She made another grab for it. But again the blobby creature bounced away from her.
Kermit stepped in front of it. “I’d like to get it under a microscope,” he said. “Maybe take a few tissue samples.”
“You have to catch it first,” Evan told him.
Kermit dove for it. Grabbed.
The creature bounced over his hands and escaped.
“Hey—he licked me!” Kermit exclaimed. “I think he licked me.”
“He seems to be friendly,” Andy said. She dropped to her knees. “Here, Blobby. Here, Blobby,” she called. She held out her hands to it.
To everyone’s surprise, the creature bounced over to her.
Andy trapped it gently between her hands. She giggled. “It’s so cold!”
She ran her hand tenderly over the back of its quivering body. “Do you like to be petted?” she asked it again softly.
The creature purred.
Evan and Kermit both let out cries of surprise.
Andy petted the blue blob some more. It purred louder.
“He likes it!” Andy declared, laughing.
“Weird,” Kermit murmured. “See if you can pull off a hunk so I can study it.”
“No way!” Andy cried. “You’re not hurting my little Blobby.” She petted it tenderly.
“Be careful,” Evan warned. “This is Monster Blood—remember?”
“It can’t be,” Andy argued. “Monster Blood is green. This cute thing is something else.”
“It might be a different kind of Monster Blood,” Kermit suggested. “You know. A different flavor.”
“Whoa!” Andy cried out as the creature bounced out of her hands. Throbbing wetly, it began bouncing and rolling toward the garage.
“Catch it!” Evan cried.
All three of them chased after the creature. It moved surprisingly fast.
Kermit made a grab for it—and it slid through his hands.
Evan ran in front of it and tried to block its path. But it rolled around him and kept bouncing.
“Don’t let it get away!” Andy cried.
Evan made another frantic grab—and lifted the wet blob off the ground. “Got it!” Evan cried.
But the creature changed shape. Squeaking loudly, it pulled itself in until it resembled a giant worm. And then it slid easily from Evan’s hands.
“Whoa—it’s cold!” Evan exclaimed. He examined his hands. The creature had left a coating of wet blue slime on Evan’s palms.
Evan glanced up in time to see the creature roll to the back of the yard. “Stop it!” he cried. “Don’t let it go over to Conan’s yard!”
He ran to catch up to it. Kermit reached it first. “Hey—what’s it doing?” Kermit demanded. “It’s turning on the garden hose.”
The hose was coiled against the back of the garage. A long end of it stretched along the ground.
Evan stopped and stared as the creature perched on top of the nozzle. Its body began to bounce up and down in a steady rhythm. It stopped squeaking and began to make loud gulping sounds.
“Is it drinking?” Andy asked.
“Huh? I think it is!” Evan cried, staring in amazement.
The creature bobbed on top of the hose nozzle. Drinking. And as it drank, it grew.
“It’s inflating—like a water balloon!” Kermit declared.
“We’d better stop it before it gets too big,” Evan warned.
Evan tried to turn the water off, but the spigot wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck!” he cried. “I can’t turn it! It’s stuck!”
The creature gulped more water. It was as big as a basketball now, and still growing.
Evan grabbed it with both hands and tugged. His hands slid off the slippery, wet body.
The creature was as big as a beach ball.
“Help me!” Evan cried, grabbing the creature again. “We’ve got to pull it off the hose.”
He gave a hard tug. But the gulping creature held on to the hose.
Andy stepped up beside Evan. They both wrapped their arms around the inflating creature and struggled to pull it loose.
“It—it’s attached itself!” Evan gasped.
The creature bulged, bigger, bigger, until Evan and Andy couldn’t get their arms around it.
“Now what?” Evan groaned.
And the creature exploded.
Evan heard a deafening POP. A wave of cold water and slime hurtled over him, knocking him over.
Evan landed in a sitting position.
“Ohhhhh.” He let out a groan as he wiped the thick blanket of slime off his eyes and face.
