Diary of a Mad Mummy Read online

You’ve been ripped off twice today. Don’t you think that’s enough? Maybe you should just start over. And keep your eyes open this time!

  THE END

  You stumble as the mummy drags you down the hotel hallway. He leads you out a side service entrance.

  Fog floats in the darkness, just above the street lamps. The back alley is empty, except for a rat that scampers away when it hears you coming.

  Once you’re outside, you figure it’s time to make a break for it. “Let me go!” you cry. You try to pull away from the mummy, but you can’t. His hold on your wrist is powerful. His grip is like a steel vise.

  “Come … on …” he rasps in his breathy whisper. “We’ve … got … to … hurry.”

  Hurry? Where?

  Quickly, the mummy brings you back to the Pyramid Building. No one sees you sneak back into the lobby of the building. Not even the guard, who is still asleep.

  Silently, the mummy pulls you toward the sarcophagus that was his resting place for four thousand years. Shattered glass is still scattered all around.

  “Get … in!” the mummy orders you, pointing to it.

  Get in? Into a sarcophagus?

  If you get in the mummy case, turn to PAGE 68.

  If you try to escape again, turn to PAGE 21.

  You decide to ask Illinois Smith for help.

  Why not? He’s always figuring out ancient curses and translating foreign languages and things like that in his movies.

  “Uh, excuse me,” you say, walking up to Smith.

  Actually, his real name’s not Smith. That’s just his character’s name. But you can’t remember his real name.

  “Yeah?” he says, glancing at you from under his famous brown hat.

  You hand him the strange thin pages of the mummy’s diary. “Uh, I was wondering if you could —”

  But before you can finish your sentence, Smith grabs the diary out of your hands. “Sure, kid,” he says. “Anytime.”

  Then he pulls out a big, fat, felt-tipped marker and scrawls an autograph across the page, completely blotting out the ancient writing underneath!

  Did you really think a movie star was going to decipher hieroglyphics for you?

  Really?

  Well, decipher this: Ha. Ha-ha-ha. Hah-hah-hah-hah!

  THE END

  Suddenly, you hear the trunk of the car open. Someone’s lifting you out! Your stiff mummified body slides forward in the wooden sarcophagus. You bump your head.

  Ow! you think.

  “Hurry up!” George whispers loudly. “The boat’s about to leave! Help me get this heavy coffin on board.”

  On board! you think. Where are they taking me?

  BUMP. SLAM. OOOMPH.

  Your body crashes against the walls of the mummy case, slapping first to one side and then the other. Owwww …

  Suddenly, you begin to feel dizzy. Light-headed. Strange all over. What’s going on?

  Maybe all this slamming around is getting to me, you think.

  “Put it down there,” a deep voice suddenly commands. “Let’s see this living mummy you’ve told me about.”

  It’s a new voice. Someone you haven’t heard before.

  KA-BUMP. The two guards drop the sarcophagus with a heavy thud. Then someone lifts the lid and peers inside. Light streams in on you.

  “Hey! What’s happening to him?” the man with the deep voice cries. “He smells rotten!”

  Turn to PAGE 13.

  You press the UP button five more times. Finally you hear the familiar DING — the sound that means the elevator has arrived. The doors open.

  Oh, no!

  A scream rises in your throat. But it never escapes.

  And neither will you.

  There, standing in the elevator, is your old friend, the mummy.

  Your very old friend.

  The mummy was mad when you stole his diary. But that was nothing compared with how he feels now. He hates trespassers. And you dared to enter his sacred burial chamber. Uninvited.

  Your visit to his tomb is about to come to a very unpleasant end. And so are you.

  When the mummy is done with you, you’re going to need all those mummy bandages!

  THE END

  With a horrible clatter of plates, glasses, and silverware, the hotel room-service waiter crashes to the floor.

  Whimpering, he gazes at you from the floor with a bowl of strawberry ice cream melting on his chest. Pieces of club sandwich decorate his shoulders. A big blob of mayonnaise drips from his ear.

  “What did you do that for?” he asks, moaning in pain.

  You glance at his right arm. It’s wrapped up in bandages.

  “Oops,” you say. You gulp. Your face turns bright red. “I thought you were a mummy.”

  “A mummy?” the waiter repeats. He shakes his head. “Man, this hasn’t been my day. First, I cut my hand and now this!” He moans again. “Ohhhhhh. I think my leg is broken.”

  “What’s going on?” your mother demands from the bedroom door.

  “It — it was an accident, Mom,” you sputter.

  Then you start apologizing — fast. To your parents. To the waiter. To your parents, again. And even to Susie, for waking her up. Everybody’s mad at you. Everybody except for one person. Derek. And he can’t stop laughing.

  Turn to PAGE 34 to find out why.

  An ancient smiley face? That’s a good one! You decide it’s a bunch of birds sitting around a campfire. They look like they’re having a good time, too.

  But what does it mean? you wonder. Nobody’s there to answer you.

  Sand swirls around you. Your throat is so hot and dry, you can hardly swallow. You have to find some water.

  The best you can do is keep walking. And so you do. You walk and walk and walk.

