Down in the Dumps #1 Read online

  Dedication

  For Clay

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: Home Stinky Home

  Chapter 2: The Box

  Chapter 3: Down, Down, Down

  Chapter 4: Stink Up a Plan

  Chapter 5: Into the Dark

  Chapter 6: Shlorp!

  Chapter 7: Bird Barf

  Chapter 8: The Dozer of Doom

  Chapter 9: Where’s Ted?

  Congratulations!

  Super Stinky Games

  About the Author

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  It came like a wallop. Like an unexpected mule kick to the face.

  It was a smell so bad it made your eyes water. It was like an onion sandwich wrapped in an old sock and stuffed in a dead moose. Only much, much WORSE.

  Farmer Gunderson grabbed the cat, the dog, and all the chickens he could. He ran for the house.

  The cause? It was the Westerfield Dump.

  A yellow-green stench drifted across the bridge.

  It came from the deepest, smelliest canyon of waste where our hero, Nana, lived.

  Nana was a dried-up banana. She had lived in the dump for as long as she could remember.

  She lived at the dump with her two best friends, Ms. Kettle the teapot and Moreland the blob of goo.

  Moreland was the WORST-smelling thing in the dump. He didn’t talk much, and he didn’t like hugs.

  But Nana often hugged him anyway.

  The three friends lived in an old microwave stuck in the bottom of a canyon of trash in the far back corner of the dump.

  Nana thought it was the coolest house ever.

  She’d sometimes wonder how long things could remain so perfect.

  First thing every morning, Nana started her day by going down to the conveyor belts to meet the new arrivals.

  Nana would greet all the new trash as it arrived at The Great Pile.

  But this past Monday, Nana and Moreland arrived at The Great Pile and saw . . .

  . . . a shiny red box shoot off the belt!

  And then they heard it.

  Nana and Moreland followed the voice.

  There in the pile they found one of the strangest things Nana had ever seen—a talking box! One that didn’t have a bit of goop, dirt, or even sludge on it.

  Nana had to bring it home.

  Nana gave the box a shove off the pile.

  And the box said:

  And then it said:

  They both jumped back.

  But before they could leave, the Mungle Brothers showed up.

  The Mungle Brothers were the meanest and dirtiest roaches ever to creep around the dump.

  The box scared the Mungles away. Then Moreland poofed out into a giant snot bubble, scaring them further.

  Nana was too busy yelling and Moreland was too busy deflating himself to notice that the box had begun to roll away.

  Nana and Moreland dashed after the box as it bumbled and bounced down the trail.

  Fast as they ran, neither of them was fast enough!

  The box shot over the lip of the canyon, right toward their home.

  Nana and Moreland peered over the canyon ledge.

  As the dust cleared, they saw that the box had broken open. There sat a big, brown, fluffy new teddy bear.

  He was the cleanest thing they had ever seen.

  Nana and Moreland introduced themselves. Then Nana introduced Ms. Kettle.

  Just then, a loose pizza box spun down and hit Ted on the head.

  Ted let out a jingle as he fell to the ground.

  Ms. Kettle ran and pulled out a giant catalog. She set it in front of the old microwave.

  They all stood in awe.

  Ms. Kettle gave Teddy Tedd Ted an ice pack. He began to feel better. Sort of.

  Nana, Moreland, and Ms. Kettle knew what they had to do. They had to get this bear back home. But how?

  In the distance, the Dozer rose as if it heard its name called.

  Together, they climbed up an old fridge with a broken door. It had some squishy old pickles inside.

  Peering across the dump, out into the world beyond, they saw the scary journey ahead.

  Moreland liked peanuts, so he stuck a few into his clear, pinkish-green goo. Ms. Kettle bustled about gathering supplies. Nana paused as she realized . . .

  Ready to set out on their journey, Nana, Moreland, Ms. Kettle, and Ted gathered at the base of The Great Pile.

  But just as Nana was about to give her speech, a giant machine shook the ground as it moved toward them. Scared, they ran toward the only safe place they could see.

  Inside the cave, the air was thick and musty. This place stank, but it was a different kind of stink. It was the stench of OLD trash.

  The peanuts Moreland ate were making him glow green.

  Ms. Kettle held Moreland up like a lamp, and the four friends headed deeper into the cave.

  The trash that had piled up overhead creaked and dripped ooze.

  Nana heard something go plink, plink, plink.

  The cave opened up to a lake so big they couldn’t see the other side.

  But then, out of nowhere, a soft jingle started echoing around them.

  The jingling got loud until it turned into a song.

  Paddling toward them was an antique shoe polish tin using a soggy cotton swab as an oar.

  Just then, the tin began to bubble and sink into the slime.

  Ms. Kettle thought quickly. She floated out to the tin with a bit of Nana’s plastic bag dress to patch his hole.

  Turned out, Ms. Kettle was the perfect boat! Moreland got on her spout, Ted sat on her lid, and Nana went on her handle.

  They drifted off as Mr. Tin waved goodbye with his squishy swab.

  They floated away into the gloopy sea of stench and bubbles.

  The floating, huddling group bobbed along for a while on the greenish slime.

  Nana whispered to Moreland.

  Ms. Kettle had packed a lunch for everyone. She made gooberry tarts with curdled milk. Even Ted liked the oozing treat.

  Moreland yawned a big sleepy yawn, and then everyone was yawning.

  It wasn’t long before they all fell asleep. Nana started to dream.

  Nana dreamed that Ms. Kettle-ship was flying . . .

  . . . over The Great Pile . . .

  . . . over the conveyor belt.

  . . . and over the head of the Dozer of Doom.

