want to puke. But I knew I had no other choice.
Sheena couldn’t hold out much longer.
I had to slide inside the jellyfish myself. I had to get in there somehow and pull Sheena out.
I swallowed.
My stomach lurched.
I lowered my head and dove for the seam, the opening where the disgusting pink blob had folded itself in half.
Here goes! I told myself.
I’m going inside….
10
I worked my hands inside first. Then I lowered my head and pulled myself in.
The slime oozed across my face. The red veins rubbed my skin raw.
I held my breath and worked my way toward Sheena’s feet. If I could make it halfway in and grab her feet, maybe I could yank her out.
The blob pulsed, sucking me deep inside. I inched in, stretching toward Sheena’s foot.
My lungs were ready to burst. I couldn’t hold my breath much longer.
Closer, closer…
Aha! My fingers closed around Sheena’s flipper!
I tugged. Hard.
Harder.
She started to move.
No.
Oh, no!
Sheena’s flipper. It came off in my hand.
I let go of the flipper and reached up a little higher. I grabbed her foot. And tugged.
Sheena slipped down a little.
I yanked on her foot again. Come on! I thought. Move!
But this time Sheena didn’t budge.
The sticky pink skin tightened around us. My insides felt as if they were about to explode!
The jellyfish squeezed us tighter and tighter.
It was squeezing us to death!
11
I couldn’t move. My mind raced.
How can I get out of here? How?
There was no way. We were doomed!
I’m going to black out, I realized. Another second without air, and…
Suddenly, the jellyfish loosened its grip. With a horrible sucking noise, it peeled apart.
It opened!
I didn’t waste time. I grabbed Sheena and hauled her up. Up, up, to the surface.
We burst out of the water, gasping for air.
We made it!
I sucked in a huge gulp of air. Aahh. It was great to breathe again.
The blue faded from Sheena’s face as the color came back to her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded, still struggling to catch her breath.
“You sure? Can you talk?”
She nodded again. “Yes, Billy. I’m just great. I’ve never been better.”
I knew she was fine. Her old smart-mouth was working perfectly.
“What happened?” I cried. “Why did the jellyfish let us go?”
Sheena shrugged. We peered down through the clear water.
The jellyfish floated a few feet below us. And as we stared down at it, we saw why it forgot about us.
We saw another enormous pink shape slither and slide toward the first one.
It stretched out in the water as if spreading its wings.
And then it tried to wrap the other jellyfish inside it.
The two ugly creatures slapped together. The collision sent up a wave that tossed Sheena and me back.
When I gazed down again, they were wrestling. Folding into each other. Slapping and twisting. Struggling to fold the other inside. To swallow it whole.
Another sticky slap. Another.
As they struggled, the water churned and swirled.
The jellyfish monsters broke apart and slammed into each other again. Huge waves churned up around us.
“We’ve got to get back to the boat!” I yelled.
A wave slapped the side of my head. I choked and spit out a mouthful of seawater.
We struggled to swim against the waves, but they kept knocking us down and pulling us out to sea.
The water was so white and foamy, we couldn’t see the jellyfish fight anymore. But we could feel them.
Another wave crashed down on us. I glanced around. “Sheena!”
She was gone!
I frantically searched through the foam. “Sheena!”
Had she gone under?
CRASH! Another wave.
“Sheena, where are you?” I wailed.
She popped up at last, sputtering and choking. I grabbed her and battled against the waves. I fought my way out of the wake of the jellyfish fight.
A few seconds later, Sheena and I dragged ourselves aboard the Cassandra.
“That was so weird,” Sheena said after we both had caught our breaths. “Those jellyfish—they were as big as cars!”
“We’ve got to tell Dr. D. about this—right away!” I exclaimed.
We ran down to the lab. No sign of Dr. D. there.
“Dr. D.!” I called. “Where are you?”
“I’ll check the galley,” Sheena said.
I hurried to see if my uncle was in his cabin. No. The tiny room stood empty.
“He’s not in the galley!” Sheena cried. “I don’t see him anywhere!”
“Dr. D.!” I shouted. “Dr. D.!”
No reply.
Sheena’s chin quivered. I knew she was scared.
It was impossible. But true.
“He-he’s gone!” I cried.
12
A pang ripped through my stomach. Dr. D. had just—vanished!
Sheena and I were alone in the middle of the sea!
“What are we going to do?” I asked softly.
“Don’t panic,” Sheena said. But her voice shook. “Think. Where could he go? Know what? Maybe he just went for a swim.”
“A swim? A swim?” I cried, my voice rising. “We probably would have seen him! Besides, since when does Dr. D. just go for a swim? Never!”
“Well—there’s always a first time,” Sheena suggested. Her eyes darted around nervously. I could see her thinking, trying to stay calm.
“Maybe he went out in the dinghy,” she suggested. Dr. D. kept a small boat on deck for short trips. “Let’s see if it’s gone. Maybe he went out to look for us.”
“Good idea.” At least it was something. A little hope to cling to.
We hurried up to the deck. I crossed my fingers, hoping to find the dinghy gone.
If the little boat was gone, that meant Dr. D. was probably okay. He’d be back soon.
But if the dinghy was still tied to the deck, and Dr. D. wasn’t on the Cassandra…
Then what?
I raced to the back deck and around to the right—
“Oh, no.” I sighed.
The dinghy sat in its usual spot. Dr. D. hadn’t taken it out.
“Billy, I’m scared,” Sheena whispered.
I was scared too, but I didn’t want to admit it. Not yet, anyway.
“Let’s check every cabin again,” I suggested. “Maybe he’s in the bathroom or something. Maybe he didn’t hear us calling him.”
Sheena followed me down the stairs that led below-deck. Halfway down, the railing rattled in my hand.
“Cut it out, Sheena,” I snapped.
“Cut what out?” she cried.
Now the whole stairway shook.
What was she doing? Jumping up and down?
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I turned around to check. She stood perfectly still.
“See! I’m not doing anything!”
The boat shook and tilted.
I clutched the rail to keep from falling over.
“What’s happening?” I cried.
13
“It’s an earthquake!” Sheena shrieked.
“How can it be an earthquake?” I told her. “We’re on the water—remember?”
We ran down the steps. The boat tilted, and we both banged hard into the cabin wall.
We passed the lab. The bottles of plankton rattled in the cabinet. Everything rattled. I heard glasses breaking in the galley.
I turned down the passage to my cabin—but I couldn’t get by. Something blocked my path.
Something…
“YAAAIIII!” A scream escaped my throat before I could stop it.
“What is that thing?” I cried.
Sheena caught up to me. “Huh? What thing?”
And then she saw it too. It was hard to miss!
“A monster!”
A big creature blocked the passage. It was shiny and black and smooth. And almost perfectly round. It sat in a disgusting puddle of thick white slime.
I’d never seen anything like it before.
Except—something about it looked familiar.
“What is it?” Sheena choked out.
The monster stirred. It shook.
And then its head poked out. Long, dripping, and gray—like an enormous slug. With two antennas sticking out of the top.
“Billy”—Sheena grabbed my sleeve—“It’s—I think it’s a snail!”
“You’re right,” I muttered in shock. “It is a snail. A gigantic, monster snail!”
“How did it get on the boat?” Sheena demanded.
“How did it grow so big?” I added. “It’s blocking the entire passage!”
Slowly, slowly, the snail lifted its slimy head. It trained its big, sad, watery eyes on us—and moaned.
“Help me! Help me!” it cried.
14
“YAAIIII!” Sheena screamed, and clutched my hand.