  Twenty minutes. Thirty. Still no water.

  But then you see something else. Something you recognize.

  The Sphinx! A huge stone monument in the desert, near the pyramids. The Sphinx has the body of a lion, with a human head.

  Eagerly, you run the last few hundred feet to the stone monument. He towers over you, more than sixty feet tall.

  Wow, you think, gazing up at the Sphinx. There’s something eerie and mysterious about him. He looks as if he knows a secret and won’t tell.

  Suddenly, you hear a voice. A huge booming voice, coming from the giant statue.

  “Go back,” the Sphinx commands you. “You must not trespass on the graves of kings!”

  Turn to PAGE 119.

  Ten minutes go by. Twenty.

  You stand in the storage closet. Hiding. Waiting for someone to find you.

  But who will it be?

  You hate this part. It feels too much like playing hide-and-seek. Waiting to be caught.

  Suddenly, you hear footsteps in the hall. Quiet footsteps.

  You hold your breath.

  The footsteps stop right outside the storage closet door.

  Silence.

  Why doesn’t he come in? you wonder. What’s he waiting for?

  Is it Derek?

  You don’t dare open the door. What if it’s not Derek? What if it’s someone else?

  Silence.

  Finally you start to reach for the doorknob. Before you touch it, it turns by itself. The door swings open.

  No!

  You—your body, your face—you’re standing out in the hall!

  But it isn’t you. It’s the mummy, inside your body.

  Quickly, he reaches out and grabs you by the neck!

  Turn to PAGE 42.

  Your hand trembles as you turn page after page. They’re all the same. All hieroglyphs!

  Terror grips your heart. How can the diary be written in hieroglyphics? Have you somehow gone back in time? On top of everything else?

  You glance around and see some people in modern clothes.

  Okay, you reassure yourself. At least I’m still in the present.

  You may still have a chance at getting back home.

  And you want
to get there right now!

  You turn sharply and head back toward the steps. But a young Egyptian man in a long, white robe blocks your way. He has smooth, tan skin, black hair, and sparkling brown eyes. You notice he’s wearing a badge. He must be some kind of security guard.

  “No entrance,” he says in English.

  “But I just came out of there!” you sputter.

  “No entrance,” he says. “The Great Pyramid is not open.”

  Turn to PAGE 128.

  You decide Derek is right. You can’t let the mummy have the diary. It seems really creepy to fool around with magic, especially magic that brings someone back to life who’s been dead four thousand years!

  “No deal,” you tell the mummy. Then, just to be sure he doesn’t grab the diary away from you, you rip it to shreds.

  He stares at you with his hollow eye sockets. It gives you chills.

  Uh-oh. Now he’s mad. Really mad.

  “Then … I … must … seek … my … revenge,” the mummy says, letting each word escape between wheezing breaths.

  The mummy’s hand darts out. He grabs your wrist. He’s unbelievably strong!

  “You … must … come … with … me,” he says, dragging you toward the hall. “Or …”

  Or? You have a choice?

  “Or … let … me … have … that … child.”

  With the last word, the mummy lets go of your wrist and points to your little sister who’s still asleep on the couch.

  Hmmm …

  Should you go with the mummy on PAGE 6?

  Or should you let the mummy take Susie on PAGE 64?

  Your heart pounds faster and faster. The diary was true! But how? How can an ancient mummy come back to life?

  The mummy is taller than you had expected. And bulkier, too. In fact, he seems to be about six feet five, and he’s built more like a football player than a dead king.

  He could flatten me with one hand, you think.

  SCRAPE … SCRAPE …

  He’s coming closer.

  SCRAPE … SCRAPE …

  He’s bigger than his mummy case, you realize. But how can that be? Did he grow larger when he came back to life?

  Better stop wondering and start worrying! You’ve been so fascinated by the mummy, you forgot that if you can see him, he can probably see you!

  You pop your head back behind the pillar.

  Now what?

  You are hiding from a huge, living mummy in the middle of the night with no one around to help you. Running away seems like an excellent idea.

  But as soon as you take a step past the pillar, two bandaged hands wrap around your throat!

  Turn to PAGE 78.

  Two thousand dollars? For an old book you found on the floor? That sounds great to you!

  “It’s a deal, then,” Web declares, his eyes twinkling. “I only have one hundred dollars on me now. But I can get the rest by this afternoon.”

  He pulls a hundred dollars out of his pocket and hands it to you. You like this guy!

  “Meet me in the Mouski — the old shopping bazaar — in two hours. I’ll give you the rest of the money then. And in the meantime, I’ll take the diary with me for safe-keeping.”

  “Uh, I don’t know about that,” you start to say. But before you can stop him, Web grabs the diary and slips it into his briefcase. Then he quickly walks out of the café and disappears into the crowd.

  He doesn’t even wait for the lemonade.

  Turn to PAGE 74.

  “Take her — not me!” you shout.

  What?

  You’re going to let a revenge-crazed mummy take your innocent little sister away? Just to save yourself?

  What kind of creep are you? You should be ashamed!

  “You … are … a … jerk,” the mummy whispers at you as he carries Susie out the door.

