Read The Boy with 17 Senses for Free Online Page B

then he could collect food and sell it, maybe making a few damars a week. It wouldn’t take long to earn enough to buy Klingdux back. Maybe.
    But something didn’t feel right. Couldn’t this guy get a whole lot more than a freasel for that key?
    â€œI think I’d better just go to the market.”
    The man got on the bike. “Your loss. But I understand—you’re a kid. Gotta do what Mom says, and make no mistake! In a few decades, you’ll be ready to think for yourself.” He put on his helmet. “You know, everything I have, I got it all because I made a deal like this once. And when you’ve made it and are a huge success, like me, it’s nice to give somethingback to those less fortunate, don’t you think? Let others have the chance that you had. Well, take care.” He smiled, and the bike lifted into the air.
    He was leaving, just like that. He didn’t really care about trading. He was just a nice and generous rich person, and Jaq was letting the opportunity of a lifetime slip through his fingers.
    â€œWait!” Jaq said. “I’ll do it.”
    His mom would be so proud. Jaq knew it.

    Jaq could tell by the way Mom hurled a plate at the wall that she wasn’t even a tiny bit proud. She tossed the key out the window, and Jaq was sent to his corner bed without any ripweed broth, which was how she sent herself to bed, too. That made Jaq feel worse than his head lump.
    What had he done? Not only had he lost his best friend, but he’d let his mom down, too. He felt so stupid. So, so stupid. Humiliation and pain cramped his insides, and he couldn’t sleep. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked outside. It was one of those bright nights where one moon was full and the other moon was half full, and it looked like the sky was winking at you. Jaq felt as if the whole world was mocking him, even the great sky god, Smolders.
    He went to sleep listening to the sarcastic insults of the wippers outside his window, and he believed every word they said.
    The next morning, Jaq woke up hoping it had all been a bad dream. But when he looked out the window, he saw the key still on the ground, where his mother had thrown it. It had broken in half.
    He climbed out to take a closer look and discovered that it wasn’t really broken—it was supposed to open. There was a hidden compartment inside.
    Jaq picked up the pieces.
Dead wippers! There’s a note
. He carefully unrolled the piece of paper that was stuffed inside. It read:
    My dear Greggin
,
    I haven’t heard from you in years, so I can only guess that my written reports are getting lost in your office because you are such a busy and successful man. But I know you would never ignore a message in a key, so please, please take heed
.
    Things have gotten dicey on my expeditions, and I only narrowly escaped last time. But I must return. I told my man that if I wasn’t back by Great Smolders Day, then he should take this key and deliver it to you personally. If that has happened—if you
are reading this—then I am in need of rescue, and only a man of your resources and unwavering courage can help me
.
    I promise it will be well worth your while. I’ve collected amazing riches on this spectacular, giant-filled planet called Earth. Our precious glug is everywhere. On the roads! Under movie theater seats! Stuck beneath their enormous shoes!
    The map on the other side will show you to the gate. Find the wormhole. It will bring you here. Look for the building with two enormous golden arches. It’s a glug mine! I should be nearby. Find me!
    Yours
,
    Plenthy
    Jaq read the letter three times. How odd. He looked at the map on the back. He recognized some of the landmarks: the marketplace, the river, the hills.
    Was this some sort of joke? A gateway to another planet? One that was filled with giants and glug? It sounded like a science-fiction story. Jaq knew there were no such things as