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  Bubbles and Smush

  Closet Monsters

  Kath Boyd Marsh

  Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters

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  Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters Copyright © 2017 by Kath Boyd Marsh

  Cover Background Image Copyright © shutterstock.com/Stock_VectorSale

  Arch Image Copyright © shutterstock.com/Thoom

  Hippo Image Copyright © shutterstock.com/oorka

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  All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without express permission of the copyright holder.

  For more information, write:

  CBAY Books

  PO Box 670296

  Dallas, TX 75367

  * * *

  Children’s Brains are Yummy Books

  Dallas, Texas

  www.cbaybooks.blog

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  eBook ISBN: 978-1-944821-96-8

  Kindle ISBN: 978-1-944821-97-5

  Contents

  Front Matter

  Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters

  About the Author

  CBAY Books

  The following is a short story set in the same world as

  The Lazy Dragon and the Bumblespells Wizard.

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  Other tales in this series include

  The Lazy Dragon and the Bumblespells Wizard

  and

  Bubbles and Smush: Trick or Treats

  * * *

  For exclusive and free content from CBAY Books, please join our newsletter.

  To Samuel Clemens/ Mark Twain whose A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court hooked me on fantasy. Not that Bubbles and Smush don't exist. Just saying.

  "Smush, get down! Drop the weeds. Get down!" Bubbles hissed at his cousin. "Dr'gons!"

  Smush's head jerked up, and her newest river-reed woven hat flopped into the river alongside the river weeds that dropped out of her mouth. She slipped just under the surface of the water and swam toward a pool three yards up the river.

  Bubbles swam after her, knowing she would choose to hide in a deep part of the river with plenty of mud. Smush had to burrow deep into the muddy bottom, because, unlike most Barforami, her skin had white spots so big she was easily spotted. Smush was pretty much invisible from the riverbank once she was dug in.

  Bubbles, on the other hand, could float on the river surface without being noticed, because his normal Barforamous hide was green and brown spotted. He only had a sprinkling of white spots that from above the water looked like sun shining through water—the normal Barforamous camouflage.

  Floating close to the water's surface, Bubbles watched the manic crowd of dr'gons and their wizard riders drop out of the sky. They swooped over the river, darting back and forth so fast he could barely follow their flight. Pushing weeds carefully aside with his long hound-dog long ears, he paddled slowly to keep his hippopotamus-like body suspended in the river as he wondered, why had so many dr'gons invaded his peaceful home? Where was the one dr'gon he liked and trusted? Where was Cl'rnce?

  The loudest of the strange dr'gons must be Cl'rnce's sister, Hazel. From what Cl'rnce had told Bubbles, Cl’rnce's sister was … one of the Very Scary dr'gons from the Dr'gon and Wizard Technological School and Knights Academy.

  Ducking under the water's surface, Bubbles watched the dr'gons land and the wizards dismount from their dr'gons. Two of the dr’gons, away from the others, stretched long necks to peer into the river oaks lining the riverbank. The wizards and other dr’gons searched through bushes and weeds on the side closest to the school. From the frantic running, yelling, and searching, he guessed they were looking for Cl'rnce. Bubbles was pretty sure it wasn't because they were here for practical joker lessons like Cl'rnce had promised to teach Bubbles and Smush today.

  Ever so slowly Bubbles floated up pushing just his snout out of the water. He paddled his thick legs until he was just behind the weeds he and Smush had planned to eat for lunch. Stinkweeds were delicious, but dr'gons and wizards avoided them for some reason. Which made them a very good place to hide and watch.

  When he was sure he was well hidden, he lifted his head up higher and cocked his ears to listen. He didn't need to be any closer from the way they were all shouting. Especially the scary dr'gon Bubbles bet was Cl'rnce's sister. Hazel looked up into the tree that Cl'rnce often napped in, and the next second Cl'rnce dropped out of the branches.

  Hazel berated him, saying, “You can’t go off like this. You have Primus responsibilities now!”

  Cl’rnce snorted and sassed her, complaining that he had earned a nap. To which she laughed a very scary laugh.

