The House had stood empty for a time. It was a big rambling place, much too big for a small family, but Mr Chen didn't care. He liked the house. He liked everything about it. He smiled the whole time that the real estate agent showed him through the place. In his mind he had already picked out which room would be his study and where he could put bookshelves to make a small library. Mrs Chen could have that sewing room she was always talking about and Martin could have his very own playroom in the attic. After spending so many years in their cramped apartment, the Chen family would finally be able to spread out. It was just wonderful and he couldn't wait to ring Pauline (that was Mrs Chen) to tell her the good news.
Mrs Chen listened to Mr Chen's description of their new home with a big smile on her lips. Victor was always so enthusiastic about everything. She had been worried when he had got this new job. It meant that they would have to leave the city and move to a new town. There were so many things to organise, but the most important thing was finding somewhere nice to live. It seemed that Mr Chen had just solved that problem and, as soon as school was finished, she and Martin would be able to join him. What a great way to start the summer vacation! She sighed happily and turned to her son. "Well, honey," she said, giving Martin a big hug, "It looks like everything has turned out just fine."
"Does it have a pool?" asked Martin, "Are there kids next door? Can we go see it today? Can I have a dog?" Martin had a million questions he wanted to ask, but his mom just laughed, hugged him tighter and said, "You'll just have to wait and see, honey. Your father said you are in for a big surprise."
* * * * * * *
It was a beautiful summer's day when the Chen family drove up to their new house. Martin scrambled out of the the car when his dad stopped at the at the front gate and raced up the drive.
"Wow!" he yelled, "This is great, dad!"
Suddenly, Martin stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth open in astonishment, "Oh, wow", he whispered, "A tree house...."
"Mom! Dad! It's got a tree house!" Martin climbed up the ladder and looked inside. Wow! This was really something! Then he had a great idea, "Mom, can I sleep in here tonight?" Martin looked down, but his mom and dad weren't listening. Mr Chen had picked up Mrs Chen and was carrying her through the front door. Maybe mom was hurt! Martin climbed down the ladder and raced into the house to see what was happening. Oh no! It was just all that kissing stuff. How disgusting! Martin pulled a face and ran up the stairs. "Where's my room?" He yelled down at them, jumping up and down in excitement. They both grinned up at him, not caring about the yelling or all the noise, they were just too happy.
Up in the attic of the house, something stirred. A pointed ear had previously twitched at the slamming of car doors and the sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door. Now, one glittering yellow eye slowly opened, followed by another. The huge eyes blinked. Running footsteps and the sound of voices made the Chippetuck shift uneasily. It slid further into the shadows of the sloping roof and curled itself even more tightly around one of the thick rafters, listening intently to the voices that were coming nearer and nearer.
"And, I thought you might like to keep all your toys and stuff up here, Martin," announced Mr Chen as he flung open the door of the attic. He looked around with a grin, "It would be a great playroom. You could set up your train-set and the cars......."
"I don't know, Victor," said Mrs Chen doubtfully," I think I'd prefer to have him play in the sun-room at the back of the house. I could keep an eye on him there."
"Oh, mom," Martin hated it when she treated him like a baby.
"Hmmmmm...." Mr Chen thought for a moment, "Well, of course, it's up to you, Pauline. I just figured this way we wouldn't constantly be tripping over Martin's toys and........ I sort of thought, it might be nice if you could set up your sewing machine in that back sun-room..........." He gave Martin a quick wink before looking at his wife enquiringly.
"A sewing room........" Mrs Chen's eyes glazed over, "I've always wanted a sewing roonm......" she smiled.
"Let's go down and have a look." Mr Chen put his arm around his wife's shoulders. He and Martin both grinned at each other. Mrs Chen was dipsy-doodle when it came to sewing. She liked to make all sorts of things. There had been quilts and teddy bears all over the old apartment they had lived in. She even liked to make clothes. Yep! Somehow, Martin just knew that he'd be playing in that attic as soon as he could unpack his toys.
"Yes!" Martin cheered softly when they were gone.
He looked around one more time with a huge grin when he heard a soft sound. "Humpf!" It said.
Martin turned in surprise, but there was no-one there. Maybe, he had imagined it? He listened hard for a minute, but there was nothing. He shrugged his shoulders and turned to go. A soft, but definitely cross, "Humpf!" echoed around the room. Martin nervously opened his mouth to ask who was there, but he never got the chance to say anything because, just then, the house exploded with noise.
