The Lonely Lake Monster

by Suzanne Selfors

  As the sasquatch watched Pearl chew with her mouth wide open, Ben slid the clippers over a toenail. He squeezed the handles. Nothing happened. “Whoa, this toenail is as thick as wood.” Gritting his teeth, he squeezed harder. Click. A wedge of toenail sailed through the air and ricocheted off Pearl’s neck.

  “Ouch,” she said. “Watch it. Those things are sharp.”

  Ben moved the clippers to the next toenail. Gritting his teeth again, he squeezed the handles. Click. The toenail flew right at Ben’s nose. “Ow!”

  “I told you. They’re like arrows.”

  The sasquatch growled. “Keep distracting it,” Ben said.

  Pearl took out another piece of gum. She chewed, then blew a bubble. The sasquatch made a soft cooing sound. “Oh, it likes that,” she realized. She blew another bubble. “I’ll teach you how to make bubbles.” She handed the creature a second piece of gum.

  As the bubble-making lesson proceeded, Ben cut another nail. He ducked as it flew over his head and impaled a tree trunk. “Who knew cutting toenails could be so dangerous? Do you think a sasquatch is a level one or a level two on the danger scale? That last toenail nearly stabbed my eyeball. Maybe we should get some safety goggles?” Then Ben’s mouth fell open, and he dropped the clippers into a bed of soft moss. “Uh, speaking of eyeballs…” He pointed.

  Pearl could tell from the way Ben’s face had gone pale and the way his eyes had widened that something was behind her. If Ben had been smiling, she would have whipped around, eager to discover whatever cute little creature was hanging out in the Forest Suite. But his pointing hand started trembling.

  Pearl froze. “What is it?” she whispered. “Ben? What are you pointing at?”

  “I… I… I don’t know,” he stammered. “But it’s… huge.”

  Pearl didn’t like feeling afraid. The air in the Forest Suite suddenly felt cold, and goose bumps sprang up along her arms. The sasquatch didn’t seem bothered, however. It had grabbed the entire pack of gum and was shoving all the pieces, including the wrappers, into its mouth.

  Ever so slowly, Pearl turned around.

  10

  Pearl looked across the landscape of ferns and trees until her gaze reached the back wall. She gasped. A large green face peered through one of the windows. Water droplets rolled down a broad snout. Tiny, round ears perched on either side of a glistening head, beside a pair of large, perfectly round eyeballs. When the eyes blinked, thick lashes brushed against the pane like feather dusters.

  The Forest Suite was on the third floor, so how could something be looking at them through the window? Maybe a giraffe with its long neck could reach that high. But giraffes were Known World creatures. And giraffes weren’t green.

  The eyes blinked again, and then the creature moved out of view.

  Forgetting all about the sasquatch’s bubble-blowing lesson, Pearl scrambled to her feet and pushed her way through the undergrowth. Sticks and pebbles crunched beneath her flip-flops. Ben followed. Then they stood side by side, their palms and faces pressed against the glass. The third floor offered a sweeping view of the lake that lay behind the old button factory. The turquoise-colored water rippled, stirred by a gentle breeze.

  “Where’d it go?” Pearl’s gaze darted back and forth. “Do you see it?”

  “No,” Ben said.

  “What do you think it was?”

  “I don’t know, but those eyes were as big as basketballs.”

  “Oh, look!” A new ripple formed, larger than the others, and began to move slowly across the lake. Then a green hump emerged, followed by a tail.

  “It’s huge,” Ben said.

  With a graceful roll, the creature disappeared into the lake’s depths. All that remained were some air bubbles bursting at the surface. Pearl and Ben waited, but the creature did not reappear.

  “Come on,” Pearl said.

  “Where are you going?” Ben called as Pearl stumbled across the mossy terrain. She leaped over a little gurgling stream.

  “I want to know what that thing is.”

  “But we can’t forget about the sasquatch,” Ben said as he followed. “I’ve only cut three toenails.”

  “We’ll come back and finish.” She scurried around a pine tree and headed for the elevator. Its doors were closed, so Pearl pushed the down button.

  “But we’re not supposed to leave the hospital,” Ben reminded her.

