Shrunk! Read Online Free Page A

– when we saw the shooting star . . .’
    â€˜ . . .
from the Jodrell Bank research centre, of course where
. . .’
    â€˜Yes, Grandma?’
    â€˜Did you actually . . . wish?’
    Bang. She slams the kitchen door and scrapes the coal scuttle across the yard.
    â€˜. . .
scientists have been working through the night to establish the pattern of events leading up to the disappearance of
. . .’
    Bang, crash. She drags it back into the kitchen.
    â€˜No,’ I lie.
    She stares at me, as if the lie’s written all over my face. I feel a blush creep up my neck.
    Dad bursts in through the kitchen door with a large sheet of plywood. ‘Have a good day, Tom. Clean your teeth.’
    â€˜Thanks, Dad.’ I stuff the last spoon of cereal sludge into my mouth and run.
    There’s a sort of scuffling on the landing when I get to the top of the stairs, but I can’t see any sign of invasion in my bedroom. I’ve got the meteorite, safe in my pocket, and the boats are sitting on the windowsill. They seem a bit bigger than I remember. I take the mast out of the dinghy and bung them both in my trouser pocket. I pull the box out from under the bed. The tiny sheep nuzzle the pile of grass I picked last night. The cows chew my hairbrush. The donkey’s more of a problem – he keeps making this awful noise, so I shut him in the toy garage with a pinch of grass.
    â€˜Eeyore.’
    There are loads of tiny poos all over the place.
    â€˜Shh. I’ll take you all out later, for a stroll in the model village, but you’ll have to wait until I’ve been to school.’ I feel a bit daft talking to the animals, but Tilly does it all the time, and hers are made of plastic.
    I dash out of the door and remember Jupiter. Is it safer here or with me?
    I glance back in the room. The capsule’s lying in the middle of the floor. I’d better take it, just in case.
    I’m at the bus stop before Tilly, so I take a moment to look at Jupiter. I click open the capsule but Jupiter’s stopped spinning. It’s nestling by the dinosaur’s tail and it’s not a lovely little twinkling star any more – it’s more like a brown ball, lying still at the bottom of the capsule. I prod it, and it rolls round the capsule, just like a bead would.
    My mouth goes dry. This is not good, surely this is not good. Jupiter is a major part of our solar system and I seem to have killed it. I roll it round the little egg-shaped pod again – perhaps if I can get it spinning fast enough it’ll do the glittery thing again.
    I roll it faster. Perhaps it’s the wrong way?
    I roll it the other way. Perhaps that’s the wrong way?
    I peer in again. It’s not even spinning a little bit.
    I hold the meteorite next to the capsule – perhaps it’ll make it come back to life.
    â€˜Oh, Tom, there you are.’ It’s Grandma. I should have heard her walking stick on the path. I should have shut the capsule faster, because Tilly’s right there at my elbow smiling like a cat.
    I stuff everything back in my pockets, the lid half on the pod, and try to look innocent. Tilly’s smile gets smugger. I poke her, she makes an exaggerated moan.
    â€˜Tom, love, stop it – come on, act your age, not like a four-year-old.’
    I stick my tongue out at Tilly: she does the smile again. I could wring her neck.
    She jumps on the bus next to Milly.
    And I turn the dead planet over in my pocket.

Chapter 8
    Mr Bell only has one volume. Loud.
    Jacob Devlin giggles all through registration, and Mr Bell ignores it, shouting at the rest of us instead. The classroom’s too hot. Everywhere’s too hot today. It’s more like June than the end of October. Mr Bell gets louder, and I get hotter.
    I’m longing for someone to turn the radiators off, but instead, the teaching assistant props the windows open. It doesn’t make any