In Uncle Al : In Uncle Al (9780307532572) (4 page)

“It’s like we’re on a blood roller coaster,” said Andrew.

“Aaack!” yelled Judy. “I’m gonna be sick!”

Whoosh … Whooosh … Whoosh …

“Sounds like a big storm,” said Andrew.

meep …
“Sound of Unkie Al breathing,” said Thudd. “Leaving heart now. Going to lungs.”

“Super-duper pooper-scooper!” said Andrew. “We can get out of Uncle Al soon!”

The blood carried them into a narrow passageway. They were in a lung capillary now.

Whoosh … Whooosh … Whoosh …

The blood cell ahead of Andrew was changing from deep purple to dark red.

“Woofers!” said Andrew. “It’s getting easier to breathe!”

meep …
“Red blood cells picking up oxygen from lungs,” said Thudd, pointing to his face screen.

“So how do we get out of this stupid capillary?” asked Judy.

meep …
“Get out same way big-eater cells get in,” said Thudd. He pointed to faint lines in the capillary wall.

“Capillary wall made of single layer of cells. Kinda like patchwork quilt. Got spaces between cells where stuff get in, stuff get out. Food, oxygen, big-eater cells.”

As the blood sped them along, Andrew ran his hands along the capillary wall, feeling for a space.

His fingers poked through an opening between two cells. He grabbed on to the edge of one of them. Judy slammed into him.

“Ergh!” Andrew groaned. The current of blood pulled at them. Andrew struggled to spread the cells apart.

Suddenly he felt something soft creep across his fingers, then across the top of his hand. Long, thin tentacles came slithering
through the slit in the capillary. A tentacle poked Andrew in the eye!

“Holy moly!” hollered Andrew. “A big eater!” He let go of the cell edges and pulled himself completely inside his red blood cell.

A stream of bright red cells whooshed Andrew and Judy off again.

meep …
“Blood got lotsa oxygen now,” said Thudd. “Gonna leave lungs.”

Judy ran both hands along the capillary wall. “We’d better find another hole,” she
said. “Or else we’ll be stuck in Uncle Al forever!”

The capillary tube widened.

meep …
“Too late!” said Thudd. “Going back to heart now. Heart gonna pump blood into body.”

The blood river drove them through the flaps of another heart valve. It slammed them into tough heartstrings. It whooshed them up again, then down.

“Holy moly!” said Andrew. “Where are we going now?”

meep …
“Brain, maybe,” said Thudd. “Foot, maybe. All kindsa places to go in Unkie Al.”

Andrew and Judy tumbled through a cloud of prickly orange specks. The specks stuck to their red blood cells like dust.

Eek!
squeaked Thudd. “Virus!”

“Viruses!” said Andrew. “Viruses give us colds and flus!”

meep …
“And lotsa worse stuff, too,” said Thudd.

“They’re so tiny!” said Judy.

meep …
“Virus tiny” agreed Thudd. “But virus can get into cell. Change way cell work. Can make Unkie sick, sick, sick!”

Suddenly long, sticky tentacles wrapped around Andrew’s red blood cell, then Judy’s.

“Oh no!” said Judy, ducking inside her cell. “These red blood cells were supposed to keep the stupid big eaters off of us.”

“Wowzers schnauzers!” said Andrew, peeking out of his cell. “The big eaters are pulling the viruses off of our cells!”

They tossed about in the river of plasma as the big eaters crept over their cells, tugging at the prickly viruses.

After a while, Andrew felt no tentacles slithering outside his cell. He poked his head up. The big eaters were gone, and most of the orange specks were gone, too.

They were in a narrow capillary now. The blood sent them lurching through a zigzagging path.

meep …
“In Unkie’s intestines now,” said Thudd. “Part where food get into blood through capillary spaces.”

“If food gets in,” said Judy, “we can get out. Let’s find a space in this capillary.”

Andrew and Judy ran their hands along the capillary wall, feeling for an opening.

“Found one!” said Andrew. He grabbed the edge of the cell and hung on as a stream of red blood cells rushed by him.

The opening was loose. Andrew quickly began pushing himself into it. He poked his head out of the capillary and into Uncle Al’s intestines. “Holy moly!” he whispered.

Andrew was staring into a tube that looked bigger than a train tunnel. Sticking out from its walls were thousands of finger-shaped things that stretched and wriggled like strange worms.