  As Pearl spun around, her ponytail flicked Ben’s face. “Are you serious? You want to sit up here and clip toenails? Didn’t you see that thing? It was huge! It was amazing! Don’t you want to get a better look?”

  “Well…” Ben said, shuffling in place. “Sure, but what about the rules?”

  “No one will know. We’ll sneak out real quick and then come right back. Trust me, I’m good at sneaking around.” Pearl punched the elevator button again.

  Ben didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His clenched lips said it all.

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Pearl set her hand gently on Ben’s shoulder. “You’re thinking I’m going to get you into trouble. Don’t worry so much. Dr. Woo is away on an emergency, and Mr. Tabby is busy with the leprechaun. We won’t get caught.”

  “But someone named Violet was clocked in,” Ben pointed out. “Mr. Tabby said she works here, remember? What if she sees us?”

  “We’ll tell her that we got lost. It’s our first day. We’re bound to get lost on our first day.” The elevator doors opened, and Pearl darted inside. “Well?” she asked. “Are you going to stay here and clip disgusting toenails, or are you going to find out what totally amazing creature is swimming in that lake?”

  Ben looked over at the sasquatch. It had fallen asleep against a tree trunk, a huge wad of chewing gum stuck in its fur. “Okay,” Ben said, stepping into the elevator. “I’ll come with you. But I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  11

  There was no sign of Mr. Tabby as Pearl and Ben tiptoed through the lobby. A mischievous smile spread across Pearl’s face. Sneaking out of the hospital was much more exciting than clipping sasquatch toenails. She’d hoped to meet an amazing creature today. She’d hoped to have an adventure. Her dreams were about to come true.

  But as soon as she unbolted and opened the front door, her smile faded. Mrs. Mulberry’s car was parked just beyond the locked gate. Mrs. Mulberry sat on the hood, peering through a pair of binoculars. Victoria Mulberry, now attired in a frilly pink dress, leaned against the car, a book propped in her hands.

  “Yoo-hoo!” Mrs. Mulberry called. She slid off the hood and flung herself at the fence, her red overalls bright against the black bars. “I see you, Pearl Petal. I see you, Ben Silverstein. Let us in!”

  “What are they doing here?” Ben asked.

  “They’re pests,” Pearl said. “Ignore them.”

  “Uh, what about locking the hospital door?” Ben asked. “Remember what happened the last time I left it unbolted?”

  “Of course I remember. The sasquatch got out. But it’s fast asleep upstairs, so we don’t have to worry. Besides, we can’t bolt it from the outside. Come on, we’ll be right back.”

  Pearl led Ben around to the far side of the building. Unseen from the road, this section of yard had grown wild with weeds. The grass reached to Pearl’s knees. As far as she could tell, it hadn’t been cut since the button factory closed, so what had once been a manicured lawn had turned into a field of dandelions, daisies, and the occasional thistle. One of the thistles reached under the hem of Pearl’s basketball shorts and scratched her knee, but that didn’t slow her down. As she crushed the overgrowth with her flip-flops, the scents of dirt and dampness rose from the grass. Ben was close behind. He didn’t move as quickly, his legs being a bit shorter than hers. Pearl was pretty sure she could beat him in a race.

  “What if the creature is dangerous?” Ben asked.

  “You’re a total worrywart,” Pearl said.

  “I’m not a total worrywart,” Ben insisted. “But I think we
should go back because… because… because my grandfather told me to stay away from the lake behind the hospital. He said that once, a long time ago, some people were swimming there, and this giant whirlpool appeared, and it sucked them in. They haven’t been seen since.”

  Pearl didn’t miss a single, determined step. “Did you just make that up?” She’d learned during their last visit that Ben liked to tell stories.

  “Yeah, okay, I just made that up. But the truth is, I don’t want to get eaten by whatever that thing is.”

  Pearl didn’t want to get eaten, either, but she wanted to find out more about the green creature. “It’s not going to eat us.”

  “You can’t know that. What if it ranks a three on the danger scale? Or a four or five?”

  “I’m not scared,” she said.

