Read Online Say Cheese - and Die Screaming! by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

brought this,” I said. “I
thought maybe—”
    “What good will that stupid camera do?” Shari cried. “I wish I’d never seen
it! Never! Never!”
    “I have an idea,” I told her. I flicked a fly off one of my chins.
    She hugged herself, wrapping her skinny arms around her toothpick body. “What
kind of an idea?”
    “Let’s take new pictures of ourselves,” I said. “Maybe the new pictures will
show us looking normal. Maybe the new pictures will change us back to the way we
were before.”
    She raised her eyes to mine. I could see her thinking about it, thinking
hard. “It’s kind of risky—isn’t it?” she said finally.
    “Do you have a better idea?” I asked.
    She thought hard again. Then she lowered her eyes to the camera. “Okay,” she
agreed. “Let’s do it.”

 
 
23
     
     
    I struggled to climb to my feet. But my arms and legs were barely strong
enough to push up my huge body.
    Before I could move, Shari flew across the room. She grabbed the camera from
my lap.
    “Oh!” she cried out as she nearly dropped it. “It feels so heavy!”
    “That’s because you’re so light,” I told her. I tried again to lift my bulk
off the bed. And failed again.
    “Sit still,” Shari ordered. “I’ll take your picture first.”
    “Okay,” I agreed. “I hope the new photo shows me skinny.” I tried to cross my
fingers. But they were too fat to cross!
    “Say cheese,” Shari said, aiming the camera at me.
    “Don’t be funny,” I snapped. “Just take the picture.”
    She stared through the viewfinder. Raised her finger over the shutter button.
    Then she lowered the camera with a sigh. “It—it’s too dangerous,” she
stammered.
    “Shari—take my picture!” I insisted. “Look at us! We couldn’t be any worse
off—could we?”
    She nodded in agreement. Then, with a sigh, she raised the camera to her eye
again. It felt so heavy in her skinny arms, she had to hold it up with both
hands.
    “Here goes,” she said softly. “I hope it shows you normal again, Greg.”
    She snapped the picture. The flash made me blink.
    A second later, the white square slid out from the front of the camera. She
carried it over to the bed and dropped lightly down beside me.
    “Let’s see it!” I cried, eagerly grabbing for it.
    “Careful!” Shari warned. “If you fall over, you’ll crush me!”
    I gasped. She was right. Sitting next to me could be extremely dangerous.
    “Maybe you’d better stand up,” I suggested.
    She climbed to her feet, swaying because she wasn’t used to being so light.
“It’s starting to develop,” she announced.
    She held the snapshot in front of me so we could both watch it. The yellow
filled in first. I squinted to see if I could make out my face.
    Was it fat in the photo? Or back to normal?
    The yellow was too pale. I couldn’t see my face at all.
    Shari and I both were frozen there, staring at the small square. Not moving a
muscle. Not blinking. Watching it darken.
    And suddenly, I could see myself.
    My huge blobby face. My round, balloon body.
    Still enormous. Still enormously fat.
    “Noooooooo!” I let out a long cry of horror. “Noooooooo! I want to be changed
back!”
    Shari was shaking her tiny head sadly, still staring at the darkening photo.
“What’s that on your face?” she cried. “Yuck!”
    I grabbed the snapshot from her and held it close. “Oh, no!” I groaned. “My
skin—it’s all scaly. I look like an alligator or something!”
    Shari grabbed back the photo and studied it. “The scaly stuff is on your
arms, too,” she said. “It looks like reptile skin or something.”
    And as she said that, I started to itch.
    I glanced down and saw red scales covering my arms. Itchy red patches. I
started to scratch. But the scratching made the scales itch even more.
    My skin flaked off under my fingernails.
    “Oh, yuck!” I moaned. “It itches so bad!”
    I scratched my arms. Then I scratched my face. More dry skin peeled off as I