The Removalist's van pulled up in front drive of the house and was honking it's horn. Mr Chen whooped and hollered for Martin to come down and, in the craziness that followed, Martin forgot all about the strange noises he had heard up in the roof till much later.
* * * * * * *
H-h-h... hello...?" Martin peeked around the attic door. He inched his hand in till he found the light switch and then he flicked on the light. It hung way below the thick, old rafters and made the sloping ceiling look shadowed and spooky.
Is a-a...anybody there.....?" Cautiously he crept in trying to keep his eyes on every part of the room at the same time.
Silence.
"I know you're in here.." Martin spoke again, feeling a little braver now. His eyes flashing around the room made him feel rather dizzy, but he didn't want anything to come sneaking up on him.
"Are you a g-g-ghost...?" Martin knew all about ghosts. He'd read the scary books about them in the school library. Martin thought he liked ghosts. Having a ghost in the attic would really be something.
"If you're a ghost, knock once for yes and twice for no," said Martin feeling braver all the time.
Silence.
This was getting nowhere! It was nearly time for bed and he wanted to see the ghost before he went. Martin pulled a face and thought hard. Suddenly he had an idea on how to get that ghost to come out and face him. With a mean little smile, he said, "You are in here and I know it! If you don't come out right now I'll......" but the words froze on his lips as, from the corner of his eye, he saw a movement. Something small, floated down from the shadows of the rafters. It cicled overhead, in a strange fluttering way. Martin stood there, with his mouth open, watching it. He gulped. Round and round it went, with Martin's eyes glued to it, until finally it landed gently on the floor. Wartin grabbed it. He stood up and examined it carefully, turning it this way and that. He frowned. It was just an ordinary orange-coloured feather, How disappointing! He opened his mouth to call out again, when he found himself, face-to-face with the oddest-looking creature he had ever seen.
"You'll what, my dear?" asked the beast with great interest.
Martin fell backwards in fright. His eyes practically popped out of his head and his mouth kept opening and closing like a goldfish. The beast was right above him, hanging from one of the rafters by it's long tail! It looked like a great orange waterfall, except at the end of this waterfall was a huge red mouthful full of sharp teeth.
Martin's heart was pounding and his breath was coming out in gasps.
"M-M-Mom...." he squeaked, too softly for anyone to hear.
The beast leaner even closer towards him, reaching out with its huge claws. Martin cringed in fear. His insides turned to jelly. The cruel claws came closer and closer and then, gently plucked the feather from Martin's shaking fingers.
"Ah. Thank you, my dear. I rather fancy this belongs to me. How kind of you to pick it up." The beast carefully tucked the tiny feather back into the space it had come from.
"M-M-Mom," Martin's voice was a little stronger now.
The beast chortled, "Why no, dear, I'm not your mom." Then it tipped its head to one side and looked at Martin very hard, "Actually, my dear, you remind me of someone I once ate. Do you have relatives in the north?"
"MOM!" Yelled Martin, suddenly finding his voice.
"MOM! Even louder! In a lightning flash of energy, Martin jumped up and hurtled out of the attic and down the stairs at breakneck speed.
"MOM!"
"Yes, honey?"
"Mom! Quick! There's a monster in the attic!"
Mrs Chen looked at Martin blankly.
"Really mom." Panted Martin, "There really is a monster in the attic. Really there is, mom." Martin grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the chair.
"What sort of monster?" Frowned Mrs Chen.
"A big one, mom. It was real scary. Come on!"
Mrs Chen sighed. Martin could tell from the expression on her face that she was remembering all the other times he'd thought that he'd seen monsters. He just had to convince her that this time it was true. "It said, I looked like someone it once ate," said Martin desperately. It was the wrong thing to say.
A talking monster, Martin?" She almost rolled her eyes, but something in his face made her ask "What did it look like?"
"It was sort of like a crocodile or a big cat, except it had feathers...." He could tell that he was losing her. Finally he begged, "Please, mom, please come and look."
Of course, she didn't find anything. When Mr Chen came home from the Late Night Supermarket with some milk and eggs, they all went upstairs and his mom and dad stared at the rafters under the ceiling. Martin felt silly and embarrassed, and most of all, he felt cross. He stared at his shoes and thought about punching that monster right in the nose.
