Tubblie, the practical joker of Acersville, was poking around where he shouldn’t have been, as usual. This time he was in the Professor’s lab at the University. The Professor wasn’t there which made it all the better for Tubblie to get up to mischief. He went into Professor Astro’s office and found a drawer which looked promising. Tubblie smiled as he carefully pulled it open. The only thing in the drawer was an old ink well, which didn’t contain anything, or so Tubbie thought until he spilt some of it’s contents on the ground! Tubblie watched in awe as the floor where he had spilt the “ink” began disappearing. The ink well contained invisible ink, obviously one of Astro’s greater inventions.

Tubblie cracked a sly smile as the invisible ink gave him an idea.

“I wonder what would happen if…I drank this stuff!” he said to himself as he looked around the room, he finished his sentence as he laid his eyes upon a glass of unfinished Lemonade, that belonged to the Professor.

Quick as a flash, Tubblie poured the remaining ink into the glass containing the Lemonade. He took a sip and looked at his hands, slowly, they began disappearing! Tubblie had made himself invisible! Now he could get up to all sorts of mischief! The invisible Tubblie ran out of the University, eager to get started with his pranks.

Tubblie raced through the streets, he couldn’t wait to find his first victim and then he saw it! Pilot had just sat on a bench in the Park and was just about ready to take a bite out of a slice of apple pie when suddenly it was grabbed out of his hand by an invisible force! Pilot’s eyes widened and he ran screeching through Acersville.

”It’s a ghost, the ghost of Acersville I tell you! He stole my apple pie he did, he did!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. As he did he bumped straight into Rufus and Ruff who were out getting more supplies for their workshop.

“A ghost you say!” said Rufus, very excited at the idea.

“I think we should catch it!”

Pilot almost fainted at the thought!

“What a great idea Rufus.” Said Ruff.

“But how do you catch a ghost?”

“That’s easy!” replied Rufus.

“We know that this ghost likes Apple Pies, so we’ll make a trail of Apple Pies for it to follow. Then when it least expects it, we’ll tip a pot of brightly coloured paint over it’s head! Then we’ll be able to see it and trap it in a blanket or something.” Rufus explained.

The Loopies agreed it was a good idea and each set off to their houses to collect everything they would need for their Ghost Trapping that evening. While they were busy, Tubblie had pulled some more pranks and had scared quite a few Loopies in the process. Dot, Mayor Piney’s wife had even run straight out of her house, enrobed in a bath towel, trying to escape the ghost behind her shower curtain!

That evening Pilot, Rufus and Ruff met in the Park, armed with their Apple Pies, big purple blanket and orange paint. Ruff grinned, this was going to be fun! Pilot had taken the whole Ghost Hunt very seriously and had hung garlic around his neck to protect himself.

“What’s the garlic for Pilot?” asked Ruff.

“It’s to protect me from the ghost!” declared Pilot proudly.

“Ghosts aren’t scared of garlic! They’re scared of lightning.” Said Ruff, who was a little afraid of lightning himself and decided that everyone he knew including the Ghost of Acecersville, had to fear this the most.

“Oh stop you two!Ghosts aren’t afraid of anything! Or maybe they are afraid of one thing, Granny’s cabbage soup!” said Rufus, busily securing the paint on the top of a nearby tree branch.

“We should have brought some with.” said Pilot, his voice shaking slightly.

Just then they began noticing their Apple pie trail getting shorter and shorter.

“It’s the ghost!” shouted Pilot and jumped up into the tree. As the invisible Tubblie got closer, Rufus got ready to pour the paint. Splash! Tubblie didn’t know what had hit him! He was covered from head to foot in orange paint!

“Dive, dive!” shouted Ruff, as he flew out of the tree with the purple blanket straight onto Tubblie’s head.

Once all the commotion was over, Rufus flipped the blanket off of Tubblie and grinned.

“Well boys, looks like we know what ghost’s are afraid of!” he said.

“Getting wet!” he laughed.

Pilot was relieved to see that there was no such thing as a Ghost of Acersville and took the garlic off from around his neck.

“Looks like we won’t be needing this.” He said

“Or any of Granny’s Cabbage soup either!” laughed Ruff.

Rufus, Ruff and Pilot were interested to hear how Tubblie had managed to turn himself invisible in the first place.

“Magician’s never reveal their secrets .” he said as he smiled to himself. And then as the moon rose high over Acersville, he slung his arms around his friends necks and walked them home. Goodnight Tubblie, I wonder what you’ll be up to tomorrow?

© 2009 Ingrid Holtshausen. All rights reserved.

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