Horrible Harry and the Mud Gremlins Read Online Free PDF

else did. I want to hate something different.”
    Miss Mackle smiled. “Maybe something will come to you later in the day. I’ll call on you then.”
    Everyone who finished their writing got to look at the green bread mold under the microscopes. Song Lee and I even made slides of the green fuzz.
    Finally, at twelve o’clock, the bell rang. We all hurried to the cafeteria and gobbled down our lunches. Sidney traded his salami sandwich for Harry’s peanut butter and jelly. Sid said he wanted to eat just a single fungus sandwich. Not a double. When everyone finished, we hustled outside for recess!

To Go or Not to Go?

    A s soon as we got outside on the playground, the six of us gathered around Harry.
    â€œTake us to the kingdom of mushrooms!” Mary demanded.
    Harry took his necklace out of his sweater and grinned. “Follow me.”
    We did. Harry took us to the far end of the playground, the side that faced an empty lot, not the street. “This is it.”
    Song Lee shrugged. “Where?”
    Harry pointed to the other side of the fence.
    We all looked at the vacant lot. There was scattered grass, a few bushes, and one white oak tree. The ground was covered with lots of dirt, leaves, and pebbles. A couple of candy wrappers and one crumpled potato chip bag floated in a puddle of water next to a chewed-up tennis ball.
    â€œWe can’t go over there,” Mary snapped. “It’s a school rule. You never leave the playground. Can’t we see the mushroom kingdom from the fence?”
    â€œNope,” Harry replied. “The kingdom of mushrooms is five yards away. Just beyond that oak tree.”
    â€œOoooh,” Dexter hummed. Then he started clicking his fingers. “The kingdom of mushrooms. That’s got a beat to it!”
    Harry lowered his eyebrows. “Haven’t any of you ever gotten a ball from the other side of the fence?”
    â€œI did once,” I admitted. “In first grade, I crawled under this very fence and got our kickball. The teacher didn’t seem mad at all. She just said, ‘Don’t do it again.’ I think she was glad I got our red ball back.”
    When I pointed to the fence where the wire was pushed back, everyone noticed there was an opening big enough for someone to crawl under.
    â€œI’m not going under there!” Mary said crossing her arms.
    â€œChicken?” Harry replied.
    â€œI’m not a chicken!” Sidney said, yanking his yarn necklace out from under his jacket. I think he was trying to copy Harry. “I’m tough!”
    â€œMe too,” Dexter replied. “When Elvis was in the army, he had to go into dangerous territory. I’m ready.”
    Harry looked at the girls.
    Ida had the same question I did. “What if someone sees us?” she asked. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

    â€œNo one will see you,” Harry insisted. “That’s the beauty of my plan.”
    â€œWhat plan?” I asked.
    Harry answered right away. “You guys go one at a time. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. Five of you will stand in front of the fence like a human wall. No one will see us back there.”

    â€œA human wall...cool!” Dexter replied. Then he added a “bee bop de boo.”
    I could tell Song Lee was curious about the kingdom of mushrooms. Her fingers were curled around the wire fence, and she gazed longingly at the other side. But I also knew Song Lee had never broken a school rule before.
    â€œWhy don’t we go after school?” she suggested.
    Harry shook his head. “Half of you ride the bus. This is the only time we can all go together.”

    When Song Lee didn’t say anything, Harry knew she was thinking hard. “It’s for the sake of science,” he pleaded. “It will be our own secret field trip. No one will tell where we went. We made a promise about that. We’re not going to Timbuktu.