As Patrick landed near the bottom of the tunnel, he stopped just before the opening. Daisy pounded her fists on the outside of the slide. “Get out, Patrick! Hurry! Michael is coming right behind you! I can see him!”
Patrick’s feet were now out of the machine, but he was having a hard time pulling out the rest of his body. He turned his head to look up, and saw Michael coming straight for him. Michael’s screams were getting louder, and he was getting closer. Patrick panicked.
“Daisy, get me out of here! Hurry! Michael is coming right for me!” he cried. That’s what I just said to him, Daisy thought to herself.
“Pull my leg! Pull my leg.” He was just inside the opening. Panic was in his eyes and in his voice.
“I’m trying! I’m trying!” Daisy shouted, as she pulled on his feet. “Come on, Sammie. Help me!”
Sammie knelt next to Daisy and grabbed Patrick’s other foot. “I knew I’d seen those tennis shoes before!” Sammie grunted as he helped Daisy pull on Patrick’s ankles.
“Just keep pulling him!” said Daisy. Apparently, Patrick’s early hiccupping had caused him to start stretching back to his normal size too soon. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t get Patrick out of the slide fast enough. He was stuck and he was frozen.
“Get out of the way, I’m coming!” Michael screamed from above. But it was too late. Michael’s feet slammed into Patrick’s shoulders, causing Patrick to scream in pain as he shot out of the slot, right on top of Daisy and Sammie.
“Ooww! Ugh!” They all moaned, as they tried to untangle themselves.
At the same time, Michael began hiccupping and shaking. He easily slipped out of the machine. He stood up and his frozen body started to shake and jerk. He jerked so hard, he fell back against the shed’s side wall, nearly breaking through it. Patrick and Daisy ran to help him up, but they didn’t have the strength. Instead, they both fell down around him as they became overwhelmed with relief that they made it safely home, and especially that they returned to their normal size. Sammie sat down beside them, still unsure of what had just happened. The four of them sat on the floor of the dusty shed for several minutes, breathing heavily, and looking at each other in disbelief. Was all of that just a dream?
“You guys look cold,” observed Sammie.
“You have no idea,” replied Michael, as he shivered. The shed felt nice and warm.
Still shivering, Patrick said, “We m-m-made it, you g-g-guys! We’re h-h-home!” He was extremely happy, and smiled as he rubbed his sore shoulders. “Oh b-b-boy, I have never b-b-been so happy to be any place in my life. I love this old shed.” Daisy, Patrick and Michael all high-fived each other and smiled, still shivering and breathing heavily.
“Yep! I can’t believe we actually made it back alive,” said Daisy.
They suddenly realized that Sammie was in the shed with them. He had stood up and was now staring at them in disbelief.
“Do you have any idea how cool that was?! How’d you guys do that?! I want to try! Can I try?!”
The three of them put out their hands, shook their heads, and shouted, “NO!!”
“Well, I put my nickel in there. I wanted a purple gumball or a green one, and the only thing that came down the shoot was an ugly old orange one – and then you guys came down after that. Somebody owes me a gumball!” yelled Sammie, folding his arms.
“Believe me, you do not want the green one,” answered Daisy, still remembering Steeler’s cold, mean face.
Daisy, Patrick and Michael looked at each other, realizing that Sammie was the one who helped them return home. He was the one who put his nickel in the gumball machine, causing the big shake-down. They owed him big-time for saving them, so they high-fived him, hugged him, rubbed his head, and thanked him several times. They also promised to get him as many gumballs as he wanted – just not from this machine!
With the frost beginning to melt from their faces, and water now dripping on their shirts, they realized just how grateful they were for Sammie’s help. They were also grateful for the knowledge of how to get back home, if this should ever happen again, though they doubted it would. Even though they met some cool gumball people, and had some fun experiences, they didn’t think they would ever go near that gumball machine again!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DAISY MAKES A DECISION
As the four of them walked back into Daisy’s and Sammie’s kitchen, their big brother, Joe, walked in from the living room.