"Well, son," Mr Chen sighed, "I don't see anything. Do you Pauline?" He suddenly stepped forward with a frown, "What's that?" He asked.
"What?" asked Mrs Chen beginning to feel concerned.
"Over there. in the corner," Mr Chen went to look. "It's some sort of trapdoor!" Bending over, he took a firm grip on the handle and heaved with all his strength. At first the door was stuck, but after a couple more very hard tugs, with Mrs Chen and Martin helping, finally the trapdoor slowly creaked open.
Mr Chen blinked, Mrs Chen giggled and Martin groaned with disappointment. Under the trapdoor lay the rafters and the top of the ceiling of the room below. It was a door that led nowhere! Mr Chen shrugged his shoulders and put the trapdoor back in place and dusted himself off. His mother shook her head, "Whatever it was that scared you, honey, it seems to have gone."
Mom and dad looked at each other, then at Martin who seemed very glum. Mom took his hand and dad ruffled his hair.
They all turned to go when a loud, fluttering noise erupted above them.
"It's him yelled! Martin.
His mother gave a little scream and his father grabbed Martin and pushed him out of harm's way. But, it was only a dumb,old bird that must have flown in through the window earlier that day, beating it's wings against the panes till Mr Chen let it out.
"Well, there goes your monster, son," said Mr Chen, with a wink and a smile. "Tomorrow we'll get the ladder up here and have a good look around. We'll make sure no more monsters come sneaking up on you."
His mother and father went down the stairs. Martin listened to them as their voices faded.
Whoa, I thought I was going to have a heart attack, back there." That was his father.
"I thought you were very brave, honey," his mother answered.
"I'm going to start doing some more exercise," his father went on.
"You always say that." Martin could tell that his mother was smiling.
"This time I mean it......"
Martin had one last look around before he turned off the light and there, sure enough, were a pair of huge orange whiskers poking out from either side of the rafter at the other end of the room. As he stared at them, they began to wiggle. They wiggled and wriggled faster and faster, in some sort of mad whisker dance. Then they stopped. Martin gulped. Without waiting a moment longer, he switched off the light and slammed the door. A faint chuckle followed him all the way down the stairs.
That night, after his mother and father came to tuck him into bed, Martin got back up and pushed the top of a chair under his doorknob, Then, as an extra safety measure, he pulled the covers up over his head before he went to sleep.
* * * * * * *
It was Sunday afternoon. Mrs Chen swept out the attic and put up some curtains. Mr Chen got out the ladder, like he said he would, and checked the rafters for any nests that might have been abandoned last night. Then, the three of them carried up a brightly coloured rug and a comfortable, old easy chair.
"Now all we need to do, is get your toys up here and you'll be all set," Mr Chen grinned at Martin. Martin gave him a sickly smile back, and his father laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, son. This place is one hundred percent monster free!"
How was he supposed to play in a creepy place like this? He thought about those whiskers and those teeth and a cold shiver ran down his back. What was that thing?
They spent the rest of the day unpacking boxes in different rooms. The house was starting to look like it really belonged to them as, little by little, more of their things were unpacked. Only Martin's toys stayed in their boxes on the attic floor. Mr and Mrs Chen decided to to say anything. Martin would unpack his toys when he was ready.
Martin lay in his bed the next morning, thinking about everything that had happened. He was staring at the ceiling when, he noticed there was some strange writing on the light...... He jumped out from under the covers and stood at the top of his bed on tip-toe, but the light was too high up and he couldn't make out what the writing said. Looking around the room, he suddenly had an idea. He closed the curtains right up and then pulled off the covers of his bed and turned on the light. There, on the white sheet, was the last message in the world that Martin had ever expected to see. It said
COME UP AND PLAY
BRING FOOD
"Whoa." said Martin under his breath. He stared at the message for a long time. However, when it was time to go down for breakfast Martin made a decision.
"Mom, I'm going to fix up the playroom today," he said to Mrs Chen, munching on his cereal.
"No more monsters, honey?" smiled Mrs Chen.
Martin shook his head, "I thought I could spend the day up there. I could take up a few sandwiches and muffins and stuff."
"Oh?" Mrs Chen raised her eyebrows.
"Yeh, it would be just like being wrecked on a desert island...." Martin watched his mother smile. "I could fix up the playroom and you could fix up your sewing room." He knew that would get her.
