Pop Goes the Bubble Trouble

by Holly Anna

  “She has Posey!” I shout. “Let’s go!”

  We fly after the giant, but we can’t keep up with her long strides. Soon she is gone.

  “Follow her footprints!” Luke suggests, pointing at the huge marks on the ground. We get right back in gear and track her giant tracks all the way to a frog sitting by a stream.

  “Did you see a giant girl pass this way?” Bop asks. The frog ribbits and nods his head.

  “Her name is Jean,” the frog says. “She’s headed back home. It’s the giant house over there. You can’t miss it.”

  We say thanks and take off! The crater-size footprints lead to a clearing, where we peek through the bushes and see a giant house. The world is very quiet. Then a small voice drifts in the silence.

  “Do you hear singing?” I ask. The Bubbles stay still and listen. It sounds like the voice of a faraway princess.

  “I know that voice!” Tina cries. “It’s Downy.”

  Now there is only one thing left that we have to do.

  “Follow that melody!” I shout.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A Giant Plan

  The beautiful singing is coming from inside the giant house. We fly up to a window and see a giant bed, a giant chair, and a giant picture of Jean. There’s no doubt who lives here. Then we see a glass cabinet against the wall. There are two Bubbles in there.

  “I see her! I see her!” Tina cries as her bubble bounces with joy.

  Uh-oh! I think. What if Giant Jean hears Tina? I bump my bubble against Tina’s and put my finger to my lips. “Shhh!” I shush. “Jean might hear you!”

  Then I wave everyone over for a bubble huddle. It’s time to hatch a plan. Obviously.

  “Here’s what we’re going to do,” I say. “We wait for Jean to go to sleep. Then we fly under the door. And remember, we have to be super-duper quiet because giant ears can hear everything. Then we sneak over to the cabinet and free Downy and Posey. Got it?”

  Everyone gives me an A-OK.

  “And one more thing!” I add. “We need to be sneaky, so let’s each pick a hiding place in case Jean wakes up.”

  There are great hiding places in a giant house: behind the curtains, under the rug, beside the chair, behind the sofa, even inside the pitcher on the table.

  “I’ll hide under the rug!” calls someone from behind me. He has a familiar voice.

  I spin around and see Posey!

  “What are you doing here?” I cry. “We just made a plan to save you!”

  He laughs. “I know. It looked fun, so I wanted to help! I drew a door with my pen and snuck right out of the giant’s house!”

  “Posey,” I say with a laugh, “you already saved yourself. Now can we borrow your pen to draw a door and free Downy?”

  Posey begins to search his fur, looking for the pen.

  Then he gives me a confused look, and I know exactly what happened. “You lost your pen, didn’t you?”

  He shrugs. “I didn’t think I’d need it again.”

  I smack my hand against my forehead. “Okay, Bubble Brigade. It’s back to plan A.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Bubble Trouble

  Honk-shoo! Honk-shoo!

  The Jolly Jean Giant is snoring her head off. Let the rescue mission begin! We charge under the door, and everyone gets inside.

  As we float across the room I realize that Posey is missing. Then I notice a lump under the rug, and it’s moving. That crazy Posey! He hid under the rug and now he’s lost. Maybe we will still have to save him after all.

  The rest of us fly to the cabinet and land on its great big handle. I look at Luke and say, “Hey, remember when you asked if you could give me a hand? We could use one now.”

  Luke nods, and then he pops open his bubble. With his handy head, he grabs the handle and opens the cabinet.

  Downy lets out a cheer song that rings through the room. Tina joins in with another sweet melody.

  I am all for happy friends, but these Bubbles are being a little too loud. No one but me notices that Jean’s giant snoring has stopped. Instead, we hear the stomp of footsteps! And I’m pretty sure we’re all in big bubble trouble. Obviously.

  Giant Jean storms into the room and—wow—everything about her looks like a normal eight-year-old girl. She has long brown hair, navy leggings, a striped top, and a pink cardigan. The only tiny difference is, she’s ginormous.

  “WHO’S THERE?” she booms.

  The Bubbles scatter and hide, but Downy and I freeze right in place.

  “WAIT! WAIT!” Jean the giant cries. “WAIT, DOWNY, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE! YOU’RE MY ONLY FRIEND!”

  My heart softens a little when Jean uses the word “friend.” We thought we were saving Downy. Maybe we were wrong!

  Then Downy flies up to Jean. “Did you hear me singing?” she asks.

  Jean nods. It is like watching a mountain move its head up and down.

  “It was a sad song because I miss my home and my other friends,” Downy says.

  Jean steps back in surprise. Her voice softens. “I thought you liked it here. I thought you liked me. Didn’t we have fun?”

  Downy frowns, and I can feel my heart go all Jell-O.

  “We did have fun, and I am your friend,” Downy explains.

  The Bubble floats next to Jean. “But you still aren’t listening, and friends should always listen. So hear me now: I am ready to go home.”

  Jean hangs her head sadly. “All I wanted was to have a friend. I’m so sorry!” She covers her face with her hands, and giant tears spill to the floor.

  And now I feel bad for Jean because she doesn’t look like a giant at all anymore. She looks like a kid who made a mistake. She is truly sorry, I think. She tried to make friends the wrong way.

