by Nancy Krulik
“Oh yeah!” George shouted excitedly. “I didn’t see that one coming!”
“Whee!” Everyone shouted as the car tipped over and whooshed around a bend.
In the car ahead, Louie threw his hands up in the air. George started to do that, too. But then, suddenly, he felt a weird fizzy feeling in his belly.
Oh no! Not again! It couldn’t be. Not the super burp.
But it was the super burp. And it was already starting to bing-bong its way out of George’s stomach and into his chest.
This just wasn’t fair! How many burps could one guy take?
If George started acting all weird, Louie would never let him live it down.
Wait! Forget Louie. If the burp came now, who knew what it would make George do? His life might be in danger!
There was no way George was letting this burp burst out. It was a battle between boy and burp. And this time the boy was going to win!
Quickly, George shoved his fist in his mouth like a stopper in a bottle. The burp pushed against his fingers. It really wanted to come out.
“Here comes the drop!” Louie shouted. He raised his arms way up in the air.
“WHOOAAAA!!!” everyone shouted.
George kept his fist shoved in his mouth. His stomach went up. It went down. The burp pushed harder and harder against his fist.
Splash! As the car hit the water below, a huge wave of water washed over George and his friends. And then . . .
Whoosh! Suddenly, George felt something pop in his stomach like someone had stuck a pin into a balloon. All the air just rushed out of him. Yay! George had squelched the belch!
“That was so much fun!” Alex said as they climbed out of their manta ray cars.
“Wait until you see the pictures,” Julianna told him.
“What pictures?” Chris asked.
“Didn’t you see that flash as we hit the big drop?” Louie asked. “There was a camera. When we get to the end of this ramp, the photo will be up on a big screen. I can’t wait to see mine. I had my hands in the air the whole time.”
As they got closer to the ramp, George heard one kid saying, “Look at that guy.”
“Must be talking about me,” Louie said. “I bet I’m the only kid in the world brave enough not to hold on.”
“Look, there he is now,” the girl said. She pointed in Louie’s direction.
“See?” Louie said.
But the girl ran up to George. “Make your blowfish face again,” she asked him.
Huh? What was she talking about?
Then George looked up at the screen. There was the photo of Louie with his hands high in the air. Max was crouched down low in his seat. Mike was covering his eyes.
There were photos of Alex, Julianna, and Chris. They were all holding on tightly to the bars and laughing.
And then there was George, with his fist shoved in his throat and his cheeks puffed out really wide while he tried to keep the burp from bursting.
He did look like a puffycheeked, buggy-eyed blowfish. And the burp had stayed right where it belonged. In George’s belly. Now if he could only keep it there for the rest of the day.
Chapter 10
“Will all of Louie’s birthday guests please report to Barnacle Barnie’s Pizzeria. It’s time for lunch!”
George’s ears perked up when he heard the announcement coming over the loudspeaker. “I’m eating. I don’t care what you say,” he whispered to Alex.
Alex shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Why wouldn’t you be eating pizza?” Chris asked.
George looked at the ground. He really hated keeping secrets. Especially from a friend. And now he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this.
“George is . . . um . . . He’s trying to break a record,” Alex said finally.
“What kind of record?” Chris asked.
“For . . . um . . . the person who goes the longest without eating pizza,” Alex told him.
Chris shook his head. “What kind of record is that?” he asked. “That’s no fun.”
“It’s a record that’s easy to break,” George told him. “There’s hardly any competition. But I’m too hungry. I bet I could eat a whole pizza right now.”
The boys could smell the pizza before they even walked into Barnacle Barnie’s. It was overwhelming.
“You guys are all wet,” Louie said as George, Alex, and Chris walked into the restaurant.
“It’s a water park,” George reminded him. “People get wet here.”
“Which is why we have towels,” Louie’s mother told him. She handed each of the boys a bright orange towel that said Happy Birthday, Louie! on it. “You can keep them. They’re party favors.”
George didn’t know why anyone would want a towel with Louie’s name on it—other than Louie, of course. But he took the towel, anyway.
“And don’t drip on my presents,” Louie warned.
“Yo, Louie,” Mike called out from a table near the front of the restaurant. “Sit with us.”
“Yeah,” Max added. “We saved you a seat.”
As Louie went off to sit with Max and Mike, George sniffed at the air. Man, that pizza smells good.
Just then, Louie’s mother walked over to George. “Just remember,” she said. “I’m watching you.”
George frowned. Grown-ups always seemed to be watching him.
“Hey, Mom,” Louie called. “Should I open my presents now?”
“I’m coming, Louie,” his mom called. Before walking away, she turned around. She pointed to her eyes with two fingers. Then she pointed to George.