  They hurried around the corner of the building so that they were now behind the hospital. After crossing the grass, they stopped at the edge of the lake and looked into the water. Their reflections stared back at them from the surface, which was as smooth as a tabletop. Glossy lily pads floated in little clumps here and there. Except for a pair of mallard ducks, nothing appeared to be swimming above or below.

  Pearl turned around. Tree branches were visible behind the third-floor windows, but the other floors were dark. “Is anyone watching us?” she asked.

  “Not that I can tell,” Ben replied.

  “Good.” Pearl ran to a rickety old dock. Some of the planks had rotted through, so she stepped carefully over those. Creaking sounds arose as she made her way to the end. Hoping to get a better view, she knelt and peered down into the water. “It’s murky,” she reported. “I can’t see how deep it is.”

  Taking small, cautious steps, Ben soon joined her. “Do you think it lives on that island?” he asked, pointing. A small, pine-tree-covered island sat in the middle of the lake. A sandy beach ran around the island’s perimeter.

  “Maybe,” Pearl said, getting to her feet. Cocking her head, she listened but heard nothing unusual—just a few twittering birds. Then she took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and hollered, “Hey! Green creature! Where are you?”

  Ben gasped. “What are you doing?” He looked back over his shoulder. “If you yell like that, someone at the hospital will hear you.”

  “I want the creature to hear me,” Pearl said. She was about to call out again when a ripple appeared at the far end of the lake, disturbing a patch of lily pads.

  “Uh-oh.” Ben took a step back as a green head emerged. The head was attached to a neck that gradually rose from the water, higher and higher and higher, until the head hovered far above the lake. Pearl and Ben gawked, their mouths wide open. It was a moment of pure wonder.

  “It looks like a sea monster,” Ben whispered.

  “A sea monster,” Pearl whispered back. “An actual sea…” She frowned. “But it’s living in a lake.”

  “Maybe it’s a lake monster. Like the Loch Ness monster.”

  “The Loch Ness monster?” Pearl kept her voice low. Yelling had been a fine thing to do when she’d been trying to get the creature’s attention, but now that she was face-to-face with its enormity, she thought it best to be as quiet as possible. She leaned close to Ben, aiming her hushed voice at his ear. “Do you think this creature is related to the Loch Ness monster?”

  Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought the Loch Ness monster was a hoax. I thought all those photos were fakes.”

  Pearl knew exactly what he was talking about. There was a book called Terrifying Secrets of Loch Ness at the Buttonville Bookstore. Before she’d been banned from the store, Pearl had spent many a morning there, tucked into the far corner, reading whatever suited her mood. The book was filled with photos of a monster that supposedly inhabited Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland. The pictures were always grainy, mostly shot in black and white, of a long-necked creature that looked a bit like a dinosaur. None of the photos offered a close-up view or any details like facial expressions or skin texture. She’d concluded that the sightings were hoaxes. “Well, this lake monster is totally real,” she whispered.

  Stretching its neck, the creature ripped pine needles from the top of a tree. Water dripped off its snout as it munched, its jaw moving leisurely like a cow chewing cud. When it swallowed, a big, roundish lump traveled down the length of its neck in slow motion. “Cool!” Ben said with a burst of enthusiasm.

  Alerted by Ben’s exclamation, the lake monster turned and looked toward the dock. It stopped chewing, narrowing its round eyes. “Oh no,” Ben said. “It’s coming this way.” He took a few steps backward.

  Pearl wasn’t sure how to react. Part of her wanted to retreat to a safer distance, but the other part of her couldn’t believe her luck. Compared with this amazing creature, the sasquatch seemed so… ordinary. She slowly raised her hand and waved as the lake monster glided through the water, getting closer and closer.

  And closer.

  “Wow, it’s really big,” Pearl realized. “Really, really big.” She took a couple of steps backward, just to be on the safe side. “Do you think it’s as big as a dinosaur?”

  Ben appeared to be frozen with fear because his feet weren’t moving, nor was any part of his face. He stared up as the monster towered over the dock. Green scales, each glistening with droplets of water, covered its face and neck. It lowered its head until it was eye level with Pearl. Then they stared at each other.

