Free Incredible Shrinking Kid! by Tony Abbott

1
    Under the Full Moon
    S ean Vickers pumped his spiffy blue and white bike up the dirt road. “No!” he cried. “They’re too close!”
    Sweat dripped from his forehead. He shook it away. He was out of breath. It was getting dark. He was hungry. He had to stop.
    He couldn’t stop!
    The crunching, grinding sounds closed in on him fast. Faster! Faster!
    â€œGotta keep going!” he told himself.
    Soon he would be on a bluff overlooking the town of Grover’s Mill.
    â€œI hope I make it!” he grunted. He started pumping uphill faster.
    Clouds passed over a full moon, and a breeze swirled up behind him, sending a chill down his clammy back. Yuck!
    Still, Sean pushed on, standing on the pedals and pumping hard over the gravel and dirt of the road. And still the sounds got closer.
    They were following him!
    Suddenly, his front tire twisted in the soft dirt. He drove his right foot down hard on the pedal.
    No good! He lost time. He heard the horrible cry—
    â€œHey, floodpants! Wait up!”
    Sean decided not to struggle. He gave in. He coasted to a stop.
    Tires rolled up next to his. Attached to the tires were bikes and sitting on the bikes were his best friend, Jeff Ryan, and his not-so-best sister, Holly.
    â€œAren’t you cold?” asked Holly, kicking at his pants with her foot.
    Sean made an ugly face at her. But it was true about his pants. He’d shot up since the beginning of the year. It was now midsummer and he was growing out of all of his clothes. He looked like a scarecrow. He towered at least four whole inches over Holly.
    â€œI stand tall,” he proclaimed, posing like a comic book hero.
    Sean and Jeff laughed together, posing like two muscular superheroes.
    Holly pretended she was going to be sick. Sean laughed harder. She was the reason he was biking so hard. She was a year younger, and the galaxy wasn’t big enough for the both of them.
    Sean rested with one foot on his bike pedal, the other on the gravel road. “Grover’s Mill. Some place, huh?”
    â€œFrom this far up, it seems pretty normal,” said Jeff.
    â€œYeah, then you open your eyes,” Sean said, brushing his wavy dark brown hair away from his forehead. “I mean, just look around! A secret army base up there. A dinosaur graveyard over there. My dad’s horror movie studio over there. And us in the middle. This place is the exact center of total galactic weirdness!” He turned to Jeff. “After being at camp for two weeks, I see it all so clearly.”
    â€œI can’t see anything clearly,” said Holly. “It’s getting dark. Let’s go home.”
    â€œAt camp we learned to love the dark,” Sean said.
    â€œGet real,” Holly snorted.
    â€œNo, really. I learned survival techniques.” Then Sean snickered to himself. “Well, mostly I learned songs.”
    Sean started once more up the dirt road to a low rise overlooking Lake Lake.
    â€œSo why didn’t you stay at Camp Goofy?” his sister quipped, pedaling alongside.
    â€œIt’s called Camp Smiley,” said Sean, screwing up his face and thinking about swatting his sister. But he backed off and smiled instead. He couldn’t help it. That’s what the camp counselor said. Whenever he remembered Camp Smiley, he would smile.
    And it was true. He was doing it!
    All three bikers coasted on a flat stretch. Big hulking bulldozers and steamrollers were parked on both sides of the dirt road.
    â€œThe best part of camp was this new kid I met, Mike Mazur.” Sean went on. “His family just moved into a new house at the end of this road. The tenth house, Mike told me. It’s white.”
    â€œWe’re late for supper,” Holly said. “Besides, we’re not supposed to be up here. Remember what Mom said about the equipment. It’s dangerous. We could get hurt.”
    â€œI scoff at danger,” Sean snapped. “Superheroes always