11. The Show Begins

THE SHOW BEGINS... 11 "You three look real comfy!" Bryan shouted from the swing set. It was Friday morning. Sam, Antonio, and Lucy were walking across the playground. All their classmates were laughing. Sam's cheeks turned red. "We look like babies," he groaned. The money jar was in Sam's backpack. With each shuffle of Sam's toasty feet, change rattled.

"Forget about them," Lucy said. "All that matters is my idea worked! We have enough money to buy Orson's painting tonight." "But why did Mr. Nekobi choose footie pajamas from the hat? This is so embarrassing!" Antonio complained. All morning, Sam heard their classmates laughing. It went on through lunch and recess. At the end of the day, their classmates were still laughing. It wasn't just because the friends looked silly— they also kept slipping and sliding down the halls. The footie pj's didn't have rubber soles!

Finally, the Eerie Elementary Art Show was beginning! Parents, neighbors, and other townspeople poured into the school. They looked at the artwork lining the halls. Sam heard lots of oohing and ahhing. Soon, everyone entered the auditorium and found seats. Ms. Winter stepped onstage. She would show off each piece of art. Then, the person who wanted to buy the piece would come forward and pay for it. Sam, Antonio, and Lucy watched from the hallway. Sam saw his own project onstage: his clay dinosaur.

The three friends were about to enter the very full auditorium when Sam saw one of the drawings on the wall move! Antonio and Lucy gasped. They saw it, too: a stick-figure drawing was coming to life! Sam quickly closed the auditorium doors.

They could not believe what they were seeing. The stick figure slowly peeled itself off the paper. It landed on the floor and began trotting toward them. "It has bendy arms like spaghetti...," Sam said softly. "And its arms are growing!" Lucy said. The friends all watched, scared, until— YANK! The figure's long arms reached out and plucked the money jar from Sam's backpack. The friends were too stunned to move. Suddenly, all the paintings started coming to life! And the jar was being tossed back and forth down the hall— away from Sam and his friends!

"Orson Eerie is making the artwork play keep-away!" Sam said as a drawing of a spider caught the jar in its fuzzy legs. "It's like when we play that game monkey in-the-middle at recess!" Lucy exclaimed. Antonio raced down the hall. He shouted, "HEY! GIVE US BACK OUR JAR!"