The Monster Club

Sally was nervous. Today was her first day at a new school. She had just moved to the small town of Copper Pine with her parents. It was far away from all of Sally’s friends.

“I’m feeling sick today,” Sally told her mom at breakfast. She did not want to go to school.

She was afraid that no one would like her.

“You look fine to me,” her mom said. “You better hurry up. You do not want to miss the bus on the first day of school!”

Sally sighed. She picked up her backpack and put on her lucky red watch. She groaned as she walked out the door.

The day passed in a blur. She was too nervous to make new friends. And many kids ignored her anyway.

After school, Sally walked along the swamp toward her house. The path grew dark under the tangled shadows of tall trees.

Sally soon realized that she was lost. The trees all looked the same. There were no signs to point a way out of the swamp.

Sally was scared. She began to run and tripped over a log. She landed near a trail of slimy green footprints.

“What is that?” she thought.

She followed the footprints to the edge of the swamp. The bank was thick with reeds and high grass. The trail of slime floated out to the middle of the swamp.

There, strange bubbles floated on the top of the water.