And Other Stories Read Online Free Page B

arms around the surprised man and giving him a big
hug. "You're home early!"
    "Uh—" began the Dad.
    "Roo's he?" said the
dog.
    The policewoman started drinking
water out of Lucky's water dish.
    The boy said, "Please tell Captain
Pran-dee not to destroy our space ship. We could put our rest stop
on another planet."
    "I—" began the Dad.
    "Do you live here?" said the blue
alien. "Or are you another space alien?"
    "Um—" began the Dad.
    "Everything's under control," the
green alien said. "But your son promised he wouldn't let me drink
out of the dog dish, and look at me now." The alien pointed a
tentacle at the policewoman, who was happily lapping up water from
the dog dish.
    "Oh, sorry." The policeman released
the very confused Dad and called, "Lucky! Stop that." The
policewoman looked up from the dog dish, then ran over and crouched
beside the policeman.
    The Dad said, "If I go outside and
come back in again, will this make sense?"
    "I doubt it," said the Mom. "But if
it works, I'll try it too."
    "We only saw your television
broadcasts," said the boy. "We didn't know you were intelligent
beings."
    "Rat's right," said the dog. "We
won't take away your grr-oxygen now."
    The girl gave the Dad a hug. "Isn't
this great? Everyone's in the wrong bodies, except for
us!"
    The blue alien said, "Sarge, I sure
hope you'll write the report on this case," and then
coughed.
    The green alien nodded, said,
"Maybe we should say we fell asl—" and then coughed,
too.
    The Dad scratched his head. "This
is one of those TV shows where they trick people,
right?"
    "No time to explain, Dad!" said the
policeman, running outside with the policewoman following behind
him. "C'mon, everybody!"
    "Hey, our bodies!" cried the space
aliens, running after the police officers.
    "Hey, our bodies!" cried the boy
and the dog, running after the aliens.
    "Hey, Brian and Lucky!" cried the
Dad, running after the boy and the dog.
    "Hey, Dad!" cried the girl, running
after the Dad.
    "Hey, everybody!" cried the Mom,
not running after anyone. "Who's going to explain what's going
on?"
    "Not now, Mom!" said the policeman,
stopping for a moment at the edge of the woods. "The aliens said
their oxygen pills don't last very long!"
    "Rat's right!" said the dog. "Grr-I
forgot!"
    "What oxygen breathing pills?" said
the blue alien.
    "I don't like the sound of this,"
said the green alien, and then it coughed again.
    "Hurry!" said the girl, grabbing
her Mom's hand to lead her into the woods.
    The Dad looked up into the trees as
they ran. "They sure hide the video cameras well."
    Just as everyone entered the
clearing where the space ship stood, the two aliens fell on the
ground and began gasping desperately. The dog pressed a purple
button on the space ship's control panel, and two small yellow
pills popped out. The dog gave them to the aliens. As soon as the
aliens popped them into their mouths, they quit
coughing.
    After Splortch and Miglick used
their machine to put everyone back into their proper bodies,
Splortch said, "Thank you for not destroying our ship, Captain
Pran-dee."
    The girl shrugged. "Oh, that's all
right."
    Splortch said, "And thank you for
remembering about the oxygen pills, Pry-on. You saved us from
having to live the rest of our lives as hideous freaks. Um, nothing
personal."
    "I kind of liked being a duck,"
said Miglick.
    "I kind of like being alive," said
the policewoman. "You did good, kid."
    Brian blushed and shrugged. "That's
all right."
    Splortch said, "After we build a
rest stop on Pluto, you all have to come and visit us."
    "That'd be nice," said the
Mom.
    "And bring some of that good duck
food," called Miglick as the space ship's door closed behind
him.
    "Goodbye!" everyone shouted as the
space ship took off. After it disappeared in the sky, the Dad said,
"They use very long wires and a really big mirror,
right?"
    "Let's go finish our lunch," said
the Mom.
    Brian patted Lucky's head. "Glad to
be a dog again?"
    Lucky licked Brian's face and said
"Rowf!