Mrs Chen eyed her son thoughtfully. It was true that she had a lot to do, the house was still a mess and it would take at least a week to get everything sorted out and put away. She would feel alot better knowing that Martin was keeping busy inside the house for a while, rather than fooling around the new neighbourhood and maybe getting lost. It would be worth the trouble of packing him a picnic lunch. A desert island! He was so cute with these make-believe stories, although she didn't much like the one from the other night.
"Hmmmmmm..." she thought.
"I promise I'll be good, mom," That clinched it!
She bent down and gave him a hug. "Okay, sweetheart, I'll pack you a lunch fit for a starving sailor!"
"That's great, mom. Could I have double of everything, please? I'm really hungry today."
She gave him a funny look, but made him two sandwiches, anyway. Then, she put two apples, a muffin and three chocolate chip cookies into the bag. "You bring down every single thing you don't eat," she warned, "I don't want to see any ants up there."
Martin nadded and waited till she turned away, then he scooped up the rest of the box of cookies and another couple of apples and turned and raced up the stairs. Mrs Chen shook her head and rolled her eyes. That son of hers!
Matin stood outside the attic door panting. It was very quiet in there. He put his ear against the door. He couldn't hear a thing. Well, it was no good standing around out here. He took a deep breath, straightened up his shoulders, and opened the door.
The sun streamed in through the window. Martin never really noticed before but the walls were painted a pale yellow. The room took on a golden glow. Somehow, it felt like being inside an egg. Martin frowned. The room also felt empty - like when he used to come home from school to the apartment in the city..... like when his mom got back late from work sometimes because of the traffic. He could always feel when no-one was home as soon as he opened the front door. Well, this was exactly how this room felt - as if no-one was home. Martin turned to go back downstairs, maybe being shipwrecked up here wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe he would go and play in the tree-house instead. Yeah, that would be much better!
"Leaving so soon, my dear?" A familiar voice said from over his left shoulder. Martin nearly jumped out of his skin, but he tried not to look surprised as he turned around. His heart was pounding but he forced himself to act calm. The monster was hanging by its tail from the rafter, just as before, its face level with Martin's.
Curiousity got the better of fear and he stared at the creature. With its shaggy face, huge yellow eyes and long stiff whiskers it looked like some sort of weird sheepdog or cat. That was until you noticed the big sharp claws on the end of its stumpy legs, and the fact that it was actually covered in bright orange feathers. It stared back at Martin without blinking.
"Where were you?" Martin suddenly burst out without thinking.
"Out, my dear," replied the monster, "But I'm back now and that's all that matters."
"I got your note," said Martin, beginning to feel a little confused.
"I know," came the smug reply.
"How did you know? How did you even know I was coming up here"
The creature smiled at him, a big sharp-toothy smile that made Martin feel very uncertain about the whole situation. "Wh-What are you?
The creature finally blinked at Matin, then rolled its yellow eyes and shrugged its shoulders, although that looked rather odd as it was upside down. It began ticking off each point on its long claws, "Firstly, I knew you were coming up here because I was that rather handsome fly sitting on the bannana in the fruit bowl. Secondly, I am a Chippetuck and thirdly, what is a chocolate chip cookie?"
"What is a Ch-Ch-Chippetuck?" Stammered Martin.
"Uh-uh," the Chippetuck waggled his claw at Martin, "I asked you first."
"What...?" Martin's brain was buzzing.
"The cookie, my dear," said the Chippetuck with another very toothy smile.
"Oh, w-w-would you like one?"
"Why yes, thank you, my dear. How gracious of you to offer." And with that, the Chippetuck took the whole box and popped it into his mouth and munched contentedly till it was finished, then he spit out the wrapper in one neat ball saying, "Delicious, my dear, but the shells are nasty." Martin could only gape at him, open-mouthed.
* * * * * * *
"And your name is Chippetuck?" Martin was sitting on the rug feeling more and more confused. The Chippetuck had curled itself on and around the old easy chair and was spinning an apple on one of its claws.
"That's right, my dear, I'm Chippetuck the Chippetuck." He seemed a lot less scary now. The sort of monster you could really be friends with......
"So where do you come from?" Was Martin's next question.
"Chippetuck."
"You keep saying that."
