by Jack Chabert
“Fine!” He swam over to the largest pipe. It
was the size of a giant water slide. He climbed
in. Sam helped Lucy up into the big pipe, too.
The dark water was still rising. Sam needed to
hurry. “I’ll be right back!”
“Where are you going?!”
Lucy shouted.
“Trust me!” Sam said.
Sam took one deep
breath and dove down.
For once, he was actually
thankful for all of those
swim classes his mom
had made him take.
Sam opened his eyes as
he reached the water heater.
Earlier, he had turned the
wheel to the right to lessen
the water’s strength and
save Lucy. So if he
turned it to the left,
it should make
the water
move faster
through the
pipes.
If the water is stronger, it can push us through the
pipes! The water can carry us to the other end of the
pipes, hopefully above ground, thought Sam.
It was a crazy idea, but it was their only
chance.
Sam grabbed ahold of the wheel
and began turning.
Sam was having trouble turning the giant
wheel under water. And he was running out
of air!
If this plan doesn’t work, my friends and I are in
serious trouble! he thought. Sam pictured Lucy
and Antonio and Mr. Nekobi. He pictured
Ms. Grinker and all of his classmates. Eerie
Elementary put them all in danger, and only
he could save them. He was the hall monitor.
He could feel the school. And he sensed now
that he could beat the school! If only he could
turn the wheel!
DEAD END
12
He could not fail.
He would not fail!
Sam used all his strength to give the wheel
another tug.
SCREECH!
It worked! The wheel was turning. Then
Sam saw a dial atop the water heater, labeled
WATER SPEED. How did I not see that before?
wondered Sam. As he turned the wheel, a small
needle on the dial moved from green to red.
The word DANGER was in the red section.
Sam pressed his
feet against the
water heater and
turned the wheel
until the dial’s
needle was past the
word DANGER.
The water heater
began shaking!
It’s going to blow!
Sam thought. I’ve got
to get out of here!
Sam turned and
kicked with all of
his might. He burst
through the surface
and gasped for breath.
Antonio and Lucy were inside the pipe,
waiting for him. Water rushed faster and faster
through the pipes. All around Sam, the water
was bubbling and splashing. The water heater
shook.
“Sam, what did you do?!” Antonio yelled.
“I’m getting us out of here! We’ll travel
through the pipes!” Sam said.
“I hope this works!” Lucy said, sticking out
a hand. Sam grabbed ahold, and Lucy pulled
him up.
He lay down behind Antonio and Lucy
inside the big pipe. It was like the three of
them were lying at the top of a water slide.
But they weren’t going on a fun zip down into
a swimming pool. No — they were going to
be rocketed, up, through Eerie Elementary!
“Where will this pipe spit us out?” Lucy
asked.
Sam didn’t answer. He had no idea where
this pipe would take them. He just hoped it
was somewhere above ground.
The pipe started really shaking. The water
heater would blow at any moment and water
would be blasted through the pipe!
“Hold your breath!” Sam shouted. “Here
we go —”
BOOM
!
The water heater blew! There
was a giant blast of warm
water! Sam, Antonio, and
Lucy were launched
through the pipe.
The three friends raced through the pipe at
100 miles per hour on a wave of water.
Up ahead, the pipe split into two. Lucy
shouted, “Sammmmmmmm!!!!”
VA-ZOOM
!
As the pipes split, Lucy was
carried off in one direction,
and Sam and Antonio
went in another.
Sam held his
breath as he zoomed
through the pipe.
Up ahead, the pipe
split into two again.
The water carried
Antonio to the right.
Sam tried to follow
him, but it was too
late.
Sam whizzed down a different pipe. Now
Sam Graves was all alone, flying through
Eerie Elementary!
Sam saw darkness
at the end of the pipe.
Oh, no.
It was a dead end!
He had to slow down or
he would smash into the
end of the pipe. He
reached out and scraped
his fingers against the
pipe. But it was no use.
He couldn’t stop! He
couldn’t slow down!
I
need to do something, or I’ll be smashed! Sam
thought. He lay flat as a board. He pushed his
feet forward as the water rocketed him toward
the end of the pipe. My sneakers and this fast
speed just have to help me break through this old
rusty pipe!
Sam’s feet slammed into the end of the pipe.
HANGING
BY A THREAD
13
It cracked open! Sam was shot out into
the air.
“Oh, no!” he screamed. He was high above
the lunchroom.
He was in midair!
Thirty feet up!
And then falling!
Sam reached out for something, anything
to stop his fall. He grabbed on to one of
the huge curtains that covered the room’s
floor-to-ceiling windows.
Sam looked up at the pipe end above him.
Gallons of water were pouring out of the pipe
and splashing to the floor below.
But then the flow of water began to slow.
CRASH!
The water heater must have run out of
water. The danger was over!
I did it! Sam thought, dangling from the
curtain. He looked down. The lunchroom
was empty. Phew! I’ll just climb down this
curtain. Then I’ll find Antonio and Lucy.
But no!
Eerie Elementary was not done
with Sam Graves! The water
on the lunchroom floor
began rising. It was taking
shape. It was becoming
something.
Sam gasped.
The water was taking the
form of a giant hand.
“Help!” Sam shouted.
He tried to climb
higher up the curtain,
but the curtain began
swaying! It was
trying
to shake Sam off!
The curtain had
come to life!
RIP!
The curtain
started to tear!
Sam looked down at
the huge watery hand
of Eerie Elementary. It
opened wide.
It was reaching
for him!
Sam hung by a thread from the monstrous
curtain. He was about to be grabbed by the
enormous hand. But wait! Sam remembered
something. That morning, Ms. Grinker had
said, “Today’s weather will be the hottest ever.”
