“C’mon, Steve!” Tommy cried. “Eat your lunch!”
It was still that same day. The sun was shining high in the sky, the birds were singing their songs, and Tommy told Danny that he would feed Steve his lunch that afternoon. He thought it would be fun to get Steve to himself for a while. It was harder than Tommy thought.
“Please Steve! It’s good! Here I’ll show you!” Tommy pulled a small piece of the stuff he was trying to feed Steve out of a bag, and popped it into his mouth. Tommy chewed it happily. “See? It’s nummy!”
Tommy and Steve turned when Danny entered the cabin door. Once Danny saw Tommy’s face he chuckled. “Tommy,” he said, amused, “I thought you’ve been feeding Steve for the past half hour, not yourself!”
“I’ve been trying to feed him!” Tommy cried. “But he just won’t eat!”
Danny grabbed the bag Tommy held in his hands. “Is this what you’ve been trying to feed him?”
“Yeah!”
“Well,” Danny said, grinning and showing Tommy the bag, “I don’t think owls eat cheesy puffs!”
“I thought he would like a snack for lunch!” Tommy explained. “Spike eats them!”
“Well, Spike’s a dog!” Danny paused for a moment, and then said, “Why don’t we go into the woods and look for some food. I’m sure there’s something there that Steve will eat!”
“That’s a great idea Danny!” Tommy exclaimed. “What do you thinks Steve?”
“Hoo! Hoo!” Steve hooted happily.
“Steve thinks it’s a good idea too!” Tommy said, happily. “Just lets me grabs my clamera and then we can go!”
Danny nodded. “Why don’t we also see if anybody else wants to come with us.”
J J J J
‘Why did I ever suggest going into the woods?’ Truthfully, Danny was trying to avoid the woods ever since he first arrived at the spooky camp. Now that Steve was here, Danny had no choice but to search for food.
The woods were dark, gray, and scary all at the same time. Danny hated places like this. He had seen the Indiana Jones movies. Whenever someone entered the dark, spooky cave, or the eerie wilderness, eventually something bad was going to happen.
Danny glanced at his friends. Tommy didn’t seem to care what dangers lurked ahead of him. He was toddling as fast as his legs could carry him, and snapping pictures everywhere he turned. Sam was right behind Tommy with Steve on her left shoulder, trying to find more things he could take pictures of.
Danny sighed deeply. His best friends were having the time of their young lives, and here he was trudging along nervously behind them. Danny thought back to what Dash had said the morning before school ended. “You’re not a leader or a fighter and you never will be!” Danny sighed again. ‘Maybe he’s right.’
“DANNY! DANNY! DANNY!” a voice suddenly cried. Tommy was running toward his playmate excitedly with his arms flapping up and down like he was trying to fly. Tommy’s camera was banging against his chest as he ran.
“Tommy what are you-,” Danny started.
“THERE’S A THING IN THE WOODS!” Tommy cried jumping up and down. “SAM FOUNDED IT! IT’S SO COOL! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS! SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS NEITHER! SHE SAID YOU WOULD KNOW, SO I CAME TO GET YOU! COME AND SEE IT! COME AND SEE IT! COME AND SEE IT!”
“Jeez, Tommy!” Danny exclaimed. “Stop jumping and take a breath!”
Tommy did as he was told. Once he calmed down, Tommy looked up at Danny and cried, “Follow me!” He ran deeper into the woods.
Danny ran as fast as he could to catch up with Tommy. The woods were getting darker with each step he took. Danny stopped once to catch his breath and then continued running again.
When Tommy finally came to a stop, Danny slowed to a walk. He could hear Steve hooting loudly in the distance. “Hurry up Danny!” Tommy cried excitedly.
Danny picked up his pace a bit. When he got close enough, Danny could see Sam kneeling against a tree looking at, what? Nothing in particular he could tell.
Sam stood up and faced Danny. “I know it’s really dark here,” she started, “but there’s a little thing on the ground and I don’t know what it is. It looks familiar though.”
Danny had to kneel down by the big tree and squint to find out what Sam and Tommy were talking about. After a few minutes of careful searching, Danny thought he found what they were looking for.
“Is this it you guys?” Danny showed them a tiny metal square in the palm of his right hand.
A wide grin appeared on Tommy’s face. “That’s it!”
“What is it, Danny?” Sam asked.
“It looks like a chip!” Danny answered.
“Oooh!” Tommy cried. “A chip! Can I haves it?”
Danny laughed. “It’s not a food chip, Tommy! It’s a chip for computers and gizmos and stuff.”
“Oh!” Sam exclaimed. “I remember where I saw them now! They were on the counter, in a bowl, in S.T.’s and Vlad’s office!”
“Well,” Tommy started, “I guess compoopers has to eats something every once in a while!”
Danny was about to say something, but shrugged instead. “I guess.” He looked at his friends, glanced at the microchip in his right hand, and then at Tommy and Sam again. “Come on! We’d better take this back to S.T. and Vlad.”
