Dogface greeted them in the driveway. The sheepdog barked happily, jumping up on Kermit, nearly knocking him to the ground.
“Shhh. Quiet, boy! Quiet!” Kermit cried, petting the dog, trying to stop his barks. “We don’t want anyone to hear us.”
Dogface gazed up at Evan—and got very quiet. The dog slumped across the driveway. It stared up suspiciously at Evan, panting hard, its stubby tail wagging furiously.
Evan’s eyes darted up and down the driveway. No car. “Your mom isn’t home yet, Kermit,” he said.
“She must be working late,” Kermit replied. “That’s good news. This is our lucky day!”
Evan let out a bitter laugh. “For sure. Lucky day,” he muttered.
Kermit and Andy hurried to the kitchen door. Evan started to follow. Then he remembered he didn’t fit in the house.
“Wait right there,” Andy instructed him. “Make sure no one sees you.”
Evan nodded. “Hurry—please!”
He watched them disappear through the door. Then he sat down behind the house. He motioned for Dogface to come over to him. He felt like holding on to something.
But the big dog just stared back and wouldn’t budge.
The whole town is looking for me, Evan thought unhappily. The whole town is looking for a giant me. But they’ll never find the giant me. Because in a few seconds, I’ll shrink back to normal size.
Then everything will be okay again.
He raised his eyes to the house. What is keeping Andy and Kermit? he wondered. Can’t they find the bottle of blue liquid?
He took a deep breath. Don’t panic, Evan, he instructed himself. They’ve only been in the house a few seconds. They’ll be out soon. And everything will be okay.
To pass the time, he counted slowly to ten. Then he counted slowly to ten again.
He was about to start counting one more time when the screen door flew open. Kermit stepped out, carrying the blue beaker. Andy followed right behind.
“Found it!” Kermit cried happily.
Evan jumped to his knees. He reached out eagerly. “Quick—let me have it.”
Kermit stretched up his hand. Evan grabbed for the glass beaker.
It slipped out of his grasp.
It started to fall.
“Ohhh!” Evan let out a horrified moan—and caught the beaker just before it crashed against the driveway.
“Wow! Nice catch!” Kermit exclaimed.
Evan’s heart had leaped to his mouth. He took a deep breath. He grasped the beaker tightly in his hand. “Close one,” he murmured. The beaker was so tiny in his hand, like something made for a dollhouse.
They heard sirens in the distance.
The search for the giant Evan was still on.
“I—I hope this mixture works,” Evan declared.
He raised the beaker. Tilted it upside down over his other hand. Waited.
And waited.
Finally, a tiny blue drop of liquid dripped on to Evan’s palm.
Nothing more.
He shook the beaker. Hard. Harder. The way he shook a ketchup bottle when the ketchup stuck.
Then he raised the beaker to his eye and peered inside.
A few seconds later, he let out a long, sad sigh. He tossed the bottle disgustedly onto the grass. “It’s empty,” Evan reported. “Totally empty.”
“I knew there wasn’t much left,” Kermit murmured, shaking his head.
The empty bottle rolled under a shrub. Dogface walked over and sniffed it.
“I’m doomed,” Evan muttered. Forgetting how strong he was, he angrily kicked a pebble down the driveway. The pebble sailed up into the air and disappeared over the house across the street.
“Be careful,” Andy warned. “You could break a window.”
