4 AN EASY FIX

CHAPTER 4 AN EASY FIX?

"Mold grows quickly when things are damp and warm," I explained to Gorp. "When you get back to your cave, your fur must still be a little damp. And then you go to sleep in your warm cave. It's the perfect way to grow mold." He looked worried. "You mean, the problem is my warm cave? I don't want to sleep outside in the cold!" I patted his arm. "I think if we take care of the damp fur, you'll be fine sleeping in your warm cave. You can borrow one of our towels. Use it to get your fur completely dry. And just to be extra safe, take your bath earlier in the day so your fur is super dry by the time you get to your warm cave. That should stop the mold from growing." I wrote in my journal: SOLUTION: 1. Gorp will take bath early in day.

2. Gorp will use towel to get very dry. I touched the page I was writing on. I kind of wanted to add a photo of Gorp to my journal entry. My mom had given me an instant film camera, and I was allowed to take one photo of each magical creature I helped. But I was nervous to ask him since we'd just met. Anyway, his problem had been so easy to solve. I closed my science journal. "I'll be right back," I announced. I ran inside and returned with a towel for Gorp. He picked it up between two fingers and peered at it. Oh, right. A monster wouldn't actually know what a towel was. "Here, you use it like this," I said as I pretended to dry myself.

Gorp watched closely and then smiled and took the towel. "Thank you for your help, small human. I am very excited to be able to go to the Monster Ball." "No problem. And my name is Zoey, and this is Sassafras. We hope you have fun at the dance." Well, that was easy! I waved good-bye, and Gorp disappeared into the forest. As I turned back to the house, I heard my mom's car coming up the driveway. Sassafras and I hurried to meet her.

"Mom! I solved a problem all by myself! There was a monster and Sassafras loved him. But the monster was covered in mold. We were super careful not to touch him, since I know some molds are dangerous. Anyway, I figured out his fur was molding because he was going to bed in his warm cave with wet fur. It's just like my bread

experiments! See, all he needs to do is bathe earlier, use the towel to completely dry his fur, and by the time he goes to bed he should be very dry and not have any more mold problems! Oh, and I gave him one of our towels to use. I hope that's OK." "Phew! That sounds like quite the afternoon