  Bubbles was glad to see Cl'rnce.

  But the next second Bubbles lost track of Cl'rnce and Hazel. A huge bubble rolled down the river and exploded in Bubbles’ face. As it burst he smelled the tell-tale odor of Smush’s favorite river weeds. Her burps were … He gasped for clean air, ducked down, and stayed there until the tears stopped streaming out of his eyes. But the river weed gas and resting deep in the river made him sleepy.

  When he woke and lifted his head above the river's surface again, there was no one about. No Cl'rnce. No Hazel. No wizards or other dr'gons. Bubbles was not certain how long he'd napped, but Smush floated asleep beside him, her half-open mouth full of weeds dripping out the sides.

  “Wake up!" Bubbles shoved Smush until she floated away a foot.

  When she bumped into a partially-submerged tree, she stopped. "Huh?" She slurped in the remaining weeds.

  "We have to go to the school," Bubbles said without thinking. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he meant it. And he knew he needed a plan.

  "Why?" Smush paddled over to him.

  "Because Cl'rnce never came for us. He promised to teach us practical jokes, and then his angry mean sister showed up and yelled about how Cl’rnce isn’t doing his job, and maybe she should just lock him up and make him …” Bubbles shrugged, not wanting to make the point that they didn't know what happened next because Smush had put them both to sleep with that really impressive river weed burp.

  "OH!" Smush said, dropping the stinkweed she had just pulled up. "We have to find Cl'rnce. Save him from Hazel." She stopped and watched her partially munched weed float away. "Will Hazel … eat Cl'rnce?"

  Bubbles laughed. Everything was food to Smush. "No. Dr'gons are vegetarians, like us."

  Smash cocked her head, her large brown eyes closed into slits. "How do you know that?"

  "We have to get going," Bubbles said, because in truth he didn't know. But he was sure Cl'rnce was in danger, maybe even a prisoner being tortured! His friend would not skip a practical joking lesson. "Follow me. I know where there's a tunnel into the school." He'd have led her across the fields, but Barforami had to keep their skins moist, so being out in the sun too long was a very bad idea.

  He dove deep in the river and swam quickly down the banks until he found the underwater opening that too many muskrats used. Which was okay, since they didn't smell any worse than Smush, but Bubbles hoped there weren't a lot of the rodents inside to clog up the tunnel. He wanted to get to the school and find Cl'rnce, and he wanted to be as fast as Smush swimming after stinkweed.

  He paddled so quickly that he shot into the hole's entrance and tumbled over the mud floor that slanted uphill, and then he dropped off into a deep dark pit. A second later a purple glowing cloud lit up the dirt walls around him.

  "You okay, Smush?" Bubbles asked as he got up on all fours and turned to look.

  Smush's white spots looked a bit pink. "Sorry. I didn't mean to … in this tight space." She waved off the clinging gases. "It's okay. This one won't put us to sleep."

  "Good," Bubbles said, hoping he didn't feel the need
to fart. His weren't as bad as Smush's but the two of them together in such a small place! "We can use the light. Although, what did you eat?" Bubbles trotted ahead. The good thing was that the vapor was so thick it kind of pushed along ahead of him and kept lighting up the tunnel. And it was kind of moist. Not that Bubbles wanted to smell like Smush gas, but at least his skin wasn't drying out.

  They chugged ahead, as fast as two very portly small hippopotami-like creatures could go. The last of the Smush gas evaporated before they got to the end. Bubbles had never actually been in the tunnel, but Cl'rnce had once described it in case Bubbles needed to get to him in an emergency.

  His long ears held forward and out to the sides, Bubbles felt his way along the tunnel. He led them slowly until he ran into the end. His nose pushed against a wooden door. Bubbles turned to Smush. "This door should lead to Cl'rnce's room. If he's in there, he's safe."

  "Unless they've locked him up so they can eat him later."

  Bubbles sighed but decided to not argue about the eating thing. He knew Smush was grouchy because she had lost her newest hat. She loved hats and had learned to make herself a new and different one each day, eating the reeds of the oldest one as she worked.