"Well, my dear, that's because I'm Chippetuck, the Chippetuck, from Chippetuck."
Martin scratched his head, "And all the Chippetucks are called Chippetuck? How do do you know which one is which?"
The Chippetuck seemed surprised, "We all look different, of course."
"Oh," Martin thought this over for a while as the Chippetuck began to nibble at the apple he had been spinning. "Where's Chippetuck?"
The Chippetuck looked at him for a moment and then, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "Seven worlds from this one." Martin felt more and more curious with each new answer, then he remembered the part about being the Chippetuck being a fly down in the kitchen...... "So how come you can change into other things?
The Chippetuck finished the first apple and started spinning the second one.
"Are you a genie?" Asked Martin hopefully. He suddenly wondered if he might get three wishes.
"No, I am a Chippetuck."
"Is that like a genie?" Martin still felt hopeful.
"No, that is like a Chippetuck."
"Then how come you can do tricks?"
"Tricks?" The Chippetuck seemed a little surprised, "I do not do tricks, my dear. I do magic."
"Magic....?" Martin felt his face getting red as his heart began to beat a little faster, "What sort of magic?"
"What sort of magic did you have in mind, my dear?" Enquired the Chipptuck, licking his lips as he finished the second apple and began to eat the muffin.
"An adventure!" Said Martin firmly. "I would like to have a really good adventure....."
"Hmm. I see," the Chippetuck clicked his claws dramatically and, in the next moment, Martin was nowhere to be seen.
"Oooh," said the Chippetuck, "Two sandwiches!" He licked his lips again.
One moment Martin was sitting on the rug in the attic talking to the Chippetuck, and in the next moment he was sitting on the cold hard ground in the middle of a deep, dark forest. All around him, giant trees stretched up to the sky, filtering out the sunlight and making the forest floor a gloomy place full of strange whispers and rustlings, as the forest creatures went stealthily about their business. Martin gulped, this was not exactly the sort of adventure that he'd had in mind. He was thinking about how he was going to explain this to his parents and of all the things he was going to say to the Chippetuck after he got back when, all of a sudden, there in a small clearing between the trees, Martin noticed three unicorns drinking at a tiny stream.
They seemed to glow with a mysterious silvery light as they tossed their long manes and stamped their sharp hooves. Ever so carefully, Martin crept closer towards them, closer and closer. They were so beautiful as they stood there with their pale coats gleaming, the long single spiral horns glistening silver in that strange magical light. His eyes never left them for second. And so, not looking where he was going Martin found himself tumbling right down a huge black hole that went all the way from this world to the next.
KER-THUMP!
Martin landed on a large dinner plate piled high with spaghetti as thick as ropes and meatballs the size of cannonballs! The plate was moving along at a very rapid rate when suddenly it swooshed down onto a table with a bit of a clank and, before he even had time to think, a huge head with a million razor teeth leaned towards him and a deep voice asked, "Are you my side order? I don't remember ordering anything on the side...."
"No, " gulped Martin, "I'm not."
"Pity," said the Tyrannosaurus Rex with a sad sigh, "I don't know why I come here. The service in this place is appalling."
At that, a large dinosaur waiter bustled over to the table, "Good heaven's! He exclaimed. "It's another one of those boys!"
He turned and called, "Arthur, get me the dustpan and the broom. Immediately!" Then he turned back to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and apologised profusely. "I'm so sorry, sir. We'll have this mess cleared away in no time at all. Pierre will bring you a fresh plate!"
"Hmmmmmmmmm......." Rumbled the Tyrannosaurus, "This never used to......"
But Martin never heard the end of that conversation because, before he knew it, he was sitting in a garbage dumpster, outside the back of the restaurant, in a rather unpleasant-smelling alley. 'Just wait till I get back!' Thought Martin furiously, 'I'll give him an adventure!'
He scrambled out of the dumpster and dusted himself off. Great! Now he smelled like garbage! He was still grumbling to himself as he left the alley, when his mouth dropped open in astonishment. There were dinosaurs everywhere! Small ones, large ones, all going about their business, and taking no notice of him whatsoever. Some were hurrying along the street, others went in and out of shops, one was selling newspapers, another had a flower stall. It was just like the city where he used to live, except there were no cars. The dinosaurs on the roads were all riding bicycles.
