Monster Blood IV

21

“My electric fence!” he cried. “If we can herd them to the backyard, we can zap them with the electricity. Maybe it will dry them up!”

“Hey—!” Evan exclaimed. “Maybe it will. It’s worth a try.” Then he hesitated. “How do we get them to the backyard?”

Kermit shrugged.

POP! Another blob exploded into two.

Evan covered his ears to block out the angry growls and roars. He glanced frantically around the basement. And spotted several brooms and mops leaning against the wall near the laundry room.

“Come on — let’s round them up!” he told Kermit.

He grabbed a broom and handed another one to his cousin. The two of them began swinging the brooms, batting the hairy blobs, poking them, moving them out.

The creatures squealed in protest. But their balloonlike shape made them easy to bat and shove along.

It seemed to Evan to take hours. By the time they herded the last of the stragglers into the backyard, his arms ached and his sweatshirt was drenched with sweat.

“What’s going on? What on earth are you doing?” Andy came running across the yard. She wore bright green leggings and a purple sweater. She goggled as she saw how many bouncing blobs the boys were herding.

“Yuck!” she groaned. “They’re all hairy! Sick!”

“They’re out of control!” Kermit declared. “And it’s all my fault!”

Weird, Evan thought. Kermit never takes the blame for anything. Maybe he’s growing up.

“That’s why I came up with a brilliant plan to kill them!” Kermit declared.

Same old Kermit, Evan thought.

“We’re going to zap them,” Evan told Andy breathlessly. “On the invisible fence!”

“You’re going to shock them to death?” she cried, staring at the bouncing, growling monsters.

“It’s worth a try,” Evan gasped. He slapped a blob into line with a swing of his broom. The black hair over its body stiffened and stood straight up. It tried to bite the broom handle. But Evan slapped it away with another swing.

“Get ready!” Kermit cried. He swung his broom back and forth, frantically trying to keep the angry creatures in line.

“Okay! Push them! Push them forward — into the invisible fence!”

Evan swung his broom hard.

The blobs bounced forward, squealing and growling, snapping their teeth.

Forward. Forward. Toward the edge of the yard.

Will it work? Evan wondered. Will the jolt of electricity destroy the ugly, destructive things?