  Nana, Moreland, Ms. Kettle, and Ted woke up to quite a surprise.

  They tried popping the bubbles. Then suddenly, the bubbles parted, and the four friends began falling down a raging river of slime.

  The river flowed into a round room and then spun toward a giant whirlpool.

  They were sucked into a network of pipes deep under The Great Pile.

  Then almost as quickly as they were sucked in—

  —they shot out into a river of bright blue slime before washing up on a warm sand trash shore.

  Suddenly, a giant screeching sound shook the ground around them.

  They ran away from the great beast and climbed to the top of the bank overlooking a huge open area.

  They saw they were STANDING on flattened trash.

  The three friends turned to leave when across the horizon—

  The friends ran as fast as they could until they came to a rusty metal fence.

  But then Moreland rolled in to the rescue.

  The crow dropped Nana and—

  But then . . .

  The bird moaned weakly and flew away.

  Moreland rolled upright and shook himself off.

  They were safe, but the friends still had to ge
t Teddy Tedd Ted to the gate. They turned to head on when—

  The window slammed shut with a CLACK!

  Nana, Ted, and Moreland climbed inside Ms. Kettle’s teapot.

  Nana, Ted, and Moreland stayed hidden while Ms. Kettle followed the strange little can opener to see—

  But after she thanked the strange little can opener and turned to leave, Ms. Kettle tripped and lost her balance.

  But before the four friends could even start to explain, they looked up to see—

  The Dozer of Doom towered over them.

  Ted fainted. Moreland turned into a snot bubble. Ms. Kettle gasped. But Nana, she simply stood there. She had noticed something surprising.

  Big Bettie WAS the Dozer of Doom!

  Nana tried to seem brave. After all, it wasn’t every day that she talked to scary giant machines.

  She leaned back and tooted her rusty silver whistle.

  Just then, a big red garbage truck pulled up. A door opened and a man in dusty work boots hopped out.

  Ted didn’t want to leave his friends behind, but before he could wiggle free—

  As the conveyor belt took Nana, Ms. Kettle, and Moreland back to their home, they waved goodbye to Ted.

  Nana, Ms. Kettle, and Moreland zoomed off above the mountains of garbage all the way back to the old microwave.

  Nana thought about what they had done for Ted, and her mushy banana heart felt warm.

  They shot off the belt at the end of the line.

  The Mungles greeted them—with spitballs.

  Being back home after their big adventure, Nana noticed that everything was stickier and stinkier than she remembered.

  She hadn’t thought it was possible, but she loved her home even more.

  But she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to Ted.

  As it turned out, Ted wound up in the snuggly arms of a little girl named Chloe. Every day, they would have tea, go on walks, and eat cake.

  Ted would also tell her stories of his grand adventures across the dump. When he got to the scary parts, he’d still jingle.

  From time to time, Ted would write Nana, Ms. Kettle, and Moreland to tell them about his new life.

  But Ted didn’t know where to mail his letters.

  Until he realized . . .

  . . . all he had to do was throw his letters in the trash.

  And sure enough, Nana, Ms. Kettle, and Moreland got every last one.

  Congratulations!

  You’ve read 9 chapters,

  87 pages,

  and 2,541 words!

  All your help paid off!

  Super Stinky Games

  THINK

  Nana loves the Westerfield Dump. Last week, Nana met 357 new pieces of trash when they came down the conveyor belt. If the same number of new pieces of trash arrived at the dump every day, how many new friends did Nana meet each day?

  FEEL

  At the end of the story, Teddy Tedd Ted writes a letter to his friends back at the dump. Do you have a friend who moved away or a relative who doesn’t live nearby? Write them a letter and tell them about the last fun thing you did.

  ACT

  Teddy Tedd Ted found a new home with a little girl who loves him. Do you have a favorite stuffed animal or toy? Draw a picture of it.

  About the Author

  WES HARGIS is an author-illustrator living in the desert of Arizona. He began his career in the Tucson newspaper industry and honed his craft late at night while landscaping in the hot sun during the day. The first children’s book he ever illustrated was Jackson and Bud’s Bumpy Ride. Since then, Wes has worked on lots of books, including When I Grow Up (a New York Times bestseller!) by “Weird Al” Yankovic and the Let’s Investigate with Nate science series by Nate Ball.

  Wes likes to draw on scratchy paper, but these days he mostly uses a big tablet. Wes loves hanging out with his kids and exploring the desert. He also loves making his own Mexican food and the color yellow-green (like Moreland).

  He’s married to his lovely wife, Debbie. They have three opinionated kids, two evil cats, and one happily clueless dog. And plants. Lots of plants.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

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  Copyright

  DOWN IN THE DUMPS #1: THE MYSTERY BOX. Copyright © 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harperchapters.com

  Cover art © 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers

  Cover art by Wes Hargis

  Cover design by Jessie Gang

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Hargis, Wes, author, illustrator.

  Title: The mystery box / by Wes Hargis.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Harper, [2022] | Series: Down in the dumps ; #1 | Audience: Ages 6–10. | Audience: Grades 2–3. | Summary: A rotten banana, a broken teapot, and a blob of goo living in the town dump help a new arrival find his way home.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2021030821 | ISBN 978-0-06-291010-3 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-0-06-291012-7 (paperback)

  Subjects: CYAC: Waste disposal sites—Fiction. | Refuse and refuse disposal—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.H3678 My 2022 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021030821

  Digital Edition JUNE 2022 ISBN: 978-0-06-291014-1

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-291010-3

  2223242526PC/LSCC10987654321

  FIRST EDITION

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  Wes Hargis, Down in the Dumps #1

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