  Then one by one the Bubbles come out of their hiding places. They fly up to Jean, but they don’t look mad at all. In fact, they look relaxed and even laugh a little. That helps Jean calm down too.

  And while everyone else is almost happily ever after, Posey chooses that very moment to blast out from under the rug.

  “I FOUND IT!” he cries. And now it’s all eyes off Miss Waterworks and all eyes on Posey. My imaginary friend has a knack for drawing attention to himself.

  “Found WHAT?” I ask.

  “I found my pen!” he says, waving it in the air.

  I look at his pen, and it suddenly gives me a giant idea.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Friendship Door

  “Posey, can I borrow your pen?” I ask.

  Posey looks at his pen, then tosses it right to me. I draw a Bubble-size door on the wall in Jean’s house. Then I write FRIENDSHIP DOOR on it.

  “Attention, everyone,” I cheer. “This is the friendship door. It opens both ways. On one side is Vending, where the Bubbles live. On the other side is, well . . . here at Jean’s house. Now you can visit each other whenever you want—and you can go home whenever you want too!”

  Posey cracks open the door, and the Bubbles wave good-bye to Jean before sliding through. The last ones left are Tina, Downy, Posey, and me.

  Downy flies up to Jean and nuzzles against her cheek. Then Downy sings in a beautiful voice, “Do not worry. Don’t you fret. We’ll be back tomorrow, you bet. Because you are my truly giant friend.”

  Jean smiles and waves good-bye.

  When Tina and Downy have gone, Posey and I leap through the friendship door last. As I fall through space, I hear Mom calling my name in the distance. My bubble begins to dissolve.

  “Good-bye, Bubble friends!” I call out. And then I drift toward home and land gently on top of my bed just as Mom opens the door.

  “There you are, Daisy Dreamer!” Mom says. She moves her hands behind her back. “I got you a special something,” she says. “Pick a hand!”

  Oooh, I love this game! I point to her left hand.

  “Ta-da!” she says.

  It’s a vending machine bubble! And inside is a shiny unicorn sticker. I pluck it out of her hand.

 
“Oh, Mom, I love it,” I say. “Thank you!”

  She gives me a hug. “I saw you admiring it at the store today, so I snuck back and got you one for being so helpful.”

  Wait, does Mom know I helped the Bubbles today?

  “Helpful?” I repeat uncertainly.

  Mom laughs. “Yes!” she says. “For helping me with the shopping and putting away the groceries!”

  “Oooh,” I say, sighing with giant relief. “Anytime, Mom!” Then I admire my new sticker. And I know just where I’m going to bring it—back to the World of Make-Believe with Posey and all my Bubble friends!

  Check out Daisy Dream’s next adventure!

  BRRRING!

  The school bell rings, and my best friends, Lily and Jasmine, and I make a mad dash for the playground. It’s recess! Our favorite time of the day. Obviously.

  We hit the blacktop and run straight to the Hideout—our top secret hiding spot under the slide.

  It’s the best place for telling secrets because it keeps all the snoopy-snoops like Gabby Gaburp and Carol Rattinger out.

  Today Lily has a huge secret. I can tell because she always twirls her hair around her finger when she’s hiding something. And she’s been twirling her hair ALL. DAY. LONG.

  “Spill, Lil!” I say as soon as we’re safe inside the Hideout.

  “Let’s make extra sure the coast is clear first,” Lily says. So Jasmine double-checks the entry to make sure Carol and Gabby aren’t spying on us. You can never be too careful when it comes to those two girls. They want to know everything about everyone.

  “All clear!” Jasmine calls.

  “Okay,” Lily begins. “You may have already guessed I have a secret to tell, and I also have a favor to ask.”

  That sounds like a double-dog secret! I think, scootching closer to her side. And I am double-dog interested.

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Holly Anna has always had a wild imagination. When she was little, she used to doodle drawings that would transport herself and her friends to a wonderful world of make-believe. Now she visits other worlds through writing. Holly lives in San Jose, California, with her family. They have four cats: Rocket J. Squirrel, Le Mew, The Honest John Wookenchops (a.k.a. “Wookie”), and Noel.

  Genevieve Santos is an illustrator born, raised, and living in San Jose, California, and sole proprietor of a small stationery company, Le Petit Elefant. Her love for animation started at a young age, and is what drives her to draw the slightest observations. She also has an insatiable weakness for ice cream.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Holly-Anna

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Genevieve-Santos

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  IntheMiddleBooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  First Little Simon hardcover edition September 2018

  Copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.

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  Designed by Laura Roode

  Jacket design by Laura Roode

  Jacket illustrations by Genevieve Santos © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Anna, Holly, author. | Santos, Genevieve, illustrator.

  Title: Pop goes the bubble trouble / by Holly Anna ; illustrated by Genevieve Santos.

  Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2018.

  Series: Daisy Dreamer ; #8 | Summary: “When bubble creatures start disappearing from the World of Make-Believe, Daisy and Posey are on the case!”—Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018005123 | ISBN 9781534426528 (pb) | ISBN 9781534426535 (hc)

  ISBN 9781534426542 (eBook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Imaginary playmates—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Imagination & Play. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories. |

  JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.A568 Pop 2018 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018005123