  Pearl found it hard to breathe, not because the creature smelled fishy but because she was laughing, gasping, and squealing at the same time. Was this truly happening? Was she face-to-face with a creature as big as a brontosaurus? Or was she dreaming?

  The monster snorted, spraying Pearl’s face with flecks of goo. Yep, I’m wide awake, she told herself, wiping her face with her lab coat sleeve. The basketball-sized eyes blinked at her. They contained every color of green Pearl had ever seen, from Robin Hood green to four-leaf-clover green to lime-sherbet green. The lashes were jet black and curled at the ends. Pearl’s reflection stared back at her from the creature’s irises. “You’re beautiful,” Pearl said.

  It flared its nostrils and sniffed the top of Pearl’s head.

  Pearl wasn’t sure what to do. Should she run? Should she call for help? Nothing this large had ever smelled her hair. Maybe Ben was right. Maybe they should have stayed in the Forest Suite, clipping toenails. Being jabbed by a flying toenail was a lot less dangerous than standing mere inches away from a real, living, breathing lake monster. The monster bent its neck and sniffed Pearl’s toes. Then, with a graceful lunge, it reached past Pearl and grabbed some grass from the lake’s edge. It chewed the blades contentedly, its eyes half closed.

  Everything was okay. No one was hurt. No one was in trouble.

  Pearl and Ben sighed with relief, their shoulders relaxing. “That was freaky,” Ben said. “I thought it was going to eat you.”

  “Me, too,” Pearl admitted. Then, ever so slowly, she reached out and patted the creature’s neck. “The scales feel soft and slippery. Do you think it’s a girl or a boy?”

  “I don’t know,” Ben said with a shrug. Cautiously, he reached out and touched the scales. “They’re kinda slimy.”

  The creature kept chewing and didn’t seem to mind one bit that two humans were petting it. “Aren’t you glad we did this?” Pearl asked. “How many kids get to pet a lake monster?”

  Ben smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

  The monster swallowed, then turned and sniffed the top of Ben’s head. Ben froze again as hot breath blew through his hair. “It tickles,” he mumbled. The monster sniffed Ben’s lab coat, then his brand-new sneakers, which were now covered in grass stains.

  “I told you we wouldn’t get into trouble,” Pearl said with a little laugh. It was funny to watch the creature nudge Ben with its big snout. “Sometimes it’s okay to break the rules.”

  And that’s when the lake monster wrapped its mouth around Ben’s middle and picked him up.

  Right in
to the air!

  12

  Stop!” Pearl ordered, but the creature didn’t obey.

  Ben kicked his legs. “Put me down!” he hollered, pounding the green snout with his fists.

  “Jump,” Pearl called. “Jump into the water.”

  “I can’t jump. It won’t let me go!” He pounded some more. “Help! Help!”

  Pearl shielded her eyes from the sun, watching helplessly as Ben rose higher and higher into the air. How do you stop a lake monster—or any monster, for that matter—from taking your friend?

  This was a terrible turn of events. Ben was going to get eaten, and it was all her fault. He’d wanted to stay inside the hospital. He’d wanted to finish clipping the sasquatch’s toenails. But she’d insisted that they go outside. “Hey!” she screamed with all her might. “You bring him back! Bring him back right now!”

  Ben got smaller and smaller as the monster straightened its neck. Dangling far above the water, Ben stopped struggling and peered down at Pearl, his eyes wide with fear. Then, as quickly as it had scooped him up, the creature set Ben on the little island. It proceeded to rip some pine needles from a tree and returned to chewing as if deep in thought.

  The island wasn’t that far away. Pearl guessed she could swim to its beach in only a few minutes. “Ben,” she called from the end of the dock. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes!” he answered as he scrambled to his feet. He hurried to the edge of the beach. “How am I going to get off this island?” His voice carried easily across the water.

  “Maybe the lake monster will bring you back,” she suggested hopefully, though the creature seemed to have forgotten all about Ben.

  “No way,” Ben said, shaking his head violently. “I’m not doing that again.”

  Pearl looked around. No one seemed to have noticed the commotion. There was a possibility that they still might not get into trouble. “Swim,” she said, mimicking a swimmer’s stroke. “Hurry!”