Sassafras watched from the edge of my sandbox as I erupted one of my sand volcanoes. After hearing about our success, Mom had taken a special trip to the store to stock up on vinegar.
I buried another plastic bottle with baking soda inside under the sand. I made sure that only the opening of the bottle peeked out, and then I reached for more peppermint-scented vinegar.
The smell of the peppermint reminded me of Gorp. Today was Friday, and Gorp had told us that the Monster Ball was on Thursday. I was hoping that he’d gone and had a great time.
I poured the vinegar into the bottle. Some of the white bubbles flowed down the side of the volcano and got on Sassafras’ paw. He leapt up and shook his paw wildly to get the bubbles off.
“Oh, Sassafras!” I couldn’t help laughing.
Suddenly he froze mid-paw shake and took off purring into the forest.
I stood up. Could it be Gorp?
I ran after Sassafras and found him at Gorp’s feet. He was, once again, staring up lovingly at the big monster.
Gorp looked worried until he saw me. Then he smiled. He had my camera and a photo in one hand, but the other hand was hidden behind his back.
I couldn’t wait to see the photo of the Monster Ball! I ran over to him and gave him a big hug.
“Zoey! Thank you for all of your work solving my mold problem. I had a great time at the Monster Ball. See?”
Gorp handed me the photo. He looked fancy in a bow tie and had his arms around two other monsters. All three were laughing. In fact . . . I thought I could hear it. I put my ear closer and grinned. The sound of deep belly laughs was definitely coming from the photo.
“I can see and hear that you had a great time!” I held it up to Gorp’s ear.
“Whoooa,” he said.
I pointed to a cake in the background. “And there was cake?”
“Yes! My aunt’s famous mud cake with grub sprinkles. Delicious.”
My stomach flipped at the thought of grub sprinkles. “Oh, uh, yum,” I managed to squeak out.
“I should have saved you a slice!” He shook his head. “I did get you these, though.” Clutched in the hand he’d been hiding behind his back was a big bunch of green and brown weeds, complete with dirt-covered roots.
I stared for a minute, not sure what to make of it.
Gorp pushed it toward me one more time. “It’s a bouquet. For you, Zoey!”
Ohhh! I took the “bouquet” of weeds and grinned. “Thank you so much, Gorp! You didn’t have to get me anything, though. I’m so glad you finally went to the Monster Ball!”
“Me too. Do you know what the funniest part was? Everyone kept asking where I’d been at the other monster parties. And when I talked about my moldy fur, they all said they didn’t care about it. I was worried about nothing this whole time. Although I must admit, I enjoy no longer being moldy. And now I smell so good!”
I sniffed the air and caught a whiff of candy cane. Yum. “You sure do!”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m sorry I can’t stay for long. I promised my friends I’d go hunt for glowing salamanders with them.”
“I hope you’ll still come visit us sometimes. We’d be happy to make sure you always have peppermint-y vinegar for your fur.”
Gorp gave me one last hug, and then he reached a finger down and gently tapped Sassafras once on the head. Sassafras dissolved into loud, rumbly purring. Gorp smiled uneasily and waved. Then he headed into the forest to play with his monster friends.
Sassafras and I went into the house. I grabbed a vase, filled it with water, and tried to arrange the weeds. As well as anyone could arrange a bouquet of weeds, anyway.
My dad came into the kitchen and raised an eyebrow when he saw what I was doing.
“It’s a bouquet from a friend,” I told him.
“Kind of a strange friend you’ve got there, Zoey. Aren’t bouquets supposed to be made of flowers?”
I laughed and nodded.
I took the bouquet into my room and set it on my desk next to my science journal. Sassafras jumped up and pawed at the pages of the journal until it opened to Gorp’s picture. He rubbed his face against it, purring super loudly. Then he drooled a little on Gorp’s photo.
“Ewww, Sassafras! That’s so gross!” I flipped to a new blank page in the science journal to keep the photo safe from further cat drool.
As I left my room with Sassafras tucked under my arm, I turned back to look at my open journal on the desk. I couldn’t help but grin, imagining what magical friend we’d meet next.
