He sucked in a deep breath and held it. He shut his eyes tight and tried to concentrate—concentrate on not growing.
“I think I just saw you grow another few inches,” Andy called to him. “You’d better hurry, Evan.”
“How big is Evan going to get?” Kermit asked. He had climbed halfway up the stairs. “Is he going to get bigger than an elephant?”
“That’s not helpful, Kermit,” Evan muttered unhappily. “Please stop asking questions like that—okay?”
“If you get as big as an elephant, will you give me a ride?” Kermit demanded.
Evan glared angrily at his cousin. “Do you know what elephants do to mice?” he bellowed. Evan raised one foot and brought it down with a crunching thud to demonstrate to Kermit what elephants do to mice.
Kermit swallowed hard and didn’t say anything more.
Evan walked over to the stairway. He glanced up the stairs. “I don’t think I can make it,” he told Andy. “I’m too big.”
“Give it a try,” she urged. “You’ve got to, Evan.”
Evan stepped on to the first step. Leaning low, he raised himself to the next step.
“You’re doing it!” Kermit cried happily. He stayed at the top of the stairs, watching Evan’s progress eagerly.
Evan took another step. The wooden stairs creaked under his weight. He tried to lean on the banister. But it snapped beneath his hand.
He climbed two more steps.
He was a third of the way up when he became stuck.
His body was just too wide for the narrow stairway.
Kermit pulled both of Evan’s hands. Andy pushed him from behind.
But they couldn’t budge him.
“I—I can’t move,” Evan stammered. He felt panic choke his throat. “I’m jammed tight in here. There’s no way I’ll ever get out!”
Then he felt his body start to tingle. And he knew he was growing even more.
As Evan grew, he heard a cracking sound.
Soft at first. Then louder. Very close by.
He cried out as the wall to his left crumbled. His expanding body had broken the wall away.
As the wall cracked and fell, Evan took a deep breath and lurched up the stairs.
“Made it!” he cried as he squeezed through the doorway.
A few seconds later, he burst out through the kitchen door, into the sunlit backyard.
Dogface lay stretched out near the fence. The dog jumped to his feet as the gigantic Evan appeared. Frightened, Dogface gave a loud bark, his stubby tail wagging furiously, then turned and bolted from the yard.
Kermit and Andy followed Evan into the backyard, cheering and shouting, “You made it! You’re free!”
Evan turned to face them. “But now what?” he asked. “Now what do I do? I’m nearly as tall as the garage. How tall am I going to grow?”
Kermit stepped closer to Evan. “Look—I’m standing in your shade!” he declared.
Evan’s shadow fell across the yard like the shadow of a tree trunk. “Kermit, give me a break,” Evan muttered. “I have a little bit of a problem here, you know?”
“Maybe we should get you to a doctor,” Andy suggested.
“A doctor?” Evan cried. “What could a doctor do for me?”
“Check your knees?” Andy joked.
Evan leaned over her, squinting down at her menacingly. “Andy, I’m warning you. One more bad joke, and—”
“Okay, okay.” Andy raised her hands as if trying to shield herself from him. “Sorry. Just trying to keep it light.”
“Evan isn’t light. He’s heavy!” Kermit chimed in. His idea of a joke.
Evan let out an unhappy growl. “I don’t think a doctor can help me. I mean, I couldn’t fit into a doctor’s office.”
“But maybe if we brought the can of Monster Blood along, the doctor could figure out an antidote,” Andy suggested. “Some kind of cure.”
Evan started to reply. But shrill voices on the other side of the tall wooden fence at the back of the yard made him stop.