“Sick,” he heard Andy mutter.
He turned and saw that Kermit and Andy were also drenched. Thick gobs of slime clung to Kermit’s glasses. Andy’s hair was soaked, matted flat on her head.
“Sick,” Andy repeated, staring down at her slime-covered hands. “Oh, yuck. This is sick.”
Evan wiped more goo from his eyes. Then he turned to where the creature had stood—and gasped in shock. “Oh, noooo!” he cried. “Am I seeing things?”
15
Two blue creatures bobbed beside the garage.
Two creatures about the size of chipmunks.
Squeaking softly, they grinned at Evan, Kermit, and Andy. Their big black eyes rolled in their heads.
“It multiplied!” Kermit exclaimed.
Evan swallowed hard. He scooped a gob of slime off his shoulder. “I don’t like this,” he murmured. “I don’t like this one bit.”
“But they’re so cute!” Andy protested.
Evan shivered. The night air suddenly felt much colder. He turned to the house. It was covered in darkness.
What if Aunt Dee wakes up and catches us out here? he wondered. I’ll be in major trouble. My baby-sitting job will be over. No sleepaway camp…
“It’s getting late,” he told them. “We’ve got to go in.”
“But we can’t just leave these little guys out here!” Andy protested.
Evan sighed. He knew Andy was right. “Okay,” he agreed, “let’s round them up quickly. We’ll get a bag or a bucket or something.”
The two blue blobs began bouncing in different directions.
“No! Don’t let them get away!” Evan cried. “If they split up, we’ll never catch them.”
“I have an idea,” Kermit said. He darted across the grass and picked up the garden hose. He turned the nozzle, and a hard spray shot out.
“I’ll keep them against the back of the garage,” he announced. “You go find something to put them in.”
Evan watched as Kermit raised the hose and aimed the spray at the two creatures.
The hard spray sent them both flying against the garage wall.
“It’s working!” Kermit cried. “I’ve trapped them!”
He kept the spray on them. The water pushed them back, pressing the two creatures against the garage.
“Hurry—!” Kermit cried.
But Evan hesitated. He watched as the two creatures opened their mouths wide. Wider. And began to gulp.
“Kermit—turn off the hose!” Evan shouted. “It’s a bad idea. They’re drinking it!”
As the stream of water shot into their gaping mouths, the creatures inflated rapidly. They gulped the water hungrily, blowing up bigger and bigger.
“Kermit—shut off the hose!” Evan ordered.
Too late.
Another loud explosion. Another burst of water and slime.
And now Evan stared across the lawn at FOUR blue blobs!
Startled, Kermit dropped the hose. Water shot across the lawn.
Evan dove for the garage and frantically turned the water spigot. The water dribbled to a stop.
But the four blue creatures were already lapping up water from the grass. And growing bigger.
“We have to stop them,” Evan gasped. “We have to pick them up before they explode again.”
He and Andy ran together, frantically reaching down to grab two of them. But Andy stopped suddenly—and Eva
n ran right into her.
“Whoa!” he cried. “Why did you stop?”
“Look at them.” Andy pointed.
Evan gazed down at the bobbing creatures. They were lapping the night dew off the grass. “What about them?” he asked impatiently.
“These four look different,” Andy replied. “Check out their faces. They’re not smiling.”
“Who cares?” Evan shrieked. “They’re drinking! Why do we care if they’re smiling or not? Do we want eight of them? No! So let’s get them!”
Evan leaped forward and grabbed one in each hand. One blue blob slipped out and bounced away, squeaking loudly.
Evan wrapped both hands around the other one, determined to hold it tight. “Get a bucket!” he told Andy. “Or a garbage bag or something!”
Then Evan let out a scream as a sharp jolt of pain shot through his arm.
He looked down. The blue creature had clamped its jaws around his wrist.
“H-help!” Evan stammered. “Owwwww! It—it’s biting me! It’s biting my hand off!”