Andrew pulled himself farther into Uncle Al’s intestines. He pulled Thudd up, too.

“The blood is dragging me away!” came Judy’s voice.

Andrew jerked the Drastic Elastic.

“Yoof!” cried Judy.

Andrew smiled. “She’s back!”

He ran his hand over the finger-y things. They were as soft as velvet.

meep …
“Called villi,” said Thudd. “Stomach turn food into mush. Intestines break mush into tiny molecules.

“Villi pick up food molecules like sponge. Send molecules into blood to feed body.”

A clump of rod shapes was slithering slowly toward Andrew.

“What’s
that?”
asked Andrew.

meep …
“Bacteria,” said Thudd.

“What’s going on up there?” shouted Judy from inside the capillary.

“Herds of germs are crawling around like slime carpets,” said Andrew.

“Yuck-a-roony!” Judy exclaimed. “That’s
soooooo disgusting!”

“Noop! Noop! Noop!” said Thudd. “Lotsa good, good germs here.

“Animals not live without bacteria in intestines. Bacteria help break down food. Make vitamins.”

“It’s
still
disgusting!” said Judy from below.

Glurg glurg glurg …

A rumbling sound was coming from above.

Suddenly a waterfall of glop began pouring into Uncle Al’s intestines.

meep …
“Unkie’s lunch coming!” said Thudd.

The villi wriggled and stretched wildly.

meep …
“Villi trying to soak up lotsa food,” said Thudd.

Andrew pulled himself back into the capillary before the flood of food hit him. He let the stream of blood carry them off.

“I’m glad we’re not getting out of Uncle Al
that
way,” said Judy.

The walls of their capillary widened. Streams of dish-shaped red blood cells and squid-like white blood cells swirled by. Small odd-shaped bits and pieces mixed among the crowds of cells.

“Where
are
we?” asked Judy.

meep …
“Going down Unkie’s leg now,” said Thudd.

“Ouch!” came the voice of Uncle Al. It sounded far away. “Now, how did I get this sliver in my leg? Must have rubbed up against the side of the boat. There! I’ve got it.”

Suddenly, ahead of Andrew and Judy, stringy strands began growing in the stream of blood. The strands tangled together like a messy spiderweb. Red blood cells and white blood cells were getting trapped in the web. A second later, Andrew and Judy were tangled in the web, too!

“Yaaargh!” yelled Andrew.

“Aaaaack!” hollered Judy.

Andrew ripped at the strands, but new strands kept appearing out of nowhere. He got more and more tangled.

meep …
“Unkie got cut from sliver,” said Thudd.

“When someone bleed, molecules in
blood come together, make sticky strings. Strings trap blood cells and other stuff. Make plug to stop bleeding. Called clot. Clot turn into scab.”

“I’m not going to be part of anybody’s
scab!”
said Judy battling the strands. “How do we get out of here?”

meep …
“Sticky strands made of same kinda stuff as spiderweb and meat,” said Thudd. “Called protein. Remember how Drewd and Oody escape from spiderweb?”

“Yuck-a-rama!” said Judy turning a little green. “We had to
eat
the spiderweb!”

“Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!” said Thudd. “Now gotta eat stringy stuff!”

“Uggggh!” said Judy, watching Andrew begin to gobble the sticky strands.

“Tastes like raw hamburger,” said Andrew.

Judy rolled her eyes, but she pushed a small wad of the webby stuff into her mouth. “Tastes
awful!”
she gagged.

Andrew stuffed the strands into his mouth till he felt he would burst. Judy kept chomping away, too. When just a few strands were left, they ripped their way out.

Soon they were tumbling through Uncle Al’s blood again.

meep …
“In Unkie’s foot now,” said Thudd.

“Oof!” hollered Andrew, whamming into something soft that blocked their way.

“Umph!” yelled Judy, crashing into Andrew.

Andrew’s flashlight lit up something awful.

“Yaaaaargh!” hollered Andrew.

“Nooooooo!” screamed Judy.

I’m face to face with the Loch Ness Monster!
thought Andrew.

But the head of this monster had no eyes. It had no nose. It did have a huge, black mouth cave with four gigantic, jagged teeth at the top.

The horrible head waggled back and forth. Andrew and Judy desperately dodged away from the humongous mouth, but the rushing blood kept pushing them toward it. It was blocking the capillary.