11 PAINTING THE STREETS

CHAPTER 11 PAINTING THE STREETS

"Ready?" I asked Dad. I balanced the can of white spray paint in my slippery gloved hands. "Yep, you're all set." He pressed down the edges of the stencil one more time. "You shook it

really well, right?" "Yes, of course I did!" I stuck out my tongue. He laughed and stepped way back next to my mom. I pressed down the top of the spray paint can, and white mist flew out. I kept spraying until you couldn't read the stencil anymore. Next up was my favorite part. The big reveal! I set the can down and carefully peeled back the stencil. My parents clapped. "Beautiful work!" Right in front of the storm drain in bright white letters, there was now a message: DUMP NO WASTE. DRAINS TO STREAM.

I'd been so worried about the stream getting polluted with car wash soap again that my parents and I came up with a plan. Our city even had stencils and paint all ready for us. They just needed volunteers to drive around and paint the message on the storm drains. Over the last several weeks, we'd spent an hour or two each Saturday and Sunday labeling storm drains in town. This was the last one!

As we drove home, I felt a great sense of relief. Now instead of the water from the gutter mysteriously disappearing, people could read about where it goes. They'd understand that whatever they put down there would end up in our stream. We pulled into our driveway, and Mom let out a giant laugh. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. "Are you OK?" my dad asked. "Uh, yes. I, uh, thought I saw something on our doorstep." Mom reached back and squeezed my knee. Something on our doorstep? Oh! Something! I squished my face against the window searching for Pip. There he was, right on our doorstep. On Sassafras' head. I could tell that Sassafras was not pleased. His ears were out to the side, and he had a sour look on his face. I looked away so I wouldn't start cracking up. Once my dad parked, I bolted out of the car. I pretended to bend down to tie my shoe. Pip hopped up onto my head. Sassafras let out a big breath of

relief and bumped against me, purring in thanks. "I thought you'd never get home!" Pip exclaimed. "The merhorses are requesting you down at the stream, Zoey." "Are they OK?" I whispered up to Pip. "Yes. They have news for you!" Pip said excitedly and gave a little jump on my head. I sighed with relief. Pip had been able to find some grubs from the forest monsters to keep the merhorses comfortable. But apparently the