Sam tightened his grip on the curtain, and
then he tugged! The curtain tore. The entire
curtain fell to the ground — along with Sam.
WATERY HAND
14
Sunlight poured through the window. Hot
rays of sunlight were shining directly on the
watery hand.
The hand pulled back as though it were in
pain. Steam started rising off of it. The sun’s
heat was turning the water into steam! The
school howled!
But still, the hand reached for Sam. It was
hurt, weakened — but not beaten.
If I could just bring down the other curtains in
here, the sunlight would destroy the hand, thought
Sam. But I’m cornered.
Watery fingers were about to grab Sam.
SLAM!
Lucy and Antonio burst into the lunchroom.
“We’re coming, Sam!” they yelled.
“Pull down those curtains!” Sam shouted.
“Quick!”
Antonio and Lucy didn’t know what Sam’s
plan was, but they trusted him. Antonio tugged
on one curtain! Lucy grabbed another! Soon,
even more sunlight flooded the room!
The watery hand was almost beaten! Sam
just needed to deliver the final blow. He
spotted a metal cooking tray on the floor.
Metal reflects light! thought Sam.
Sam stepped on the edge of the tray,
popping it up into the air like a skateboard.
He snatched it and held it up to the sunlight.
A white-hot beam of light bounced off the
metal, toward the hand.
The hand of Eerie
Elementary screamed!
It shook! Steam
clouded the air.
And then —
HISSSS!!!!
The watery hand blew apart! Giant drops
of water splashed across the room.
The hand was gone. It was done.
BOOM-
SPLASH!
Sam got to his feet.
Then he said, “You guys got here just in
time! Where were you?”
“The pipe spit me out over in the gym,”
Lucy said.
“And I got spit out into the fifth-grade
hallway,” Antonio said. “Luckily, no one saw
us!”
Sam was so tired he could barely stand.
“Man, I owe you guys big time!” said Sam.
“Are you kidding?! You two saved me
today!” Lucy said.
“It was all Sam,” said Antonio. He began
clapping. “Sam Graves, hall monitor hero!
Give him a hand!”
Sam groaned. “I never want to hear the
word hand again.” The friends smiled.
They were safe.
But not for long.
SLAM!
The door flew open. Ms. Grinker burst into
the lunchroom. She looked around, eyes wide.
Her frizzy hair was standing on end. “Sam!
Antonio! Lucy! Where have you been?!” she
yelled. “What happened to the curtains? Why
is everything wet?!”
ALL WET
15
Just then, Mr. Nekobi rushed in. He began
calmly mopping up the water. Then he said,
“Ms. Grinker, Sam was helping me wash the
windows. Didn’t I tell you?”
Ms. Grinker was still upset. “No! You didn’t
tell me! And Sam should’ve asked me if he
could leave class. He missed our entire weather
lesson.”
“I’m becoming forgetful in my old age,”
Mr. Nekobi said. Sam smiled and looked to
the floor. Mr. Nekobi to the rescue!
“What about Antonio and Lucy?” Ms.
Grinker said. “They’re not hall monitors so
they shouldn’t be helping you.”
“I’m making them assistant hall monitors.
They’ve proven to be very helpful to Sam.”
Antonio and Lucy looked at each other
with big, excited smiles.
Ms. Grinker was mad. She turned on her
heels and stomped out of the lunchroom.
As soon as Ms. Grinker and the other students
left, Sam told Mr. Nekobi everything.
“You’ve learned a lot about the school,”
Mr. Nekobi said. “And you seriously hurt the
school this time. Hopefully, the evil will stay
asleep for a while.”
“And hopefully assistant hall monitors don’t
have to wear these ugly things!” Lucy said. She
tugged on Sam’s bright orange sash.
“Hey!” Sam said. Soon all four of them
were laughing.
After school that day, Sam, Lucy, and
Antonio sat on the swings.
“We did well today,” Sam said. “But I don’t
think we’ll ever be able to really defeat Eerie
Elementary.”
Lucy hopped down off her swing. “I don’t
think that’s true,” she said.
Antonio nodded. “We’re a team. And now
we know Orson Eerie is the school. There
must be a way we can undo whatever he did.”
Sam stared at the school building: Eerie
Elementary, the strange creation that was mad
scientist Orson Eerie.
“You guys are right,” he said. “There must
be a way to beat Eerie Elementary, once and
for all. And, together, we will find it!”
Jack Chabert was a hall monitor
at Joshua Eaton Elementary School in
Reading, Massachusetts. But unlike our
hero, Sam Graves’s, school, Jack’s school
was not alive. Jack is very thankful that
none of his friends were ever swallowed up
by lockers.
Today, Jack Chabert monitors the halls of
a different building: a strange, old apartment
building in New York City that he calls
home. His days are spent playing video games, eating
junk food, and reading comic books. And at night, he
walks the halls, always prepared for the moment when
his building will come alive.
Sam Ricks went to a haunted
elementary school, but he never got
to be the hall monitor. As far as he
knows, the school never tried to eat
him. Sam graduated from The University
of Baltimore with a master’s degree in
design. During the day, he illustrates from
the comfort of his non-carnivorous home.
And at night, he reads strange tales to his
four children.
What do Sam and his friends learn
from the book Eerie: A Town History?
What is the terrible truth about
Orson Eerie and Eerie Elementary?
How does the sun
hel
p Sam, Antonio,
and Lucy save the
day?
Pretend your school comes to
life. Use sound-effects words to
write an action-packed story.
Sam, Lucy, and Antonio visit
the library to research their town.
Visit your local library to see
what interesting
facts you can
uncover about your town!
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How muCH do you know abouT
The L
o
c
k
er
ATE
Lucy?
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