Read Online The Boy with 17 Senses by Sheila Grau - Free Book Online Page A

come up to the giant’s midcalf. He was surprised at how similar they were to Yipsmixers, the only real difference being their size.
    The plants were neatly contained in an area edged by smooth, shiny bricks. High above Jaq a glass ceiling filtered light down onto a sparkling fountain in the center of thespace. A couple of giants sat at the edge of the fountain while others walked past. Storefronts faced him from the opposite wall.
    The fountain murmured and crashed with noise and, in Jaq’s view, popped and swirled with color.
    Bonip jumped onto Jaq’s shoulder and poked him in the cheek. Jaq unblocked that ear.
    â€œThere’s got to be food nearby,” Bonip said. He pulled on Jaq’s shirt. “Do you smell that?”
    â€œI smell everything,” Jaq said. “Don’t you have any senses that are going crazy?”
    â€œJust one,” Bonip replied. “My sense of hunger.” He punched Jaq on the cheek again. “Hey, you’re losing it, guy. Focus! We need to find food. Just block out all that other stuff and focus on food smells. C’mon, Jaq. It’s not that bad. What if I stuffed some dirt in your ear?”
    Jaq replugged his ear and sniffed.
    Oh, man, this is hard
. It took a lot of concentration to suppress his other senses. He felt like he was shutting off chunks of his brain, but doing so brought relief. His vision cleared enough to see what was really in front of him.
    And there, on the facing wall, just to the right of the fountain, he saw them. The golden arches that Plenthy hadmentioned in his note. Two of them, just like the letter had said. “There.” Jaq pointed. “We have to go over there.”
    â€œOkay!” Bonip said. “Let’s go.”
    â€œWe should wait and watch first,” Jaq said.
    â€œBonip doesn’t wait and watch first,” Bonip said. “Bonip goes after what he wants.”
    And with that, Bonip jumped off Jaq’s shoulder and onto the bricks that bordered their little forest of plants. He hopped down to the ground and started across the open space.
    Every bit of Jaq wanted to crawl back to the wormhole and go home. Every bit except the tiny little part of his brain that he’d forgotten to shut off. The part that told him he should never, ever, abandon a friend.
    Bonip wasn’t exactly a friend, though, so it was a murky area.

14

    FRENCH FRIES TASTE ROUND
    B onip was just a speck to the giants. They didn’t notice the white fluffball as it dodged their steps. They would notice Jaq, though. He was sure they would.
    He tried to swallow, but he had no saliva left in his mouth.
    â€œYou coming?” Bonip called. He had reached the edge of the fountain.
    Jaq took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said to himself. He stepped onto the brick edge of the plant area. The drop to the floor was only about half as tall as he was. He waited fora trio of giants to pass, and then jumped down. He ran out, quickly covering the space between the plants and the edge of the fountain, where Bonip waited. He grabbed the wipper and hurried to the next bit of cover, a potted tree outside the golden-arches store.
    Once safely in the shadows behind the pot, he leaned on his knees and waited for his body to stop needing air so fast.
    â€œWhy did you stop?” Bonip said. “I see food in there!”
    It was true; there were long yellow food sticks on the floor next to a red box, and the aroma coming out of the restaurant nearly knocked Jaq over.
    He was so hungry. But he was looking at something else—a sticky blob on the ground next to him. He bent down to investigate. He gasped.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œIt’s glug! The letter was right—there are big blobs of glug all over!” Jaq’s heart leaped with excitement. “Do you know what this means?”
    â€œIt means I have to wait here while you tell me, instead of going in there and sticking my face in that red box of