Down the Chimney Read online

  Down the Chimney

  with Googol and Googolplex

  Nelly Kazenbroot

  Text copyright © 2004 Nelly Kazenbroot

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2004 Nelly Kazenbroot

  Cover Illustration copyright @ 2004 Laura Watson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Kazenbroot, Nelly, 1960-

  Down the chimney with Googol and Googolplex / Nelly Kazenbroot.

  (Orca echoes)

  ISBN 1-55143-290-0

  I. Title. II. Series.

  PS8571.A965D69 2004 jC813’.54 C2004-900640-1

  Library of Congress Control Number 2004100823

  Summary: What are two little alien robots and their new friends Pippa and Troy to do when the neighborhood bully tries to interfere with their scavenger hunt?

  Teachers’ guide available from Orca Book Publishers.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support of its publishing program provided by the following agencies: the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

  Design by Lynn O’Rourke

  Printed and bound in Canada

  Orca Book Publishers Orca Book Publishers

  1030 North Park Street PO Box 468

  Victoria, BC Canada Custer, WA USA

  V8T 1C6 98240-0468

  07 06 05 04 • 4 3 2 1

  To my husband, Stephen,

  and our two space aliens,

  Izabel and Sebastian.

  —N.K.

  Chapter One

  Scavenger Hunt

  Googol and Googolplex have circled the earth three times in their spaceship. They come from a place with lots of corners and edges and the round earth confuses them. There seems to be no end or beginning to it.

  “We must land,” Googol tells Googolplex.

  “Yes. But where?” Googolplex asks.

  Googolplex spins his head around three times as he looks out all the windows of their spaceship.

  “How about on top of that big red house?” Googolplex says.

  It is a very nice house with lots of square windows and a triangular roof.

  “Perfect,” Googol answers. He steers their spaceship towards the house and lands on the peak of the roof.

  “Perfect,” says Googolplex. He rolls out of the spaceship on his super-retractable self-adhesive wheels. Then he rolls right along the peak of the roof until he is next to the chimney. “This must be the back door.”

  Googol pulls himself up on top of the chimney and stares down the square hole. It is just the right shape and size for a square-headed robot.

  “Perfect,” says Googol. “Let’s go in.”

  At the other end of the chimney is the Sinclairs’ family room. Pippa and Troy Sinclair are sitting in this room, arguing about which show they should watch on TV. Pippa is five and she likes to watch cartoons. Troy is eight and he likes to watch cooking shows and sports. It is difficult for them to agree on a show. But it is not difficult for them to agree that they can hear something coming down their chimney.

  Googol and Googolplex roll out of the fireplace onto the carpet. The corners of their square red heads, square blue shoulders and triangular yellow toes are covered in soot.

  Pippa claps her hands together. “Santa’s helpers!”

  “Don’t be silly, Pippa. It’s not Christmastime,” Troy tells her. “They’re Martians!”

  Googol’s head spins around three times, and Googolplex bleeps and blurps noisily.

  “We are not Martians! We are Googol and Googolplex,” Googol says.

  “We are looking for snow,” Googolplex says.

  Pippa and Troy look at each other. “Snow!”

  “It’s almost summer!” Troy says. “There’s no snow around here at this time of year!”

  “Oh, dear.” Googol gives three sad beeps.

  “Dear me,” Googolplex says. “Maybe this list of ours isn’t going to be so easy to fill, after all.”

  “What list?” Troy asks.

  There is a whirring sound inside of Googolplex. A bunch of lights flash on his stomach, and then a long piece of paper slides out of his mouth.

  Troy grabs this list and begins to read it.

  “Six snowballs, four sand dollars, a tutu, the song of a blackbird, two peacock feathers, a chocolate bar, all the colors of the rainbow...”

  Troy shakes his head and stops reading the list. “This is going to be a very hard list to fill.”

  Pippa reaches into the pocket of her overalls and pulls out a chocolate bar. “You can have my chocolate bar. That’ll be a start.”

  “Thank you, ugly human,” Googol says. “But a robot always starts at the beginning of his list and goes to the end.”

  “If you’re going to be picky about it, you won’t get anywhere!” Troy tells them.

  “What do you mean ‘ugly’?” Pippa asks, frowning.

  Googolplex and Googol look at each other then back at Pippa and Troy.

  “All humans are ugly,” Googol says.

  “They have soft bumpy bodies with messy hairs all over the place,” Googolplex says.

  “They have wet mouths and waxy ears,” Googol says.

  “And there’s not one nice sharp edge or corner on their whole bodies!”

  Troy runs a hand through his messy red hair. Pippa sucks in her wet lips.

  “Well, so what! That doesn’t mean you can call us ugly. My name is Troy and this is Pippa.”

  Pippa holds out her chocolate bar to Googol for the second time. Googol’s pale blue eyes glow warmly as he takes the bar from her. She smiles back at him.

  “Now, where are we going to find six snowballs?” Googolplex asks.

  “At the North Pole, of course!” Pippa says.

  “Will you take us there?” Googol asks.

  Troy laughs. “The North Pole is a long way from here.”