“What’s the matter with you guys? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, or something,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “What a bunch of losers.”
Ignoring the “losers” comment, Daisy excitedly began telling Joe about their adventure. “We got sucked up into this gumball machine that we found over in the old shed by the playground, and we were up in this beautiful gumball world with real gumball people!” said Daisy. She was still trying to calm down.
“Gumball world?! Gumball people?!” Joe laughed sarcastically. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s true!” Patrick said, as Michael shook his head in agreement.
“Either you guys have completely lost your minds, or you’re lying to me because you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing. I am definitely telling Mom and Dad that you guys are up to no good.” Joe started to leave the room. “Gumball world. Gumball people. Yeah right, and I’m Superman! Now I’ve heard everything,” Joe chuckled, as he climbed the stairs.
“He thinks we’re lying,” said Michael in disbelief.
“Hey – what time is it?” Daisy interrupted.
Patrick looked at his watch. “Hey – it still works! It’s three o’clock.”
“My party! It’s almost time!”
“What time does it start?” asked Michael.
“Four o’clock. I have to go. Sammie, tell mom I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going? Mom wants you here,” Sammie said.
“I’m going over to the new girl’s house right now to invite her to my party.”
“But what about what Joe said earlier?” asked Michael.
“Who cares what Joe said? We just learned what it’s like to be the new kid, didn’t we? Remember how uncomfortable we felt when we first came into the gumball world?” she asked. “The gumball people were looking at us like we were aliens, or something. I don’t know about you guys, but I was really scared. Oh, and remember that horrible green Steeler gumball guy? Remember how mean he treated me? That was a horrible feeling. I’ve never felt so afraid and terrible in my life. Worst of all, he didn’t even care about my feelings. He just kept saying terrible things about the way I looked. I hated that. I hated that he was looking at me like he was better than me. I’m not used to anyone looking at me like I’m different, and, for the rest of my life, I will never make anyone feel like that.” The boys nodded their heads in agreement.
Daisy continued, “And, don’t forget how nice most of the gumballs were to us. It never mattered to them what we looked like or that we were different. That was nice, and that’s how it’s supposed to be for everyone.
So how do you think Violet would feel if she knew we were treating her like that? She doesn’t even have a different shape than us! We all have the same shape – a human shape. So what’s the problem? Violet’s skin color is different from ours – so what? We need to do what’s right.”
Michael nodded his head. “Yep, Daisy’s right. The gumballs had lots of different colored friends. It never mattered to them. They treated each other equally. They even treated us equally.”
“If the gumballs can do it, then we can do it.” Patrick said.
“And look at us,” said Daisy. “Our skin color is very different than the gumballs, and their shell coatings were hard, not soft like our skin. But that didn’t matter to them.”
“Yep, and one thing that’s really different from the gumballs is that our skin is soft and theirs is hard,” laughed Michael.
“Ooh! I have one,” Sammie
interrupted. “Their skin tastes good, and ours doesn’t. Right Daisy?”
Daisy chuckled. “Right.” The boys laughed out loud at that one!
“Plus, they barely even noticed all of our differences. I mean, there are so many. We have hair, they don’t. We have skin, they don’t. We have legs, they don’t. Well, you get my point,” said Patrick. “The gumballs showed us how to treat everyone.”
Michael agreed. “We can’t listen to people like Joe. There are so many of them everywhere we turn. If we listen to those negative people, we’d probably miss out on meeting some really nice friends.”
“And gumballs,” added Patrick.
“I still have time to run over to Violet’s house, introduce myself, and invite her to my birthday party. I can’t believe I listened to Joe for even one second. Why would ever I listen to him for anything?”
“You’d better get going,” Michael said.