He knew what that meant. “You’re watching me,” George muttered under his breath. “I get it.”
A waiter had just set a pie down at their table when suddenly George jumped up. He had to get out of Barnacle Barnie’s Pizzeria fast. The fizzy feeling was brewing in his belly.
What if a burp exploded right in the middle of Louie’s pizza party? That would be ba-a-ad!
“I’ve got to get out of here,” George mumbled to his friends. He was afraid to open his mouth too wide. The super burp was already ping-ponging its way out of his belly and bing-bonging up into his ribs.
“Dude, not the you-know-what!” Alex cried. “Again?”
But it was the you-know-what. Big time. George leaped out of his chair and ran for the door.
The minute he got outside, George looked around for some place to hide. He didn’t want to freak out in public again.
There! On his left! A door!
George had no idea where the door led. He didn’t really care. Wherever it was, it wasn’t Louie’s party. Quickly, he turned the knob, walked inside, and . . .
George let out a super duper, mighty, mega super burp! It was so loud that everyone in the room turned and stared.
About ten little kids were singing happy birthday to a boy named Will. Uh oh! George had just walked into another birthday party.
The next thing George knew, his hands grabbed a long, skinny balloon from the table. Then they started swinging the balloon around like a pirate sword!
“Who are you?” a little kid asked.
George opened his mouth to say, “George Brown.” But that’s not what came out. Instead, his mouth said. “Ahoy, mateys! Captain Long George Silver has arrived! Aargh!”
“You’re late. The other pirates are already here,” Will, the birthday boy, said. “See?”
George’s eyes looked across the table. Sure enough, there were two waiters in pirate costumes.
“Get out of here, kid,” one of them said to George.
George wanted to. He really did. But George wasn’t in charge now. The super burp was.
One of the waiters tried to push George out of the room. But George’s legs weren’t going to let that happen. They jumped up and wrapped themselves around the waiter’s back.
“Shiver me timbers!” George’s mouth shouted out. “I’ve got me a prisoner!”
George’s hands waved his balloon sword in the air
.
“He’s funny!” Will shouted.
“Aargh!” George screamed.
Suddenly, all the little kids were grabbing balloons and waving them like swords.
“Aargh!” the kids shouted.
“Aargh!” George’s mouth answered.
“Please, children, sit down,” Will’s parents kept saying.
The waiter tried to wiggle George off of his back. But George’s legs held tight.
“Get off me!” the waiter shouted.
And amazingly, that’s just what George’s body did. His legs let go, and George jumped from the waiter’s back . . . onto the table.
“Yo ho!” George’s mouth shouted out. “Take that! And that! And THAT!”
George was having a duel—with an imaginary pirate.
“Get down from there!” the birthday boy’s mom yelled at George.
“Out of my way!” George said. “I’m dueling on the poop deck!”
“Poop deck!” Will giggled. “That’s funny.”
“I need to make a poop,” another kid said.
“Yo ho! Yo ho!” George shouted as he dueled his way down the long table. Cups and plates went flying.
“Watch the cake!” the birthday boy’s dad shouted. He raced over and grabbed the cake before George could step in it.
Then the two waiters grabbed George.
“Aargh!” George shouted as he was dragged off the table. He waved his balloon sword and . . . whoosh! George felt something pop in his belly.
The super burp was gone.
But George was still there. He opened his mouth to say, “I’m sorry.” And that’s exactly what came out.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, kid,” a waiter said.
“Look at this mess,” Will’s mother said. “What kind of person ruins a four-year-old’s birthday?”
A person with a stupid super burp following him everywhere. That’s who.
“I’m really sorry,” George said. “But it wasn’t . . .” George shut his mouth. What could he say? It wasn’t me? It was the super burp? Nah. That would never work.
“I still gotta poop,” one of the little kids said.
“Happy Birthday,” George said to Will.
“Thanks,” Will said. “You were funny!”
George smiled. At least the super burp hadn’t ruined everything.
For once.
Chapter 11
“Yo, where you been?” Chris asked as he and Alex walked out of Barnacle Barnie’s a little while later. “You missed lunch.”
“I . . . um . . . I had to go to the bathroom,” George said. Then he turned to Alex and mouthed the word burp.
“We have time for one more ride,” Chris said. “You up for the Tunnel of Terror?”
“Definitely,” George said. “The map says that it’s the scariest water ride in the whole park. It’s not recommended for children under seven.”
“Yeah, you slide through a tunnel so it’s completely dark inside. You can’t see a thing. You don’t know which way you’re turning, or when the end of the slide is coming.”
“Sounds scary,” Alex said. “Let’s go!”
“Right behind you!”
George told him. “I can’t wait!” But they all had to wait.