  See? Even the mummy thinks you did the wrong thing!

  “Ah, who cares?” Derek says when they’re gone. “She was a little pest anyway.”

  Yeah, maybe. But guess what? Your little pest of a sister was smarter than you thought. She was only pretending to be asleep. When you weren’t looking, she grabbed the pieces of the mummy’s diary right out from under you. She slipped them under her nightgown and took them with her. Then she helped the mummy tape it back together and figure out how to come back to life.

  And guess what else? Once the mummy was human again, he became famous. So did Susie. And he was so grateful to her that he showered her with gifts, jewels, and a small kingdom. Not to mention her big motion-picture deal in Hollywood.

  And she’s not even going to let you play yourself in the movie. So there!

  THE END

  The light from your torch is dwindling. It’s going to burn out soon.

  Quick! Memorize the map and the path you need to take to reach the elevator. Remember — you’re in the tomb right now. When you come out of the tomb, you’ll need to make a choice at the first fork in the passageway.

  Which way? Right or left?

  Then you’ll have to make three more choices at forks or crossroads.

  Right or left?

  Don’t worry about the places where the hallway simply bends or turns. You’ll just follow it then. Your only problem is choosing what to do when you reach a fork in the path.

  You’ve got to memorize all three choices, because when the torch burns out, you’ll be walking in the dark.

  So do it now.

  Which way to the elevator from the tomb?

  Should you go left, then right, then right, then straight? If so, turn to PAGE 127.

  Or should you go left, then right, then left, then right? If so, turn to PAGE 109.

  Standing in the doorway in front of you is the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen in your life.

  You!

  At least, it looks like you. You know that it’s really the mummy. He stole your body, and now he’s living in your hotel room. And wearing your clothes!

  He looks really stupid in your pajamas, too.

  The mummy — the kid who looks like you — laughs in your face.

  Then he slams the door. And double locks it.

  Hey! you try to shout. But no sound comes out.

  That’s when you realize —

  You can’t speak!

  Turn to PAGE 75.

  You flip a coin. It comes up heads.

  Or it would have come up heads. Unfortunately, the coin that George flipped was one of those tricky two-sided coins. Both sides were tails. It didn’t have a “heads” side!

  Of course! That’s why he was so eager to flip a coin in the first place!

  Which means you’re out of luck.

  If you want to continue reading this story, keep flipping a coin until it comes up tails.

  Then turn to PAGE 17.

  Your throat tightens in terror as the mummy points to his sarcophagus and repeats the words.

  “Get … in.”

  No way do you want to do it. Lie down in a musty old box? Where a mummy lay dead for centuries? Where you may be locked for eternity? The thought is horrifying.

  But what choice do you have? Derek isn’t going to show up now. He’s still back at the hotel, frozen stiff. Frozen by some ancient magic the mummy used.

  If I don’t get in, the mummy will point his finger and freeze me, too, you think.

  You lift one leg and then the other, climbing into the small, gold-encrusted wooden box. The mummy case is carved in the shape of a human being.

  A shiver runs through you as you lie down. How come you fit so snugly into the mummy sarcophagus? How come it feels as if it were made just for you? Is this more mummy magic?

  And how long will you have to stay in there? Will you be able to breathe? Is the mummy going to bury you alive?

  The mummy lifts the heavy wooden lid and begins to lower it. In an instant, you will be sealed inside this airless box — possibly forever! You’ve got to do something!

  Turn to PAGE 72.

 
Terrified, you claw the bandages with both hands. You tear at them, trying to pull them away from your arms, your neck …

  But by now your hands are wrapped up. Both of them. It’s as if you’re wearing gauze mittens. You can’t grip the cloth. The harder you try to pull the bandages away, the more tightly they encircle you.

  You gaze down at your legs. Oh, no! They’re wrapped up, too. In fact, your whole body is completely bandaged.

  Like a mummy!

  No! you want to scream. But the sound won’t come out.

  Then you hear a scuffling sound again. An instant later, a figure steps out of the shadows.

  You gasp and stumble back.

  It’s the mummy!

  You stare in horror at his brown and leathery, dried, shrunken body.

  Then he starts to walk toward you.

  Find out what he wants on PAGE 82.

  You decide to explore the tunnel. You step into it and start to climb up its gentle slope.

  Almost immediately, you feel a draft. There’s a weird chill in the air. Where is it coming from? Maybe the tunnel leads directly outside, you think.

  But then the tunnel twists sharply and starts sloping downward.

  You keep walking even though the light is getting dimmer. You’ve gone this far. Might as well discover where it leads.

  A few more steps downward and — ouch! — your shoulders scrape against the walls.

  The tunnel’s getting even narrower, you notice. In fact, soon enough the tunnel is so narrow, you have to turn sideways to fit through.

  And what’s that funny smell? It smells like burning rubber or something. It makes your nose tingle and your throat feel tight.

  Suddenly, exploring doesn’t seem like such a good idea. In fact, you’re beginning to think it’s all a big mistake.

  But you hate to chicken out of an adventure. And how dangerous can the basement of an office building be?