16
Evan tugged at the creature with his free hand. “Help me! Ow! It—it’s sucking my skin!” he wailed.
Kermit and Andy dove to his side. They both grabbed at the wet blue blob. Andy’s hands slipped off, and she stumbled backwards.
But Kermit held on, held on with both hands. And tugged. Tugged until they all heard a loud POP.
Kermit pulled the creature off and tossed it across the yard.
Evan rubbed his arm. “It was sucking my skin,” he moaned. “Sucking the water out, I guess.”
Kermit started running to the house. “I’m telling Mom,” he cried. “This is too dangerous!”
“No!” Evan grabbed Kermit around the waist. “I can’t get in any more trouble with your mom. Let’s get them all rounded up first. If we don’t, there will be hundreds of them!”
Evan turned to Andy. Her teeth were chattering. “This is getting scary,” she murmured. “Listen to them.”
The blue blobs weren’t grinning anymore. Low growls came out of their scowling mouths.
“They were so cute,” Andy said softly. “But now they’re turning mean.”
Two of the creatures were rolling in the grass, sucking up moisture. Two others were bouncing toward the garden hose.
Evan turned away. He glanced quickly to the house. “Where is Kermit?” he asked.
Andy shrugged. “Did he go inside to tell his mother?”
“I hope not,” Evan moaned. “I’m going to be in such bad trouble!”
The blue blobs were inflating, getting ready to explode and multiply.
“I’m already in big trouble,” Evan told himself. He started to the house. But halfway there, he saw Kermit running from the garage.
“I’ll catch them!” Kermit cried. He waved a long-handled net in the air. Evan recognized it—the net Kermit used to collect butterflies.
Kermit ran across the grass, swinging the net.
Evan heard a loud, wet explosion. His eyes swept over the dark lawn. How many were there now?
Eight?
Yes.
His throat tightened in panic. We can’t catch them all! he thought.
Kermit lowered the net to the grass. Swung hard. And captured one of the blue blobs.
It uttered a sharp growl. The net bounced and shook at the end of its pole.
“Got one! Where do I dump it?” Kermit called excitedly.
Evan spotted a bucket at the side of the garage. He ran across the grass toward it, waving to Kermit to follow him.
Kermit saw the bucket too. He began to lower the net into it. “In you go!” he cried.
But they both heard a ripping sound.
The creature hurtled out from the net—and bounced away.
“He—he chewed through the net!” Kermit exclaimed. He tossed the net aside.
Evan picked up the bucket and chased after the bouncing creature. “Just pick them up and toss them in,” he cried. “If we can keep them from drinking, they won’t multiply.”
Andy dove for one. It slipped out of her hands. “We need gloves,” she suggested. “We could hold them better if—”
“We don’t have time to find gloves!” Evan cried. “If we don’t catch them fast, there will be a hundred of them!”
“But what if they grab on to you?” Andy cried. “What if they start sucking your skin?”
Evan didn’t know how to answer that question. He swallowed hard. “Just be careful,” he told her.
Hearing low grunts, he raised his eyes to Aunt Dee’s flower garden. “Oh, noooo!” he moaned.
“Mom’s flowers!” Kermit cried.
Three or four of the creatures were sucking the water from the flowers. The blobs were already huge, ready to explode. A wide path of flowers lay dead and wilted behind them.
Kermit’s mother took such pride in her flower garden; she struggled to keep it blooming all through the winter. And now it’s a mess, Evan saw.
And she’s going to blame me.
“Get them!” he shouted. “Get them out of the flowers!”
But he heard a muffled scream. And spun around.
“Help me… help…” Andy struggled as a big blue blob wrapped around her face.
It pulsed and throbbed.
She hit it with both fists. Pounded it.
She dropped to her knees, struggling to remove it.
Evan froze in horror as the creature grunted and growled, spreading wetly over Andy’s face.
