Bubble Trouble

"Bath time, Mia!" called Mom. Mia ran upstairs. She LOVED bubble baths! Mom turned on the water and handed Mia the bubble bath bottle. "Remember," said Mom. "Just ONE capful. That's plenty." "Okay!" said Mia. "Call me when you're ready to get in!" Mom said, stepping into the hallway. Mia looked at the bottle. One capful made some bubbles. But MORE would make MORE bubbles! And more bubbles meant MORE FUN! Mia unscrewed the cap. GLUG GLUG GLUG! The entire bottle poured into the tub! "This is going to be AWESOME!" Mia cheered. The water started bubbling. First a few bubbles appeared. Then MORE bubbles! They grew as tall as Mia! Then as tall as the SINK! Then they reached the CEILING! "Uh oh!" said Mia. But the bubbles didn't stop. They kept growing! WHOOSH! They spilled over the tub like a foamy waterfall! They filled the entire bathroom! Mia was swimming in bubbles now! SQUEEEEEZE! The bubbles pushed under the bathroom door! Into the hallway! "Um... Mom?" Mia called. Too late! The bubbles poured down the stairs like a fluffy avalanche! WHOOOOSH! They filled the living room! Mia's teddy bear started floating! Up, up, up! The TV remote drifted past! BOING! Dad's sandwich lifted right off his plate! "HEY! Come back here!" Dad leaped for it! Mia's brother dove for his floating video game controller! SPLAT! They both landed in the foam! "NOOO! I was winning!" brother shouted from the bubbles. Even Whiskers the cat floated by, paws paddling in the air. MEOW! But the bubbles kept coming! They pressed against the windows! The front door creaked! CREEEAAAAKKKKK! Then... DING DONG! "Pizza delivery!" called a voice outside. "DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!" Mia yelled. But it was too late! The door burst open! WHOOOOOOOOOSH! A MASSIVE wave of bubbles exploded into the street! Like a tsunami of foam! The pizza guy's mouth dropped open! "WHOA-" The bubble wave swallowed him completely! He disappeared into the foam! His pizza box floated away down the street! The entire street filled with bubbles! The mailman slid down the sidewalk on his mail bag! "WHEEEEE!" he shouted. Mrs. Chen's dog tried to catch bubbles! SNAP! SNAP! CHOMP! Kids ran outside and started making bubble angels! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! Old Mr. Lopez rubbed his glasses. "Snow! In summer?!" Bubbles engulfed the cars on the street! The whole neighborhood looked like a giant bubble party! Mia waded through the foam. This was... a LOT of bubbles. WAY too many bubbles. Just then, the sky grew dark. RUMBLE! Thunder! PLIP! PLOP! Rain started falling! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! The raindrops hit the bubbles! They started popping! EVERYWHERE! The teddy bear floated down! PLOP! The cat landed on the couch! MEOW! She immediately started licking her paw like nothing happened. The cars reappeared looking sparkly clean! The pizza guy emerged from the foam. "That'll be... uh... fifteen dollars?" he said, dazed. The street cleared! All the bubbles washed away! Finally, everything was back to normal. Well... everything was very, VERY wet (and clean). Mom came downstairs and looked at the soaking, bubbly mess. Mia bit her lip. "Mom? I didn't listen. I used the whole bottle. I'm sorry." Mom hugged her. "Thank you for being honest. That's very brave." "I should have listened," Mia said quietly. "You should have," Mom agreed. "But we all make mistakes. What matters is telling the truth." From then on, Mia used exactly ONE capful. Perfect bubbles. Just the right amount. And Mia learned that following directions isn't boring. It keeps your teddy bear from floating away! And it keeps pizza delivery guys dry! The End