The End of the World

by Michael Rex

  But that got me worried, because it would make sense that a duck, or a goose, doesn’t know that you shouldn’t swallow gum. With that skinny little neck, that big piece of gum could choke the duck, or the goose, so I had to get it back.

  I chased the duck, or the goose, all over. When I got ahold of the gum, it just stretched out, and the duck, or the goose, went one way and I went the other.

  Finally, the gum snapped, and I fell back into a pond! Not only did these people have a duck, or a goose, they had a pond in their backyard with these big goldfish in it! The fish were flopping all over, and I could swear a fish went in my pants!

  Luckily, no one came out of the house. I got out of the pond. The duck, or the goose, dropped the gum, which was even weirder (because it was delicious!), and I grabbed it.

  The duck, or the goose, must have thought we were playing because it started chasing me. I put the gum back in my mouth because I needed both hands to climb the next fence. I ended up in this yard, and then I fell over that playhouse and bounced over that trampoline, and that’s when you found me.

  “You did all of this for Travis?” asked Mrs. Murphy.

  “Yeah,” said Ricky. “He helped me out, so I figured I should help him out.”

  “That’s very nice of you. But Travis is at karate class right now. That’s why he couldn’t go to Black Pond.”

  “Oh,” said Ricky.

  “But he should be home soon,” said Travis’s mom.

  Just then, they heard a car pull into the driveway in the front of the house.

  “That’s Travis. He’s home!” said Mrs. Murphy. “You stay right here! This will be fun!”

  She started screaming like she was in a horror movie. “Help! It’s Bigfoot! In our yard! Heeellllp!!” While she was screaming, she pulled her phone from her pocket and held it up to take a picture.

  “Help! It’s Bigfoot! Help!” she screamed. She looked at Ricky and whispered, “Make some Bigfoot noises!”

  Ricky started to growl and moan.

  Travis and his dad came running from the front of the house.

  “Don’t worry, Mom! I’ll save you!” shouted Travis. His dad stopped running, but Travis didn’t.

  Travis went right for Ricky and gave him a giant, flying karate kick in the stomach! Travis’s mom snapped a picture!

  Ricky went flying back into the bushes, and then he got up and ran away. Behind him he could hear Travis’s mom still using her movie voice, saying, “My hero!”

  Ricky was glad he had worn the pillow under his shirt.

  THE NEXT DAY …

  The next day when Ricky got to school, a bunch of kids were standing around looking at something. Ricky pushed into the group. Travis was showing everybody a picture of him in the air, karate-kicking something that looked like a monster.

  “It doesn’t look like Bigfoot, but it sure is freaky,” said one kid.

  “Yeah! I guess you really did see something,” said another kid.

  “Dude! You totally kicked its butt!” said a different kid.

  “That looks like a pretty awesome battle,” said Ricky.

  “Yeah, it was,” said Travis, smiling in class for the first time since before he mentioned Bigfoot.

  “Awesome,” said Ricky.

  “Yeah, awesome,” said Travis.

  Ricky walked away from the crowd of kids. He covered his mouth because he didn’t want anyone to see his huge smile. A worm fell out of his hair, and that gave him a great idea for a new collection.