2 I SEE LONDON, I SEE FRANCE

CHAPTER 2 I SEE LONDON, I SEE FRANCE Alexander hiked up his pants and looked in the fitting-room mirror. I look like a rodeo clown, thought Alexander. His dad peeked in through the curtain and smiled. "Now those are some snappy slacks!" Alexander groaned. "Can't we just buy the plain black suit?" "Sure, AI. Suit yourself!" said his dad. "I'll go pick out some ties."

Alexander closed the curtain. Then he froze. Something in the mirror had moved. A cold draft tickled his back, as if someone had forgotten to close the fridge. "Dad?" he asked, peeking over his shoulder. "Is that you?" The curtain was still closed. Alexander looked back at the mirror. His eyes were bugging out. His nose was twitching. And his mustache was drooping. Mustache? Alexander blinked. Wait... it was just a shadow under his nose. The shadow wiggled. It's swaying, he thought, like the tail of a he gasped a giant snake! The shadowy snake slithered across the mirror, ready to strike.

"Ack!" Alexander leaped backward, right out of his pants. And right out of the fitting room. He crashed into a rack of belts. "I found a tie," said Alexander's dad, strolling into view. He lowered an eyebrow. Alexander looked down. A bright yellow cartoon crane smiled up at him. He was wearing his Stanley the Steam Shovel underpants in the middle of the store. Alexander's knees wobbled. "I, um..."

His dad chuckled as he pulled open the fitting-room curtain. "Let's get you back into your big-boy pants." Alexander slowly stepped back inside. There was no sign of the snake shadow. Did I see a monster? Alexander wondered. Or was that snake-thing just a trick of the light? Alexander got dressed and followed his dad to the checkout counter. "Snakes... eels... a leech, maybe?" He muttered to himself as he flipped through the monster notebook.

SCREECH LEECH A long purple three-eyed leech. HABITAT Found in closets. (They blend in with the belts and neckties.)

KOO- RAWWK! A screech leech's cry sounds like a duck playing a broken kazoo. DIET Chipmunks. Preferably with BBQ sauce. BEHAVIOR These bloodsuckers scream when they're hungry. WARNING! When you're near a closet, NEVER act like a chipmunk!