GIRLS:
M-I-P'S OF THE UNIVERSE

It all started when I opened the weird, old book in the Aberdeen Public Library-a book I had never seen in there before. I had just been tortured for the twenty-seventh time by the girl-hater gang over on Brandon Boulevard and rushed straight to the library to be with my beloved adventure stories.

     Pulling the old book off the shelf, I lifted it to my nose.

     Peeeeeuuuuu! It smells like rotting mushrooms, I thought.

     Lowering the book again, I looked carefully at its faded cover. I could tell it had once been white, but had long since yellowed with age. All around the cloth edges frayed fibers stuck out like miniature skeleton fingers. The spine bulged every two inches with a rounded ripple running across its spine. The worn cover was so badly faded that I had to open it to search for its title.

     Once open, a bizarre drawing of a weird castle filled most of the first page. I could tell it was a castle only because the four towers on the corners stuck up taller than the walls, and a draw bridge crossed a water-filled moat circling the castle.

     But everything about the castle appeared built out of tall, pointed, six-sided crystals. Some appeared darker than others and may have been different colors at one time, but since the book's publication, everything about the drawing had faded to blacks, grays, and browns.

     I sat in the corner of the library, my favorite place because it lay out of sight of everyone except people in the last aisle-the reference section, the least used aisle in the library. Of course, being early Saturday morning, and because Aberdeen had only 2,000 people, not a soul was there but me.

     And that was a good thing, because it meant no one saw the smoke-at first that is. It billowed out of the castle picture, hit the ceiling, and spread out in every direction-thick, gray, puffy smoke that stayed within inches of the ceiling.

     What kind of smoke is that? Why doesn't it fill the whole room … and why hasn't the fire alarm gone off?

     I slammed the book shut, but it continued to spew out the top. Shoving it sideways under my fanny only worsened my situation, because the smoke streamed out on either side of me. I yanked it from under my skirt and shoved it up under my top. Boy, oh boy was that ever a mistake. Smoke plumed out from all around my collar and the smell of overcooked barbeque meat gagged and choked me.

     I yanked it out again and threw it at the base of the bookshelves, but it continued to pour smoke.

     I glanced down the aisle.

     Not a soul in sight.

     I looked at the ceiling and discovered the smoke had traveled halfway down the aisle and spread toward the middle of the library.

     The Librarian is going to see it!

     Shaking, I sprang to the book, knelt, opened the cover, and slapped my hands over the picture. My eyes opened wide and I felt a smile crack my face.

     I stopped it!

     My ears tingled. I shook my head, but my ears started itching-and then they got warm-and then they grew warmer-and then they grew hot. Something rushed out of them. I jerked back on my heals letting go of the book, and noticed swirling smoke in front and on either side of my head.

     Did that just come out of my ears?

     I gawked at my palms to search for the holes that allowed the smoke to travel up inside my arms and shoot out my ears-but there were none.

     Boy, oh boy. What's going on here?

     I watched the book as it billowed more smoke. Bending over, I blew on it-until my face probably turned blue.

     Something popped up out of the castle and forced me to fall back on my fanny. I blinked my eyes and spied the shape of-the shape of-

     A face?