The Tunnel of Terror wasn’t just the scariest water slide at Pirate Island, it was also the most popular. And the line was lo-o-ong. But George didn’t care. He was going on this ride no matter what!
The boys left their flip-flops in the cubbies at the bottom of the staircase that led to the top of the slide. Then they began their long climb.
“It sure is hot out here,” Chris said. He wiped a big glob of sweat from his forehead.
“How’s the ABC gum on the bottom of your flip-flops doing?” George asked Alex.
“I had to get rid of some of it, because it was making my shoes stick to the ground,” Alex said. “But a couple of nice big blobs are still there. I’m going to be able to add a few layers to the gum ball when I get home.”
“Awesome,” George said.
“Check it out,” Chris said. “We’re almost at the top.”
George’s heart was pumping so hard, he thought it was going to burst out of his chest, slide down the Tunnel of Terror, and explode at the bottom in a bloody mess!
“Yay! We’re next,” George told his friends.
“NOT SO FAST!”
Just then, Louie, Max, and Mike pushed past them on the staircase. They hadn’t been waiting in line. But here they were.
“It’s my birthday,” Louie told George. “And I have a golden ticket! That means I don’t have to wait. I can go ahead of you.”
“But we’ve been waiting in line for like half an hour,” George said.
“Who cares?” Louie told him. “I’ve been waiting all year for my birthday! And you’re lucky you weren’t kicked out of the park. So just stuff it.”
And with that, he pushed right in front of George. Max and Mike pushed ahead, too.
“Hey! It’s not your birthday,” George told them. “And you don’t have golden tickets.”
“We’re with Louie,” Max said.
“Yeah, we’re with Louie,” Mike agreed.
There was no point in fighting all three of them. So George stepped aside.
And then, finally, George found himself at the top of the staircase, staring into the mouth of the Tunnel of Terror. It sure was dark in there.
“You ready, kid?” the guy who was in charge of the ride asked.
“I guess so,” George answered nervously.
“Good luck!” shouted Alex and Chris.
The guy gave George a shove.
Wheeeee! George went sliding into the darkness.
“Aaaaahhhhh!” George shouted. It was scary in there. Good-scary, though. The kind of scary you go to water parks for.
George twisted. He turned. He tried to look around, but he couldn’t see a thing. He was going so fast it almost felt like his swimming trunks were being ripped off him.
And then, finally, he raced out into the daylight and splashed into a giant pool of water.
Before he could even open his eyes, George heard bells ringing everywhere. Lights started to flash. A woman with a big bunch of balloons raced through the water and came up to him.
“What did I do?” George asked nervously. He hadn’t burped. He hadn’t belched. He hadn’t even sneezed. So what were all these alarms about?
“Congratulations!” The woman with the balloons shouted to George. “You’re the one millionth park guest to ride the Tunnel of Terror!”
“Wow!” George exclaimed.
“And here’s a lifetime free pass to Pirate Island Water Park,” she told him.
“No way!” George exclaimed.
“Congratulations,” the woman said. “Smile for the camera. You’re going to have your picture in the newspaper.”
“NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!”
Suddenly Louie came racing through the water. “It’s my birthday! I should be the one getting the lifetime free pass,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” the lady said. “But this prize is only for the one millionth guest to ride the Tunnel of Terror.”
George laughed. If Louie had just waited for George, Alex and Chris to go before him, he would have been the one millionth person.
Louie stared at George. “This is all your fault.”
“Yeah,” Mike and Max said at the exact same time.
“My fault?” George looked at Louie. “You’re the one who butted in front.”
Louie was really mad now. He started jumping up and down and splashing the water all around. “I should be the winner!” he shouted. “It’s my birthday!”
By now, a whole crowd had gathered at the bottom of the Tunnel of Terror. They were all staring at Louie, pointing and laughing. George didn’t blame them. Louie was the one having a weirdo freak-out now. And George was a celebrity.
Of course, that didn’t mean the super burp wasn’t going to cause mor
e trouble. George had a feeling there would be about a billion more belches to squelch. But for now, anyway, he was burp-free. And that was a great feeling.
About the Author
Nancy Krulik is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults including three New York Times best sellers and the popular Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo books. She lives in New York City with her family, and many of George Brown’s escapades are based on things her own kids have done. (No one delivers a good burp quite like Nancy’s son, Ian!) Nancy’s favorite thing to do is laugh, which comes in pretty handy when you’re trying to write funny books!
About the Illustrator
Aaron Blecha was raised by a school of giant squid in Wisconsin and now lives with his wife in London, England. He works as an artist and animator designing toys, making cartoons, and illustrating books, including the Zombiekins series. You can enjoy more of his weird creations at www.monstersquid.com.
