by R. L. Stine
“Who has what?” Mom demanded.
“The egg creatures! From Mars! Hurry! There’s no time!”
They didn’t move. I saw them exchange glances.
Mom stepped forward and placed a hand on my forehead. “Do you have a fever, Dana? Are you sick?”
“No!” I screamed. “Listen to me! Egg creatures from Mars! Follow me!”
I know I wasn’t explaining myself too well. But I was frantic.
“Dana—come lie down,” Mom instructed. “I’ll call Dr. Martin.”
“No—please! I don’t need a doctor!” I protested. “Just follow me—okay? You’ve got to see them. You’ve got to see the egg creatures. You’ve got to hurry.”
Mom and Dad exchanged worried glances again.
“I’m not crazy!” I shrieked. “I want you to come with me to the science lab!”
“Okay, okay,” Dad finally agreed. “You were in that lab last night?”
“Yes,” I told him, shoving him to the kitchen door. “I called and called. But you couldn’t hear me.”
“Oh, wow,” Dad murmured, shaking his head. “Wow.”
The three of us climbed into the car.
It took about three minutes to drive to the lab. Dad parked in front. I jumped out of the car before he stopped.
The front door to the lab stood wide open, as I’d left it.
I ran inside with Mom and Dad close behind me.
“They’re egg creatures,” I told them breathlessly. “They dropped down from Mars. They captured Dr. Gray.”
I led the way down the long hall.
I pushed open the door to the freezing back room.
Mom and Dad stepped in behind me.
I gazed around the room—and gasped in amazement!
32
I saw Mom and Dad staring at me. They had worried expressions on their faces.
“Where are the egg creatures?” Mom demanded softly.
Dad rested a hand gently on my shoulder. “Where are they, Dana?” he asked in a whisper.
“Uh… they’re gone,” I choked out.
The lab stood empty.
No Dr. Gray. No egg creatures. No one.
Bare white walls. Nothing on the floor.
Nothing.
“Maybe they went back to Mars,” I murmured, shaking my head.
“And Dr. Gray? What about Dr. Gray?” Dad asked.
“Maybe they took Dr. Gray with them,” I replied.
“Let’s go home,” Mom sighed. “Let’s get you into bed, Dana.”
Dad guided me from the room, his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll call Dr. Martin,” he said softly. “I’m sure we can get him to come to the house this morning.”
“I—I do feel a little strange,” I admitted.
So they drove me home and tucked me into bed.
The doctor came later that morning and examined me. He didn’t find anything wrong. But he said I should stay in bed and rest for a while.
I knew that Mom and Dad didn’t believe my story. I felt bad about that. But I didn’t know how to convince them I was telling the truth.
I did feel a little weird.
Just tired, I guess.
I dozed off and woke up and dozed off again.
In the afternoon, I woke up to hear my sister Brandy talking to some friends outside my room. “Dana totally freaked out,” I heard Brandy say. “He says he was kidnapped by egg monsters from Mars.”
I heard Brandy’s friends giggling.
Oh great, I thought bitterly. Now everyone thinks I’m a nut case.
I wanted to call Brandy into my room and tell her what really happened. I wanted to make her believe me. I wanted to make someone believe me.
But how?
I fell asleep again.
I was awakened by a voice calling my name. I sat up in bed. The voice floated in from my open bedroom window.
I climbed out of bed and made my way to the window. Anne was calling me from the driveway. “Dana—are you okay? Do you want to come over? I got a new CD-ROM version of Battle Chess.”
“Cool!” I called down to Anne. “I’ll be right over.”
I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. I was feeling pretty good. Rested. Like my old self.
So happy that everything was back to normal.
I hummed to myself as I brushed my hair. I stared at myself in the mirror.
You had an amazing adventure, Dana, I told myself. Imagine—you spent a night with egg creatures from Mars!
But now you’re okay, and your life is back to normal.
I felt so happy, I gave Brandy a hug on my way down the stairs. She stared at me as if I truly were crazy!
Humming loudly, I made my way out the kitchen door and started across the yard to Anne’s house.
Everything looked so beautiful to me. The grass. The trees. The spring flowers. The sun setting behind the trees.
What a day! What a beautiful, perfect, normal day!
And then halfway across Anne’s lawn, I stopped.
I crouched down on the grass—and I laid the biggest egg you ever saw!
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