8 FOREST MONSTERS

CHAPTER 8 FOREST MONSTERS Sassafras and I didn't have to hike far before we heard the faint sound of music playing. I grinned down at Sassafras. "Forest monster dance party!" We ran into a clearing where a large group of young forest monsters were dancing to the music— including Gorp! Sassafras, wild with happiness, bounced over to Gorp. He was purring SO loudly.

The young forest monsters spotted my cat and gasped. They huddled together on the other side of the clearing, shaking in fear. Gorp stopped dancing and grimaced a bit. He reached out a finger gingerly and tapped Sassafras on the head. A young monster screamed. Sassafras fell over purring and rolled on the ground, begging for more pets from Gorp. Gorp called to his friends, "See? It's OK. He's a friend. He won't eat you, I promise!" He hesitated a

moment, then reached out and tapped Sass once more. Several monsters shook their heads. None of them came any closer. Gorp gave me a big hug. "How are you? You and Sassafras out for a hike?" "We came to see you!" I held out the plaster mold we'd made of the footprint. "Do you know what creature's footprint this is?" Gorp turned it a few different ways before shaking his head and handing it back to me. A few of his friends crept closer to get a better look, and I tilted the mold toward the brave monsters. "My mom and I think it might be a grumplet." One of the monsters said, "I've heard about grumplets before!" "You have?" I cheered and started walking toward her. Which meant Sassafras followed me. The monster hid behind a friend. "Oh, sorry!" I grabbed Sassafras and took several steps back across the field. "What do you know about them?" I called over.

She peeked out from behind her friend. After seeing that Sassafras was restrained, she took a step closer and said, "My grandma tells a story about them when I'm in a bad mood. When she was a little monster, they had the most perfect summer—not too hot and not too cool. But then the forest got a bad case of the grumplets. Everyone fought and argued instead of enjoying the wonderful weather. Eventually when the seasons changed, the grumplets moved on. So there was a happy ending and all that." "Hmmm…" I tapped my chin. "Maybe the grumplets migrate with the seasons?" Sassafras wiggled in my arms and chattered at the group of monsters. "Shhh, Sass! I know you want to love on the monsters but they're afraid!" I scolded. One monster backed up to get farther away from Sassafras. A monster behind him shouted, "OUCH! You stepped on my foot!" and shoved him. "It's not my fault you're ALWAYS IN MY WAY!" yelled the first monster and shoved him back. And just like that, all the monsters on the far

side of the field were pushing and shouting. "UGH. You RUINED our dance party!" shouted the monster who'd been helping me. "What?" I asked. Gorp, who was standing closest to us, turned and headed over to the group of loud fighting monsters, calling, "You guys are being SO RUDE!" I was so surprised by the whole thing that I loosened my grip on Sassafras. He wriggled out from my arms and bounded over to the grass behind

the monsters. They were so wrapped up in fighting that they didn't even notice my cat! "This has GOT to be the grumplets again," I whispered to myself and followed Sassafras on my tiptoes. Hopefully this time we'd get a peek at those troublemakers! As I caught up to Sassafras, I heard the weird chewing sound again. Sassafras and I slowly parted the grass and saw a group of… grumplets? They were so little and cute I almost squealed, but I pressed my mouth shut, took a breath, and reminded myself that it might be my only chance to observe them. I needed to be a scientist and focus on gathering as much information as I could. I couldn't see their feet through the grass, so I couldn't tell if they matched the footprint mold. I looked at their mouths. They were definitely chewing. It was the same sound from before. But what were they eating?