“I hope I’m not too late.” Daisy ran to the back door, down the back steps, and around the side of her house until she reached the front. She paused, looking across the street. I sure hope she’s home, she thought. She looked both ways before she walked across the street. Once on the other side, she started to run. The closer she got to Violet’s house, the faster she ran. As she approached the door, it opened before she could even knock. It was Violet. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts, and a yellow t-shirt. Her long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“Hi. You’re Violet, aren’t you?” Daisy asked. She was huffing and puffing from her short sprint.
“Yes, I am. You must be Daisy. My mom told me that you live across the street. I saw you earlier this morning riding your bike with two boys. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. Those two boys are my friends, Patrick and Michael. I’ll introduce you.” Daisy was still a bit out of breath as she said, “I hope I’m not too late, but I wanted to invite you to my birthday party. It’s this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?”
“Yes. I know it’s kind of last-minute. It starts at four o’clock. I really hope you can come. I’ll introduce you to lots of people from school. My mom said you will be going to our school.”
“Yes, I am. It would be very nice to meet some of your friends. Oh – but if your party is in an hour, I don’t think we’ll have enough time to get you a present,” said Violet.
“I don’t care about a present. I just really want you to come. Do you think you can come?”
“Wait here. I’ll go ask my mom.” Violet turned and started walking down the hall, and then shouted up some stairs. “Mom! Daisy from across the street is here. Can I go to her birthday party? It’s today.”
While Violet was away, Daisy thought, wow, something must have really happened to me up in the gumball world. This morning, all I could think about was getting lots of presents; and now, I don’t care about presents at all. This made Daisy feel very good. She knew she was doing the right thing.
A moment later, Violet returned to the front door with her mom.
“Hi Daisy, I’m Violet’s mom, Mrs. Hanson. It’s very nice to meet you.” Mrs. Hanson was tall and thin with short, dark hair. Daisy liked her warm smile. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and looked like she had been busy unpacking from their move.
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Hanson,” Daisy said, reaching to shake her hand. “I’m sorry my invitation is so late, but can Violet come to my party today?”
“If it’s okay with your parents, it’s okay with me,” replied Mrs. Hanson.
“I already asked them. They said it would be great if she could come,” Daisy said.
“Well, good. It’s settled.” Turning to Violet, Mrs. Hanson said, “You’d better get upstairs and get ready. You’ve got a party to go to!” Violet smiled and turned to Daisy.
“What should I wear?” For the first time, Violet took a good look at Daisy. Following Violet’s gaze, Daisy looked down at herself. She was filthy. It looked like she hadn’t brushed her hair in a week. It was all over the place, and she was still a little bit wet and sticky from Pudding Hill – and – there was dirt from the shed stuck on top of that.
Daisy was suddenly embarrassed. “Sorry. I had a bit of a rough morning. That’s why I look so messy, and it’s why it took me so long to come over and invite you to my party. Don’t worry though. I don’t always look like this. I mean, I won’t be wearing this to my party, of course,” she laughed. Violet laughed too.
Violet’s mother smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll let you two decide what to wear to the party. I have to get back to my unpacking. It was nice to meet you Daisy.”
“It was nice to meet you, too,” Daisy said. Violet’s mom walked down the hall and turned the corner.
“What happened to you? How did you get so dirty?” Violet asked.
Daisy leaned in toward Violet and whispered, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. You aren’t going to believe it.” Daisy grinned.
“Okay,” Violet said, giggling. She felt so happy inside because she actually made a new friend in this scary new place.
“Oh, and I’ll be wearing a short-sleeved blouse and a flowered skirt,” Daisy said. “I love flowers.”
“So do I,” smiled Violet. “I’ll wear something with flowers, too.”
Daisy smiled as she thought how much Patrick and Michael would hate to be a part of this girlie conversation. Finally, she had the girl in the neighborhood she dreamed about. She knew they would be good friends.
Daisy said goodbye to Violet, crossed the street, and ran up the stairs and into the front of the house calling for her mom and dad. “Mom! Dad!” She couldn’t wait to tell them the news. Her parents came out of the kitchen and into the living room. They stopped short when they saw Daisy’s messy appearance.