  “Our spaceship is very fast!” Googol says.

  Troy’s eyes light up. “You have a spaceship?”

  “It’s on the roof of your house,” Googolplex says.

  Troy looks at Pippa. “We could go with them to the North Pole if they promise to have us back before dinner.”

  “I suppose so,” Pippa says, though she is not as sure about this as her brother.

  “Shouldn’t you ask your king for permission first?” Googol asks.

  Pippa and Troy laugh.

  “We don’t have a king,” Pippa says, “just a father.” “And he always works in the study until dinnertime,” Troy says.

  “Perfect,” Googolplex says. “We’ll make sure we’re back by dinnertime.”

  Googol and Googolplex stand back to let Troy and Pippa lead the way out of the house. “After you, ugly humans.”

  Troy and Pippa roll their eyes. Then they stuff their snowsuits and boots into a bag and keep right on going.

  Chapter Two

  An Invisible Spaceship

  Troy and Pippa stand beside the robots and look up at the roof of their house.

  “I don’t see a spaceship,” Troy says.

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Googolplex says. “It is invisible to humans.”

  “I’ll bring it down,” Googol says. He tips sideways and begins to roll right up the side of the house.

  Pippa’s mouth hangs open. “Gee, I wish I could do that.”

  “That is impossible. You do not have super-retractable self-adhesive whee
ls on your feet,” Googolplex says.

  Googol disappears when he steps into the spaceship. Pippa and Troy don’t see him again until he steps out beside them on their front lawn. The spaceship is hardly any noisier than a buzzing bee.

  “Cool!” Troy says.

  Googol hands Pippa and Troy each a pair of green glasses. When they put these on they can see the spaceship. It is just like the robots—red and blue and yellow with lots of flashing lights and nice sharp edges.

  “Come along! Up you go.”

  Once Pippa and Troy have climbed the ramp into the spaceship, Googol takes the green glasses back.

  “You won’t need these now,” Googol says.

  And he’s right. Pippa and Troy can see the inside of the spaceship just fine.

  “This is so weird!” Troy says. “Where did you guys come from, anyway?”

  “A Sunship,” Googolplex says.

  “There are Sunships throughout the universe,” Googolplex explains. “For many, many years they will stay in one spot.”

  “Then, suddenly, they shoot across to a new place,” Googol says.

  “Like a shooting star?” Pippa asks.

  Googol’s head spins around three times. “Exactly.”

  “Since our Sunship has just arrived in your solar system,” Googolplex says, “we have been sent on a scavenger hunt...”

  “...to learn about the new planets around us,” Googol says.

  “Well, the first thing you’d better find,” Troy says, “is a couple of chairs.”

  Pippa looks around her at the empty floor of the spaceship. “Yes, what are we suppose to sit on—our heads?”

  “Oh, dear, that would be most uncomfortable!” Googol says.

  Googolplex pushes a button on the wall and two little seats with cushions flip down. “Would you not rather use these?”

  Troy and Pippa laugh and take their seats. Once they have fastened their seat belts, the robots snap themselves into the cockpit and start up the spaceship. In an instant, they are high up in the sky and flying past the land towards the ocean.

  Googolplex stares down at the whitecaps foaming on the rough, choppy sea. “Snow?” he asks.

  Troy shakes his head. “Water. Salt water, to be precise. It covers approximately three-quarters of the earth.”

  “Snow is all white,” Pippa says. “White and cold and soft as a feather when it touches your skin.”

  “Oh,” Googol says sadly. “We don’t have any skin.”

  Suddenly, the two robots think that ugly human bodies might be good for something, after all.

  “Look!” Troy points towards the horizon. There, in front of them, is a glimmer of white. “Snow!”

  A few moments later, they are flying over snowy hills and white plateaus. Googol steers them towards a nice sharp point and parks the ship. Troy is just about to point out that this might not be such a good parking spot when the spaceship begins to slide. Like a big toboggan, it coasts right down the side of the hill.

  “Whoa!” Troy yells.

  “Whee!” Pippa cries.

  The spaceship comes slowly to a stop as it plows onto a flat piece of ice.

  “Oh my!” Googolplex says. Lights flash all over his body and his head spins around three times.

  “That was fun!” Googol says.

  “Yes, sledding is my favorite thing to do in winter time. We do it on a hill near our house as soon as it snows,” Pippa says.

  “Lucky humans!” Googol and Googolplex say at the same time.

  The robots think they are going to like this stuff called snow.

  Chapter Three

  Snow-bots

  Pippa is glad that they have brought their winter clothes with them. The air outside the spaceship is so cold that her nose feels like an ice crystal. And she would probably slip on the icy ground if she didn’t have her boots on.

  The robots don’t worry about such things. They roll right out of the spaceship onto the snow just as they are. After all, they can’t feel the cold. Their bodies are perfect for any weather. At least, that’s what they think until their wheels touch the ground and slide right out from under them.

  Thump! Right on their backs they go. First Googol falls, then Googolplex. Troy and Pippa try

  not to laugh, but it’s hard not to. The robots look so funny lying in the snow.

  “How embarrassing,” Googol says.

