"That was when I realized what this animal must be. It was the one and only bigfoot! The missing link! Right there in front of me!"
by A.R. Colton, Shoreline, WAThe older campers laughed, but several of the six-year-olds looked concerned.
"What's Tummy Rumblers eat?' asked Melanie, the bravest of the first-timers.
The nine- and ten-year-olds snickered knowingly.
"Tummy G-rumblers," whispered Luke.
Melanie glared at her twin. "Don't care WHAT they re called! Wanna know what they EAT!"
Reginald DeHunter smiled at the little girl. "Glad you asked! We'll feed them as soon you find a few sticks and I make a fire."
The campers scampered off to gather wood while the director rifled through his knapsack.
***
Magically, by the time the campers had gobbled down roasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers, those Tummy Rumblers had vanished!
by Ric Hardson, USAEllen and Mark Dupree, Reginald's closest neighbors, squirmed uncomfortably on their squeaky lawn chairs.
Reginald DeHunter, oldest resident on the street, loved to regale everyone with local lore each year on Neighborhood Night Out.
"The RATS didn't bother me all that much," Reginald paused for effect, "but when they started leaving BLOODY-LOOKING tools by the garbage can..."
"Ohhhhh!" Ellen fainted, falling off her rickety lawn chair.
A panicky Mark rushed to her aid, as Reginald finished his tale:
"Well, I'm SURE you can imagine how RELIEVED I was when Mark and Ellen moved in after those nasty folks were hauled off by the authorities!"
by Daphne Rice, Portland, ORThe crowd gasped, then looked suitably embarrassed. Still, no one moved.
Reginald unslung his rifle and pointed it at them. "Where I come from, we shoot litterbugs, and that's why every one of you is going to get in those trees and clean the place up."
Nobody complained, but they moved into the trees, and in two hours had the forest looking great.
by Phillip Lynne, Knoxville, TN"They were GROWLING?" a man in the crowd asked, adding another question, "What kind of growling?"
"Growling is growling," Reginald said. "But come to think of it, the growling was going on and on and on..."
"Like a kind of buzzing, off and on?" the man persisted.
"Yes."
"Let's walk on then," the man said, leading the crowd into a clearing. "See, just as I thought. You're right... bees..."
Everyone shrank back into the trees.
"They're harmless!" the man called, adding, "They just can't make up their minds..."
"What?" Reginald called. "They can't make up their minds? What are they?"
"A swarm of May-Bees."
by Carolyn Ann Aish, Inglewood, New Zealand