Sorry for the delayed post, everyone! My week was busier than expected.
Quick recap for those of you who might have missed the first few chapters of It Came From Beneath the Sink: A family moves into a new house. The children find a weird sponge, you guessed it, beneath the sink and for some reason decide to bring it with them everywhere despite the fact they seem to be fully aware it’s an evil sponge.
When we last left off Kat was about to be crushed into…”Kat litter.”
Chapter 8:
Kat is pushed by a mysterious force and saved from being crushed by a tree branch. YIKES!
Daniel crows that he saved Kat’s life–so I guess he was the mysterious force?–but Kat is too distracted by the sponge to express gratitude.
Whoa-ahhh, whoa-ahhh.
Throbbing its little heart out. Practically hopping around on the ground in excitement.
Ba-boom, ba-boom.
Very weird. I’d almost been killed by the falling branch. And the sponge seemed really excited.
Why does the sponge’s heart sound like it’s trying to write a pop song? “Whoahhhh baby you make my heart go ba-booooom when you are almost crushed a treeeeee whoahhhh.”
Kat decides to take the sadistic sponge to her teacher the next day.
The sponge appeared dry and shriveled.
It didn’t breathe. It didn’t throb.
Mrs. Vanderhoff glared at me. “Kat, what’s the meaning of this?” she huffed. “This is an ordinary kitchen sponge.”
Throw it in the trash, Mrs. Vanderhoff!
Kat repeatedly insists that the sponge is alive! Mrs. Vanderhoff scrutinises it some more, and is like, “Dude, seriously, it’s a FUCKING SPONG AND IT IS DIRTY AS FUCK!” Bless this poor woman for handling this dirty ass, likely disease-ridden sponge that was already in the house when they moved in and has now been god knows where.
Class begins, and suddenly the teacher slams her fingers in her desk drawer! OH MY GOD IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE CURSED SPONGE!!!
Kat goes to the nurse’s office with her teacher, and on the way back, Daniel comes running up to inform Kat that he found the sponge creature in a book. I hope he has a hall pass!
Chapter 9:
The book is called Encyclopaedia of the Weird. Where did Daniel find this book? This all seems very convenient.
“The Grool does not eat food or drink water. Instead, it gets its strength from luck. Bad luck.”
But…isn’t this “Grool” creating bad luck? Oh well, at least we know what this sponge is. NOW WE JUST HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO DESTROY IT! Maybe you have to feed it good luck. Like the only way to defeat it is to buy it a winning lottery ticket.
Kat keeps reading and discovers the Grool loves when bad shit happens around it, and whoever owns it will have bad things happen to them.
“…And it cannot — ever — be given away or tossed aside.
[…]
“A Grool is only passed on to a new owner when an owner dies. Anyone who gives the Grool away will DIE within one day.”
Woah. Can I get me one of these Grools? I can think of a few people I would love to give a dirty sponge gift to and be like, “HA no returns or else you DIE!”
Kat points out that this is crazy because every living thing needs food and water to survive and not bad luck. SHE HAS GOT US THERE!
On the next page, Kat spots another creature called a Lanx, which is a cousin of the Grool but even more dangerous. It lathes onto one person and drains all of their energy. I bet it soaks it up like a sponge.
When the kids get home later, Mom says she has some bad news for them…
Chapter 10:
Their dog ran away! Oh shit, that’s actually upsetting. Kat runs upstairs and berates the sponge. She throws the sponge against the wall, but then she cries out in pain herself.
Chapter 11:
It turns out that after she threw the sponge, she slammed her hand down on top of some scissors on her desk?
She picks up the sponge, hoping it’s dead, but instead it’s happier than ever. It even laughs!
Then, as I listened to that evil laugh, the Grool began changing.
Its color suddenly brightened — from dull brown to light pink. As I stared in amazement, the Grool turned bright tomato-red.
Anyway, later Daniel and his friend Carlo show up. Carlo wants to borrow the sponge for…reasons. Daniel is very concerned because the book specifically told them you will die if you give it away. Feeling reckless, Kat is like, TAKE THE SPONGE, BRO!
Daniel intervenes, and Kat backs down. The boys leave to resume their search for the dog, and Kat vows to bring an end to the sponge’s reign of terror.
I cannot believe I am writing any of these sentences.
Chapter 12:
Kat wakes up the next day, and she’d forgotten it’s her birthday! She’s going to water park–oh shit, there’s a thunder storm. The sponge must be loving life right now. DOES ITS EVIL KNOW NO BOUNDS?
In a fit of rage Kat…makes a list of ways to get rid of the Grool.
Later, she and Daniel grab a shovel and bury the Grool in the backyard. I really wish I had access to whatever was on Kat’s list because it feels like this was a pretty basic plan.
They bury the Grool and Daniel disappears.
Chapter 13:
It turns out Daniel is just hiding because he got scared of what the Grool would do in retaliation. He…thought it might explode. Which, fair. Who knows with this wild and crazy sponge.
That night, they have birthday cake, and as Kat is blowing out the candles she hears a loud noise from the kitchen.
Chapter 14:
It was just mom popping the cork on some sparkling apple cider! Since when does that have a cork? This sounds like some fancy ass cider.
Everything seems to be going well until Kat wakes up the next morning and looks out her window. The backyard looks AWFUL. All the plants are dead.
From its grave, the Grool had turned its evil powers on the lawn. And it killed every single living plant, flower, and blade of grass!
Left unchecked, I bet the Grool will accelerate global warming. IT MUST BE STOPPED!
Kat realises she’s got to dig up the Grool. She vows again to somehow destroy it. I’ll believe it when I see it, Kat.