  Using his nose, Bubbles managed to slide the door to one side. But instead of a room with lots of windows, big enough for a dr'gon to fly out (if Cl’rnce ever learned how), there was a tiny dark room with things that didn't smell even a little bit like Cl'rnce.

  Smush crowded in, sliding around Bubbles. She filled the rest of the little room. "There's another door," she said.

  "Can you open it?" Cl'rnce had told him about door handles. Bubbles was about to tell her to look for a handle and bite that to turn or push or whatever, but Smush had already figured it out.

  Something creaked and light crept over Smush's head and along her back. "I'm in!" she said and waddled forward.

  Bubbles chased after her. He recognized some of the practical joke things on the floor, table, and bed. But no Cl'rnce. Bubbles sniffed. In here he definitely smelled his dr'gon friend.

  "Look at this!" Smush stared down at a long piece of paper on the floor. "It's a map of the school." She delicately pressed a soft paw on the paper. "This square is labeled 'Cl'rnce's Room'. So this is where we are."

  "Right!" Bubbles looked over her shoulder. "And there's the little room we just came through. It says 'Cl'rnce's Closet'. Does any other room have Cl'rnce's name on it?"

  Smush shook her head. "No. But look at that." She pointed to a spot on the map drawing of Cl'rnce's room, and then lifted her paw and pointed over to the corner of the room closest to the windows. "It says secret tunnel!"

  Bubbles charged over to the corner. "That's where he's gone. He's used the secret tunnel to hide. Come on. We'll find him!" The wall looked solid, but when he nosed aside a huge tapestry, he found another door behind it. He bit the door handle with his blunt teeth and pulled down. The door pushed open on a tunnel. At least this one wasn't so dark, and it wasn't made of dirt so there wouldn't be muskrats inside. The walls were stone like the room they'd just been in, and the floor was wooden. Some kind of glowy stuff on the walls made everything light enough to see. Not waiting for Smush, Bubbles raced into the tunnel.

  He heard Smush follow. They were only twenty yards down the tunnel when a new door appeared on their right.

  "Found it!" Bubbles yelled. He opened the door and once again found himself in a little dark room. This time he stepped on something that yowled like a stabbed Bain Sidhe. Bubbles screamed, “Ban Shee!”, and backed out, slamming the door behind him.

  He stood for a moment while his heart stopped pounding. Smush arrived. "Do you hear that?"

  The howling had stopped and now loud voices echoed on the other side of the door. Someone said to get Hazel.

  Bubbles and Smush raced down the tunnel skipping three doors in a row. When they stopped hearing the loud voices, they slowed. Just to their right was another new door. They looked at each other. "We have to be very quiet and very careful," Bubbles whispered. Smush nodded.

  Bubbles said, "Hazel's probably back at that other room. We came a long way. While she's busy, we can go through this door and find Cl'rnce. Real quiet-like."

  Smush nodded again, keeping her lips tight together.

  Bubbles slowly opened the new door. Again a dark little room. "Smush, vapor?" he asked.

  She snorted. “This is no time for a joke.”

  “No. I want to see everything. You light up things so well.”

  A small cloud floated past them. They leaned forward scanning the room. Nothing looked alive in this room. Cl'rnce wasn't in this room. It was okay. There was another door on the side of the small room.

  "Is this another closet?" Smush asked.

  "Must be." Bubbles carefully opened the door. They crowded into the opening, forcing Smush's glowing purple cloud to surround them and leak out into the room.

  "GHOSTS! Monster GHOSTS!" a high voice screamed. An ear-splitting bell started going off.

  Smush farted thunderously and screamed, "Run!" Somehow she backed up faster than she usually moved. She was out of the closet and down the secret tunnel before Bubbles could get the tunnel door closed. He scurried after her.

  Out of breath, the two Barforami stopped and panted at the turn in the tunnel.

  "I can't believe no one followed us," Smush said.

  "The tunnel doors are pretty big and heavy. Maybe they think they're just walls. Whoever that was thought we were ghosts!"

