As he sat hunched under his new poncho, Ollie worried. He worried that if Billy came out looking for him like that Can Man said he would, he’d get in trouble. Billy’s parents were really strict about going out in the rain during a thunderstorm. And if Billy was looking for him, he prob’ly had to do it in secret, and if he did it in secret, that meant running away. And that was really, really, really illegal. At the same time, Ollie wanted to be found. I wanna tell Billy all my huge A-venture secret scary Dark Carnival Tunnel of Lost Toys Danger Kid crime wave stuff, he was thinking when his thoughts were interrupted by a light metallic tapping sound coming from behind the streetlight. He looked over, and there stood a tin can hitting itself rather purposefully against the metal base of the pole. It was obviously trying to get Ollie’s attention.
“Were you hiding from the Can Man?” asked Ollie.
The can bent slightly at the middle and back up again, as if nodding.
“I guess that makes sense,” said Ollie, “if you don’t want to get smushed.”
The can nodded again, making a crumply sound as it bent. This is a can who could be a friend, Ollie thought. At that very instant the clatter of a thousand bits of metal rose up over the gentle drumming of the rain. The can began to shake. Ollie glanced around; he knew it had to be the Creeps. What else could it be? He spun back to the can.