Moonfin Read Online Free PDF Page B

pudding was only supposed to change, not go kablooey . I wonder if I underestimated the explosive capabilities.”
    â€œMaybe, just a little,” chuckled Sugar, sitting down next to her. It was hard to stay mad at Lizzy with yellow pudding splattered across her face. Truth be told, she loved Lizzy’s crazy experiments.
    â€œOr it could have been that the positive ions spread the charge more rapidly than I originally calculated …” her thoughts drifted off with the possibilities.
    Sheesh! What’s wrong with me ? She looked over at Sugar with wide, serious eyes and asked, “Was there some deeply traumatic event in my past that left me mentally impaired or otherwise different in some way?”
    Sugar wiped a goopy glop from her ear and tried to keep from laughing. “Well, let’s see … once you fell into the gorilla pit at the zoo. Sumptin’ about a mama ape carrying you off to play for a bit,” she said jokingly.
    â€œThat explains it. Brain damage .”
    â€œI can see it is beginning to affect you, why do you ask?” she said, continuing the charade.
    Lizzy sat quietly for a few moments, unsure about letting Sugar in on her octopus conversation. Maybe it was better to keep it under wraps for now. She didn’t want to add to her “space-cadet” status, especially after blowing up pudding .
    â€œNo reason. It’s just that sometimes I think about when I was little, and I can’t remember things I ought to—like birthday parties or what my room looked like—and the day Brandon’s boat went missing. It’s all a blur …” She did remember feeling a strange sadness the day before, though. Maybe she knew, deep down, something bad was going to happen.
    Gentle concern flooded Sugar’s dark blue eyes.
    â€œI don’t know much about the day your brother disappeared, sweetie, I only wanted to help y’all. Your mom and dad were so busy lookin’ for Brandon, and you girls needed looking after—”
    â€œHe could still be alive, you know,” Lizzy rasped, feeling the pain in her heart rise to her throat.
    Sugar put an arm around her and brushed a loose, sticky curl from her shoulder, and looking wise, as only Sugar could, said, “Life can be like, well … like your lab experiments.”
    â€œSlimy and half-brained, you mean?”
    â€œNo, more like surprising and beautiful. Listen, I could give you all kinds of reasons why bad things happen, but the truth is, I don’t always know. Sometimes life seems like a battle, and when good people decide to fight, they can take a fall. And the things they fight for … it’s all about the people they love. Understand?”
    â€œYeah, life’s not a magic carpet ride.”
    â€œThat’d sure be nice! Save my tired feet from walking into town every day,” she said cheerfully, wiggling her toes around in pointed silk flats.
    â€œBesides, Brandon went out looking for smelly ol’ lobsters that day, not a battle or anything,” Lizzy grumbled.
    They sat silently. Sugar eyed the yellow splotches on the solarium window, wondering if they’d bake to a crust in the hot sunlight. She thought about Brandon and his warm smile. He always loved sitting with Lizzy and reading to her when she was a little girl, and going on fishing trips in the summertime with his dad, and their patrols with the Guard. She was sure there was a good reason he was out near the island that day, and it sure wasn’t for lobsters.
    â€œHe sure loved an adventure, that one! I know he would be so proud of who you are too, Lizzy. You’re like him in many ways.”
    Lizzy didn’t feel brave, nor did she want to be in any battles. She’d rather crawl up in her old green chair with her books and read about life, instead of living it at times.
    â€œWe’d better clean up this mess before your mom gets home, or you’ll be late for the