5 HE’S BACK

CHAPTER 5 HE'S BACK I was in the barn, trying to think of a new experiment to run with the last few pieces of bread,

when the doorbell rang. I jumped to my feet so quickly, my Thinking Goggles tumbled off. I grabbed them and ran. Sassafras practically danced over to the back door. "What sort of animal do you think it will be this time, Sassafras?" "Meow?" "Yeah, I don't know either. Hopefully a baby something, though. Little Marshmallow was the cutest!" "Meow!" I opened the door slowly so I wouldn't startle the animal who had come for help. My shoulders slumped. It wasn't a new creature at all. It was Gorp. And he was still moldy. Oh no! Gorp sighed. I frowned. The only happy one was Sassafras. He pranced around purring and oozing happiness. He was so happy, in fact, he didn't even notice the fly buzzing around. This was huge because Sassafras is obsessed with chasing and eating bugs. I snatched him up before he had a chance to scare Gorp again.

"It didn't work at all." Gorp kicked at the ground. "I tried everything you said. I bathed early in the day. I used your towel. I made extra sure that my fur was dry before I went to sleep. But I am still moldy!" He looked like he was about to cry. Then the fly circled around Gorp's head. He tried to swat it away, but it wouldn't leave. "I'm so gross that this fly won't even leave me alone!" he wailed. "Gorp, please don't cry! Don't give up yet. The first thing we tried didn't work, but that doesn't mean we can't solve your problem. We've just got to try something else."

"But what?" cried Gorp. "Nothing will fix my moldy fur. I'll be covered in mold forever and ever. I'll never get to go to the dance! Never!" Sassafras wrestled out of my arms and ran up to Gorp. Sassafras' snuggles always make me feel better when I'm crying, but Gorp saw him coming and backed up. I managed to grab Sassafras. "Stay!" I instructed. He gave me a stinky look, but sat down by my feet. "I know you don't see a lot of cats, but they aren't mean, and they don't eat monsters. You really don't need to be scared of Sassafras. He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Just as I said it, that pesky fly flew by Sassafras. And he ate it. Gorp shrieked. Whoops. I tossed Sassafras in the barn and shut the door. I patted Gorp's arm until he started to breathe more normally. Then it was time to get to work. "What to try... what to try," I muttered as I

tapped my Thinking Goggles. "Oh! I should try lots of things. I should run an experiment!" I could try adding a bunch of different things to Gorp's fur to stop it from molding. "Bingo! Give me a minute, Gorp. I need to grab something from my house." I held on to my goggles and dashed into the house to grab some ziplock bags and scissors. I

wasn't sure what to try on Gorp's fur yet, but I knew I'd need several fur samples to get started. When I returned to the barn, I didn't see Gorp anywhere. Oh no. "Gorp? Gorp, are you here? Where did you go?"