“But I founded something!” Tommy cried, sadly. “Can’t we stay a little longer?”
Danny shook his head in response. “Sorry, Tommy. I know you and Sam found something cool, and you did the right thing by telling me. But we still haven’t found Steve any food, and-,”
“No!” Tommy interrupted. “I mean I just founded something else!”
“Huh?” Sam asked, with a puzzled look on her face. “What are you talking about Tommy?”
“There’s something behind that tree over there!” Tommy was pointing to a tree not far from where the microchip was.
Danny squinted to where Tommy was pointing. He was right. There was something sticking out from between two huge trees, but he couldn’t quite make out what it was. Danny cautiously walked toward it.
“Danny,” Sam suddenly cried, “what are you doing? That thing-whatever it is- could be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry, Sam!” Danny exclaimed. “If it looks dangerous, I won’t touch it. I promise.” He edged closer toward the object, until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see it. “Cool! Tommy, Sam, get over here quick!”
Tommy and Sam ran as fast as they could toward the scene.
“What is it Danny?” Sam asked.
Danny pointed to the gizmo hidden between the two trees. “A jetpack!” he cried, excitedly. Steve hooted madly once Danny had said it, and flew onto his left shoulder.
Tommy’s eyes widened. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “Can I touch it?”
As Tommy’s right hand reached out toward the jetpack, Steve glared at him, gave an angry hoot, and snapped at Tommy like a mad dog. Tommy quickly backed away.
“Steve!” Sam cried, surprised. “What are you doing?”
“Hoooooo.” Steve said, shamefully.
Tommy glanced at Steve, and gave him a big smile. “It’s okay Steve! I forgives you!”
Steve hooted happily.
Danny grinned. “It was probably a good thing Steve did that Tommy. We don’t know where that jetpack came from.”
“Actually,” Sam stated, “we do!” She was looking at the left side of the jetpack. Danny kneeled beside the trees, and squinted to read the huge bold letters:
If lost, please return to
S.T. Sohg and/or
Vlad Masters.
Lake Eerie, Big Red Office
Behind the Cabins.
“Well,” Danny said, smiling, “at least now we know where it came from! But what is it doing here?” He turned to Sam, who shrugged.
“Hey, Danny!” Tommy cried. “Puts the jetpack on and I’ll takes your picture!”
Danny looked at his playmate, and then at the jetpack. Now that he knew it was S.T.’s and Vlad’s, Danny didn’t see what the harm was. “Okay, sure!”
Danny slipped the jetpack onto his back. It wasn’t very heavy. Actually, it didn’t feel like there was anything in it at all. Once Danny made sure the jetpack was comfortable on his back, he glanced up just in time to see Steve pecking him. “OUCH! STEVE, WHAT ARE YOU- OW! I’VE BEEN PUNCHED ENOUGH TIMES! DO I REALLY NEED TO BE PECKED TOO?! OW!”
Sam ran toward Danny to try and calm Steve down, while Tommy stood watching the commotion, with his mouth in a tight O. About five minutes later, Sam finally got Steve in a weird position, in her arms. “That’s it!” she cried, madly. “No dessert for you!” But Steve was hooting too much to pay any attention to what Sam said.
“You’d better take the picture quickly,” Danny said breathlessly, “before someone calls for animal rescue.”
Tommy nodded. He put his eye on the camera hole and took a few steps back. “Say cheese, peas!”
“Cheese please!” Danny exclaimed, giving Tommy a huge smile.
CLICK! The flash came. Not more than five seconds later, the picture came out of the front end of the camera.
Tommy grinned. “Now let’s see how this picture turned ou-,” There was a slight pause. Tommy stared at the picture, his eyes wide with fear. His eyes darted to Danny, back at the picture, and then to Danny again. Danny, Sam, and Steve were all watching him.
“DANNY!” Tommy suddenly screamed. “LOOK OUT!”
“Tommy,” Danny started, “what are you-,”
But before Danny could finish his sentence, Tommy ran up and jumped on top of him. Danny grunted as he fell to the ground. “Tommy! What was that all about?” But Tommy had already gotten up.
“BACK!” he was yelling. “BACK YOU FIENDS! I GOTS A CLAMERA, A STEWDRIVER, AND A DIAPIE, AND I’M NOT AFRIAD TO USE THEM!”
“Tommy!” Danny exclaimed once again. “What is with you? I’ve never seen you like this!”
“The picture!” Tommy cried, shaking with fear. “It-it-it-well, just look at it!”
“Tommy,” Sam said calmly, “there are a lot of things to be scared of. Spiders for instance. But I don’t think pictures are something to be afria-,” Tommy held the picture up to her face. “Holy cow!”
“You guys,” Danny stated as he walked up behind his two friends, “everyone gets a bad picture every once in awhile. I’m sure it’s not-,” Once he saw the picture, Danny froze. “Whoa.”
The three of them stood in silence as the ghost in the picture stared back at them.
Rugphan