  "Monsters," Smush said, her voice falling a little with what Bubbles was sure were hurt feelings.

  "They just don't know it's us," Bubbles said.

  "Yeah."

  "We have to find Cl'rnce. We'll try another door, but this time we'll be very careful. Not step on anything that yowls."

  "And not let purple gas make us look scary?" Smush asked.

  "Right."

  When they walked up to the next door, Bubbles stopped and listened. "I don't hear anything." He slowly pushed the door to one side. They both looked into the small room. This time the door on the other side was not closed so the room was not dark. They sniffed and shook their heads at each other. Smush wiggled past stopping to snag a hat off a hook by the door. She rested it gently on her head and peered through the door to the big room.

  "No one."

  "Then this is the one we use to get out and sniff-find Cl'rnce," Bubbles said.

  Smush nodded. She crept quietly across the bigger room to another door. It too was cracked open. She put a big brown eye to the crack. "No one. There's a wide hall on the other side."

  "Empty?" Bubbles asked crowding up close to her.

  "Yep. Do we go out in the big hall or back to the secret tunnel?" Smush asked, backing away from the opening, her eyes large with what Bubbles figured was fear. Smush was timid, and so far things had been pretty upsetting. It was probably only the floppy red felt hat that kept her from suggesting that they go back home. She always smiled and sang when she wore a new hat. Bubbles was glad she wasn’t singing. Quiet was good.

  Bubbles patted her shoulder and pressed his eye to the opening, then he pressed his snout. "I think I smell Cl'rnce. It's faint, but …" He looked back at Smush. "We can follow Cl'rnce's smell. Once we find him, he'll hide us or tell everybody it's just us, or something."

  Smush's tummy rumbled, but she shook her head when he started to ask if she was going to fart. Bubbles caught her slipping hat, patted it back on, and made up his mind for them both and opened the door. He looked back at Smush. "Quick. I think I hear someone that way." He jerked his head to the left and started waddling as fast as he could to the right.

  He listened to Smush's soft paws behind him. Since she was keeping up, he sped up as fast as he could. Soon there was a turn in the hall. He peered around the turn. No one in the hallway. He sniffed. Something better than Cl'rnce filled his nose. He took off waddling and sniffing as fast as he could with Smush and her growling tummy right behind. His tummy started
growling too. It had been a whole hour since they had eaten anything.

  He almost ran past the carved wooden double doors on his right. But at the last second delicious smells turned his head. He braked and stopped. He expected Smush to pile into him from the fast stop, but when he turned, he saw her nosing open the doors. She was halfway inside before he got to her.

  They padded across a room filled with tables and benches. Bubbles remembered Cl'rnce telling him about the school dining hall. Food had to be nearby. He let his nose lead them to the smell of waterweed soup!

  Without a thought to look for Hazel or Cl’rnce or anyone, the two of them burst through the swinging doors at the far end of the room. When laughing about a particularly good practical joke, Cl'rnce had once told Bubbles about a kitchen. Before them stood a very long table covered with delicious vegetables, and at the end of the room a huge fireplace held three big cauldrons bubbling with waterweed soup.

  The pair raced around the table to the soup pots. The heat from the fire stopped them inches from the bubbling cauldrons, but the smell made their tummies go wild with growls. Bubbles was about to ask Smush if she had an idea how to get the soup without getting burned when a loud yell made them whirl around.

  A fat dr'gon, with a funny hat on his head and a big apron around his chest and waist, ran into the kitchen. "Stop that!" he yelled. "No sneaking food!" He waved a big knife, and his snout leaked dr'gon fire.

  Bubbles and Smush screamed and ran for the doors to the dining hall. They had never run so fast.

  As soon as they were in the hallway, Smush yelled, "Run."

  Leading the way, Bubbles raced down the hall. But it took only ten or fifty strides before they faced a dead end. No more hall, just doors.

  "More doors," Smush said in a whisper. "I don't know about this. I think we need to go home. I don't smell Cl'rnce, and I'm hungry. And I don't like what we find behind all these doors." One prehensile ear reached up to pat her new hat. “Except this.”