How I Got My Shrunken Head by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page B

leaned forward into the sand. Leaned and stretched.
    And grabbed for it. Grabbed for it, curling my fingers. Groaning and grunting. Reaching. Reaching across the wet sand.
    But no.
    I couldn’t get it. The head lay a foot from my fingertips.
    A foot that seemed a mile.
    No way. No way.
    My fingers grabbed only air. I couldn’t reach it.
    I knew I was doomed.
    My hands dropped heavily onto the wet sand. I let out a defeated sigh.

19
    My hands made a loud slapping sound as they hit the sand.
    And the head bounced.
    “Huh?” I uttered a startled cry. My heart started to pound.
    I slapped the surface of the wet sand again with both palms.
    The head bounced. Closer.
    Another hard slap. Another bounce.
    The head lay only a few inches away now.
    I grabbed it, held it tightly — and joyfully shouted out the word.
“Kah-lee-ah! Kah-lee-ah!”
    At first, nothing happened.
    My breath caught in my throat. I froze.
    “Kah-lee-ah! Kah-lee-ah!”
    I expected to fly up. To be lifted out of the sandpit. To float magically over to hard ground.
    “Jungle Magic — please work! Please work!” I cried out loud.
    But I didn’t move. I sank a little deeper. The sand crept up over my chest.
    I stared at the shrunken head in my hand. The black eyes appeared to stare back at me.
    “Help me!” I cried. “Why aren’t you helping me?”
    And then I saw the vines.
    Yellow-green vines creeping over the sandpit. Moving like long snakes. A dozen twisting, crawling vines, slithering toward me from all directions.
    My heart pounded as I watched the vines slither closer. Closer. Until I reached out with my free hand and grabbed for the end of one.
    But the vine swept past my hand, moving quickly with surprising force. It wrapped itself around my chest — and started to tighten.
    “No!” I uttered a cry of protest. Was it going to strangle me?
    Another vine dipped into the sand. I felt it curl around my waist.
    “No — stop!” I wailed.
    The vines tightened around me. And then they began to pull.
    The wet sand made a
thwock
sound as I started to move through it.
    Holding the shrunken head in the air, I let the vines tug me through the sand. They pulled hard and fast. The sand flew at my sides.
    A few seconds later, the vines tugged me, on my knees, onto hard ground. I let out a happy cry. The vines instantly let go. I watched them pull back, curling quickly into the tall weeds.
    I hunched there, struggling to catch my breath, watching until the vines slithered out of sight. Then I pulled myself to my feet.
    My legs felt shaky and weak. My whole body trembled from my close call.
    But I didn’t care. I felt like jumping up and clapping and shouting for joy. The Jungle Magic had worked. The Jungle Magic had saved me once again!
    The wet sand clung to my jeans, my shirt, my arms — even my hair! I shook myself furiously. I tucked the shrunken head into my shirt pocket. Then I began slapping at my clothes, brushing off chunks of sand.
    Now what?
I asked myself, glancing quickly around. The sun had risen high in the sky. The trees and ferns and tall grass gleamed, a shimmering blur of green and gold. The air had grown hot. My shirt clung wetly to my back.
    Now what?
    How do I find Aunt Benna?
    I pulled the shrunken head from my pocket and held it in front of me. “Lead the way,” I ordered it.
    Nothing happened.
    I brushed chunks of sand off its leathery skin. I pried sand from between its thin black lips.
    I turned toward the sun and took a few steps. Was I still walking east?
    To my surprise, the dark eyes on the shrunken head suddenly started to glow.
    What did that mean? Did that mean I was getting close to Aunt Benna? Did it mean I was walking in the right direction?
    I decided to test it.
    I spun around and started walking back toward the sandpit.
    The eyes on the head instantly dimmed back to black.
    I turned and started walking north.
    The eyes remained dark.
    I turned back in the direction of the sun.
    Yes! The eyes began to glow