What kind of reward? Evan wondered, staring back at the teacher. A cash reward?
Mr. Murphy raised the hamster cage into Evan’s view. “I’ve decided to reward you with Cuddles,” the teacher said. “I know how fond of him you are.”
“No, please!” Evan started to plead.
“It’s a small token,” Mr. Murphy said. “To show how grateful I am. How grateful we all are.”
“Please—no—!”
But before Evan realized it, the hamster cage was in his hand, and Mr. Murphy was walking back down the driveway to his car.
“He gave you Cuddles?” Andy asked as Evan returned to the living room carrying the cage. He set it down on the coffee table.
“It’s my reward,” Evan told her, rolling his eyes. “Do you believe it?”
“Well, you won’t believe this!” Andy declared. “Look what my parents found in Europe!”
She reached into the envelope and pulled out a blue plastic can. “It’s Monster Blood!”
“Oh, no!” Evan wailed.
“They wrote that they remembered how much fun I had with the old can,” Andy said, holding up the blue container. “So when they saw this can in a toy store in Germany, they decided to send me a new one.”
Evan’s eyes went wide with fear. “You—you’re not going to open it?” he demanded warily.
“Already did,” Andy replied. “Just to take a look. But I’m not going to use it. Really. I promise.”
Evan started to say something—but he was interrupted by his mother’s call from the kitchen. “Dinnertime, you two! Wash your hands and come to the table!”
Andy set the can of Monster Blood down on the desk in the corner. They obediently hurried to wash their hands.
They had a lively dinner. There was lots to talk about. They laughed and joked about all that had happened at school. It was easy to laugh about it now that it was all over.
After dinner, Evan and Andy returned to the living room.
Andy was the first to see that the door to the hamster cage was wide open. The cage was empty.
Evan was the one who spotted Cuddles on the desk.
“Cuddles—what are you eating?” he cried. “What are you eating?”
R.L. Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written the teen series Fear Street and the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel. You can learn more about him at RLStine.com.
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#1 PLANET OF THE LAWN GNOMES
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#3 HOW I MET MY MONSTER
#4 FRANKENSTEIN’S DOG
#5 DR. MANIAC WILL SEE YOU NOW
#6 CREATURE TEACHER: FINAL EXAM
#7 A NIGHTMARE ON CLOWN STREET
#8 NIGHT OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE
#9 HERE COMES THE SHAGGEDY
#10 THE LIZARD OF OZ
SPECIAL EDITION #1 ZOMBIE HALLOWEEN
SPECIAL EDITION #2 THE 12 SCREAMS OF CHRISTMAS
SPECIAL EDITION #3 TRICK OR TRAP
SPECIAL EDITION #4 THE HAUNTER
GOOSEBUMPS®