No-one back home was ever going to believe this! This adventure was really turning into something, after all! Martin couldn't help grinning, maybe that Chippetuck wasn't as bad as he'd figured. He stepped out to cross the road to take a closer look at a very interesting toy and hobby shop he'd just spotted, when BOOF! He was immediately knocked over by a small dinosaur on an even smaller bicycle.
Instantly, he was surrounded by inquisitive dinosaurs. Someone picked him up and gave him a gentle shake to remove any dirt. Someone else gave him a rather large handkerchief to tie up his knee, which had been scaped. And all around him there were voices.......
"He just stepped right out in front of me," squeaked one.
".... didn't look where he was going," rumbled another.
"I saw it all," one of them said from way up high, the words floating down like leaves.
"Oh, no! It's one of those boys!" Gasped a lady dinosaur in surprise and she wrinkled her nose at him.
"Here comes a policeman, He'll sort the whole thing out!" Said the deepest voice of all.
"Hmmm." Said the policeman, rocking back and forth on his hind legs and tail. "Hmmm" He said again, folding his arms and shaking his head, as he listened to what the dinosaurs had to say."Hmmm."
"Most curious" he added looking at Martin, and then, "Perhaps you had better come with me." he suggested, not unkindly.
"Most curious, indeed." He helped Martin into a little wagon that was attached to the back of his police cycle and rode off.
So it was that Martin ended up at the dinosaur city police station where they cleaned up his scaped knee and gave him something to eat that tasted like peanut butter sandwiches. And although, the dinosaurs had been really, very kind, Martin was miserable because, not quite knowing what to do with him, they insisted that he stay there until they did know what to do with him! Yes, Martin was in jail! He lay in the middle of a huge bed, on an enormous pillow, trying not to cry. Later when one of the dinosaur policeman peeped in to see how Martin was doing, he noticed that he'd fallen asleep and so covered him with a cosy quilt to keep him warm and tip-toed away.
Martin lay snuggled up in his bed smiling. That was the best dream he had ever had! He opened his eyes and yawned, then closed his mouth with a snap. He was still at the dinosaur police station! Martin pinched himself once, twice, three times. His arm felt very sore. It wasn't a dream after all!
"Chippetuck," whispered Martin under his breath as his chin started to quiver. "Chippetuck, I want to go home now."
Then a little more loudly, "Chippetuck, I'm not kidding. This isn't funny. I want to go home now."
"Not funny, my dear?" Said the Chippetuck appearing suddenly. He hung by his tail from one of the bars at the top of the cell and swayed gently to and fro. "Not enjoying your adventure?"
Martin gritted his teeth, "No Chippetuck, I'm not. Please, I want to go home now. My mom and dad will be worried sick."
"Oh dear, I didn't realise they were sickly," clucked the Chippetuck. Martin tried to say they weren't but the Chippetuck ignored him and went on, " You do look a mess. We have to get you sparkling clean before we get you back home.' The Chippuck scratched his head and then replaced a feather that had fallen out as he did. "Ahhh!" He snapped his claws, "I know just the place!"
Martin gasped as he was hit by jets of cold water and swirling blue plastic streamers. Oh no, he was sitting on the roof of someone's car as it was going through the car wash! He almost blew away as warm air fans turned on. Hardly able to catch his breath, in the next minute he was back in the attic, clean, only a little damp and very much alone.
"Why don't you answer when I call you?" Mrs Chen stood in the doorway looking very annoyed.
"I....er....was busy mom, replied Martin guiltily.
"You sure were," said Mrs Chen, stepping into the room, "Martin, I can't believe you unpacked all your toys so fast. You sure did a good job, honey." She looked around in astonishment, "The room looks great!"
Martin looked around, every toy was neatly put up onto a shelf. It looked fantastic! "I....er...got sick of being shipwrecked, so I..er..... thought I'd clean up.
Mrs Chen nodded in approval. "Good job." Then she spotted the the only bit of mess in the room. It was the big paper bag that she'd used to pack his picnic lunch. "Martin did you eat all that food?" his mother asked in surprise.
He nodded.
"I can't believe that you ate all that food."
"Neither can I, mom," said Martin, "Neither can I."
She shook her head slowly and went out the door. From up in the rafters came a loud burp.
"I heard that Martin, " his mother frowned.
"Sorry, mom. I couldn't help myself."
The Chippetuck giggled and Martin glared at him.