Daisy’s mom put her hands to her face. “Oh my gosh, Daisy! What happened to you? You’re a mess! Did you go swimming or something? What happened to your hair?”
“And what’s this pink gooey stuff on the back of your shirt, here?” Her dad frowned, as he picked off some of the dried pink pudding from Daisy’s shirt. “It looks like bubblegum, or something.”
Daisy tried to answer her parents’ questions. “Um, no, I didn’t go swimming, exactly,” Daisy answered. “The guys and I had a little adventure this morning.”
“Oh boy. Not another adventure, Daisy. I don’t even want to know what you did to get that gum on the back of your shirt, young lady. That will never come out. We’ll probably have to throw it away. And your hair – it looks like you were in a wind storm or something! Is that gum in your hair, too? Ugh! This is what I get for letting you play with boys. They seem to love to get messy!”
Daisy was afraid to tell them that she actually was in a wind storm as she flew through the gumball machine. They’d never believe her. She would try to tell them later. All she could say for now was, “Sorry about that, Mom.” She looked nervously at her parents.
Her mom was definitely upset as she continued to scold Daisy. “Honestly, I don’t know how you will have enough time to get your hair washed and dried in time for the party. I’m not sure that gum will come out of your hair, either. We may have to cut it out.”
Her dad interrupted. “Well, we’ll have to talk about this mess and where you’ve been, after your party. For now, you’d better hurry up. Your guests will be arriving soon, and your mom and I have lots to do to get the food ready.”
They turned to leave, when Daisy said, “Wait. I almost forgot to tell you. Guess what? Violet, the new girl from across the street, is coming to my party!”
“You invited her? I didn’t even introduce you yet,” said her mom.
“I went over and introduced myself,” Daisy said proudly.
“Well, good for you! That’s a very grown up thing to do,” said her mom.
“I thought you were afraid to ask her to your party,” said Daisy’s dad.
“I know. I was afrai
d before, but I figured some things out, and marched right over there. I don’t know what I was afraid of. That was silly. She’s really nice.”
“Well, that’s terrific!” said her dad. “Now, go upstairs and get ready.” Turning to Daisy’s mom, he said, “Honey, will you help me in the kitchen?” Daisy’s mom and dad headed back to the kitchen. “Get up there, Daisy.”
“Okay,” yelled Daisy, as she ran up the stairs.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DAISY’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
It was four o’clock and Daisy was finally ready for her party. That was close, she thought. She was upstairs when she heard the doorbell ring.
“Right on time,” she said out loud. She was wearing her yellow blouse and pretty flowered skirt. She wore her hair down. It looked nice and wavy – and pretty. Her mom would be happy to see that all the gum (pudding) came out. I look much better than I did a half-hour ago, she thought, as she took one last look in the mirror.
She ran downstairs and answered the door. It was Patrick, Michael and –Violet. All three had presents in their arms.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAISY!” they all shouted together, laughing. It was obvious they had been practicing.
“Oh, thank you! Look at all of these presents! Thank you so much!” exclaimed Daisy. “I see you guys met Violet.”
“Yep. We met her as she was crossing the street,” said Michael.
“Well, come on in. The party’s in the back yard.” They walked through the kitchen where Joe was picking at the cake. Daisy slapped his hand.
“Get out of my cake!” she yelled.
“Oh. I see all of your friends are here. I heard no one else could make it,” Joe said, smiling sarcastically. Daisy was embarrassed by her brother’s comment. She hoped Violet didn’t notice what he was trying to say.
“Go ahead, you guys. I’ll be right out,” Daisy said to her three friends.
After they were out back, Daisy turned to Joe and said, “Can you be any more rude?”
“What? I’m just telling you the truth. I called all of your friends and told them you-know-who was coming. They all told me to tell you that, if she was coming, they would not be coming.”
Life In The Gumball Machine Page 8