  “We should have retracted our super-retractable self-adhesive wheels,” says Googolplex.

  “We should have,” Googol agrees. “Our wheels don’t appear to stick to snow.”

  “Well, while you’re down there, you may as well make the most of it,” Pippa says. She collapses on her back beside them and starts to flap her arms and legs up and down along the top of the snow. “Do this.”

  The robots turn their heads to watch her.

  “I don’t think we can do that,” Googol says.

  Their feet move up and down only a little, but both robots manage to slide their arms in the snow.

  Pippa rolls carefully up from the snow. Then she and Troy take the robots’ arms and pull them to their feet.

  “Up you go!” Troy says.

  Troy and Pippa wipe the snow off the robots’ backs. Then they turn them about.

  Pippa points down at the pictures they have made in the snow. “Snow angels,” she says.

  “Snow-bots,” Troy says with a laugh. And sure enough, the pictures of Googol and Googolplex look more like robots with wings than angels. They have left all of their nice sharp lines and corners pressed into the snow.

  “Perfect,” Googol says.

  “Perfect,” Googolplex says. “May we keep them?”

  “I shouldn’t think so,” Troy says. “Every snow angel I’ve ever made has been snowed under or washed away.”

  Googolplex gives a long, sad beep. “How sad.”

  “How very, very sad,” Googol says.

  Pippa lifts her face and catches a snowflake on her tongue. “Look! It’s snowing!”

  Troy leaps forward and squashes some snow together between his mittens. He holds it up to show the robots.

  “A snowball,” Troy says. Then he curls his hand around the ball of snow and throws it at his sister.

  Pippa screams and drops to her knees to make her own snowball. She throws it at Troy, and he throws another one back at her.

  “What are you doing?” Googol asks. His head spins around three times when one of Pippa’s snowballs hits him right in the nose.

  “Oops! Sorry about that, Googol,” Pippa says.

  “We’re having a snowball fight!” Troy says. “That’s what snowballs are for.”

  “That, and making snowmen,” Pippa says.

  “How odd. How very odd,” Googol says as the snow drips from his face.

  “What is a snowman?” Googolplex asks.

  “We’ll show you,” Troy says.

  Troy and Pippa roll three different size balls and pile them up. Pippa points to the head.

  “There should be two buttons for eyes, and a carrot for a nose,” Pippa says.

  Googol and Googolplex stare at the snowman in silence. Then they make a series of squeaks and beeps.

  “I like him,” Googolplex says.

  “Could you make a square one?” Googol asks.

  Troy and Pippa exchange glances.

  “It would be very hard to roll squares,” Pippa says.

  “We could cut square blocks out of the snow bank if we had a knife,” Troy says.

  Googol beeps excitedly. “Next time we will bring a knife.”

  Googolplex leans down and packs a small snowball together. “For now, this will have to do.”

  Googolplex opens a small compartment in his chest and places three snowballs inside. Googol does the same thing.

  “Now, I think it might be time for us to take you home,” Googol says. “I think the father-who-is-not-king might come out of his study soon.”

  Chapter Four

  Lost and Found
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  This time, the robots land their spaceship on the Sinclairs’ lawn. Pippa and Troy step out onto the grass and sniff the air.

  “The neighbors are having roast chicken tonight,” Troy says.

  Pippa smacks her lips. “I can just about taste it!”

  “What is this ‘taste’?” Googolplex asks.

  “It’s how sweet or sour, or how delicious, something is when you put it into your mouth and eat it,” Troy says.

  Googol and Googolplex look at each other. “Eat?”

  “You don’t eat? Huh.” Troy shakes his head.

  “How do you get your energy, then?”

  “Solar energy from our Sunship gives our spaceship energy, and our spaceship gives us energy,” Googolplex answers.

  “Every night, we must sit in our cockpit and recharge ourselves, or we stop working,” Googol says.

  “But then, why did you want a chocolate bar?” Pippa asks.

  “You’re suppose to eat it,” Troy explains.

  Googolplex spins his head around three times. “Oh, dear. Does it taste good?”

  “Wonderful!” Pippa says. “It’s sweet and chocolate-y and, oooh, so delicious that it’s impossible to describe!”

  “Oh, dear,” Googol says. “Another thing you humans can do that we can’t!”

  “How distressing,” Googolplex says.

  Troy smiles. “Yeah, being an ugly human isn’t so bad, is it, Pip?”

  Pippa smiles at him. “Nope. It’s pretty darn good most of the time. But you know, Googolplex, I think it’s pretty neat to be a robot too.”

  “Do you?” Googolplex asks.

  “Do you?” Googol asks.

  “We sure do,” Troy answers. “And tomorrow we’ll help you find some more things on your list, if you like.”

  “We like!” Googolplex says.

  “We like very much,” Googol says.

  Troy and Pippa laugh and run towards the house.

  “See you tomorrow, then,” they call back to the robots.

  The next day is Saturday, and it’s cleaning day at the Sinclairs’ house. Troy and Pippa help by vacuuming and dusting. When they’re done, they hang around the family room waiting for the robots. But Googol and Googolplex don’t appear.