“Help…” she moaned. “Can’t breathe… can’t breathe…”
17
Evan gasped in horror as Andy struggled with the blue creature. She pounded it with her fists. Pulled at its slippery skin. Shoved it with her open palms.
Evan took a deep breath. Ran over to her. And grasped the creature in both hands.
It’s so slippery and cold! he thought.
He dug his fingers into its wet flesh, tightening his grip.
Then he heaved up with all his strength.
The creature lifted off Andy’s face with a loud POP. Evan lost his balance and nearly fell.
The blob slipped out of his hands, bounced over the grass, and landed in a large puddle near the driveway.
“Ohhhhhh, sick!” Andy moaned. She wiped thick slime off her face. Still on her knees, her whole body trembled.
Evan raised his eyes to the blob. Facedown, it gulped the puddle noisily. Its shimmery blue body bulged bigger, bigger…
Until it exploded—sending a wave of water and slime over Evan and Andy. Evan staggered back as the cold gunk washed over him.
Wiping it off his eyes, he helped Andy to her feet.
“The flowers!” Kermit cried. “They’ve ruined them all!”
Evan turned to the garden. In time to see two more inflated blue blobs explode into four.
The four new blobs bounced up and down furiously, gnashing their pointed teeth.
“The new ones have teeth!” Andy declared. “Each time they explode, they get meaner!”
“I’ve had enough of this!” Evan exclaimed. He grabbed a shovel on the ground beside the flower garden. “Kermit, Andy—hurry! Get big trash bags!”
Kermit darted into the garage. A few seconds later, he came out carrying two plastic trash bags. He handed one to Andy. They swung them open and ran to catch up with Evan.
“Let’s get these guys!” Evan declared.
He lowered the shovel blade to the ground and scooped up a blue blob.
Andy held out her trash bag. Evan dropped the creature into the bag. It plopped in heavily. Andy gripped the top of the bag and held on.
Working feverishly, Evan scooped up another one and dropped it into Andy’s bag.
Another explosion sent a wave of slime flying. Evan ducked under it—and caught two blue blobs on his shovel blade. With a groan, he swung the blade hard into Kermit’s trash bag.
In minutes, the two trash bags bulged.
“Only a few left,” Evan sa
id, catching his breath. Despite the cool night air, sweat poured down his forehead.
Beside the garage, two creatures gulped water hungrily from a puddle on the grass. Another creature bounced over the wilted flower garden, uttering low, angry growls.
“These guys are trying to get out,” Kermit complained. He had hoisted his bag over his slender shoulder.
The bag throbbed. Inside it, the creatures grunted and growled.
“What are we going to do with these bags?” Andy demanded. “These blue things are alive! We can’t just throw them in trash cans.”
“They wouldn’t fit, anyway,” Kermit said.
Evan wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “Let’s get them all collected first,” he sighed. “Then we can decide what to do.”
It took several minutes to round up the final three. They kept bouncing away and sliding off the shovel.
Finally, all of the grunting, growling creatures were caught. Evan helped Kermit and Andy tie up the bulging trash bags.
“Now what?” Andy demanded.
Evan blinked as a bright yellow light flashed on.
Another light.
The lawn shimmered green, nearly as bright as day. The colors all came into focus.
Evan spun toward the house. The porch light had been turned on. And all the lights around the yard.
“It’s Mom!” Kermit gasped. “We’re caught!”
18
Evan could see Aunt Dee in the kitchen, moving to the back door. “Quick—don’t let her see! Hide the trash bags!” he cried.
“But where?” Kermit demanded.
“Just hide them!” Evan ordered.
Kermit and Andy grabbed up their bulging trash bags. Kermit led the way around the side of the house. “We’ll drag them to the basement,” he said. “I’ll lock them in a storage closet or something. We can figure out what to do with them in the morning.”
The back door swung open, and Aunt Dee stepped out onto the back stoop. She tightened her bathrobe belt and squinted around the yard.
“My garden!” she shrieked in horror, raising her hands to her face.
And then her eyes stopped on Evan.