Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers by Lee Edward Födi Page A

been adding to her mood of fright and despair. For a moment, at least, she felt a little better. They marched hard, without break, and it wasn’t long before Oki started complaining to Kendra that he had to go to the bathroom worse than anytime he could ever remember.
    “You better ask Jinx if we can stop,” Kendra told him.
    “No way!” Oki said. “She’s grouchier than ever since being stuck in that marsh.”
    “I’ll ask her then,” Kendra said. “Jinx, can we stop? Oki needs a bathroom break.”
    “Why didn’t you go back in the marsh?” Jinx demanded of Oki.
    “I didn’t have to go then,” Oki replied. “But I really have to go now.”
    “I want to make the mountains by nightfall,” Jinx said over her shoulder. “We’re not stopping now. Just hold it.”
    “But—”
    “You can always go and catch up with us afterwards,” the grasshopper said flatly.
    “I’ll wait for you, Oki,” Kendra told her friend.
    “No, then we’ll both be left behind,” Oki said. “I guess I’ll just try and hold it.”
    Of course, this was easier said than done. If you have ever been on a long car ride without knowing when the next bathroom was going to appear, then you probably know exactly how Oki felt. Kendra did her best to distract the little mouse, but it seemed he could think of nothing but going to the bathroom.
    Finally, they reached the base of the mountains, and Jinx stopped so they could set up camp. Oki eagerly dropped his pack and darted for the bushes.
    “That’s a strange little feller,” Pugglemud said, as Oki scurried past him.
    “You don’t know the half of it,” Jinx muttered.
    When Oki returned to camp, he was trembling head to tail. This didn’t really surprise Kendra, for most everything seemed to put a fright into Oki, but what did startle her was that his whole body seemed to be changing color.
    “Oki!” Kendra cried, taking a close look at the mouse. “What happened? You’re turning yellow!”
    “What do you mean?” Oki asked, but when he held his paws up, they were indeed turning yellow.
    “And your tail!” Jinx exclaimed, bounding over to the mouse. “It’s yellow, too!”
    “What?” Oki cried, frantically twirling around, trying to see his tail.
    “What’s going on now?” Uncle Griffinskitch demanded, for now Oki had captured the attention of everyone in the camp.
    “All I did was go to the bathroom,” Oki told the old wizard. “But there was this big flower, and it got upset.”
    “How does a flower get upset?” Jinx asked impatiently. “Flowers don’t talk.”
    “This one does,” Oki said uncomfortably. Not only was he turning more yellow with each passing moment, but his body was beginning to swell up like a balloon.
    “My word!” Professor Bumblebean declared, and he hurriedly began flipping through one of his books.
    “Well, what did this plant say?” Kendra prodded Oki.
    “It was a real grouch,” he said. “Grouchier than . . . than . . . than . . .”
    “Grouchier than what?” Kendra asked.
    “Well, grouchier than Jinx,” Oki said.
    “I’ll show you grouchy,” the grasshopper snarled, but now Oki was beginning to swell so much that he was growing in size. He now easily dwarfed Jinx.
    “We have to do something!” Kendra cried. “What’s happening to him?”
    “Where is this plant?” Jinx demanded, craning her neck to look at Oki’s changing form. “I’m going to have a look.”
    “No!” Uncle Griffinskitch commanded. “It’s obviously dangerous. Quickly, Oki, tell us what else happened.”
    “Well, as I was going to the bathroom, the plant started yelling at me,” Oki explained. “It said, ‘How would you like it if I went into your house and just started peeing everywhere?’ And all I could think of was how upset my mother would be if anyone started doing that, let alone some strange plant, and—”
    “Get to the point,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. Oki was growing more round and bulbous with each passing moment,