Later, in their apartment, Sulley and Mike watched the explosion again on the evening news.

“If witnesses are to be believed, there has been a child security breach for the first time in monster history,” the newscaster grimly announced.

The TV glowed with images of the smoldering sushi restaurant after the decontamination. A reporter interviewed one of the CDA agents. “We can neither confirm nor deny the presence of a human child here tonight,” the agent said.

Another monster being interviewed said, “Well, a kid flew right over me and blasted a car with its laser vision!”

“I tried to run from it, but it picked me up with its mind powers and shook me like a doll!” reported yet another monster.

A monster with many eyes stepped up to the camera. “It’s t-true!” he stammered. “I saw the whole thing!”

The TV report returned to the news anchor, who was in the studio interviewing cultural studies professor Dr. Frasenburger about the recent events. “It is my professional opinion that now is the time to panic!” Dr. Frasenburger said, leaping up from the desk and panicking.

But before Sulley and Mike heard what else Dr. Frasenburger had to say, the TV set suddenly tipped forward. It fell onto the floor with a crash. A little girl’s familiar head peeked over the toppled set.

“Uh-oh,” she said.

“Aaaaah!” Mike and Sulley screamed. They jumped behind a chair. The little girl began to walk toward the terrified monsters.

“It’s coming! It’s coming!” Mike cried fearfully. His voice was muffled by the snorkel tube that he was using to breathe through. Mike wasn’t taking any chances with kid germs. He’d placed a metal strainer over his eye and armed himself with a giant can of disinfectant spray.

Sulley and Mike scrambled over to the window. Outside, helicopters circled Monstropolis, searching for the dangerous child. Mike yanked down the shade. They certainly didn’t want anyone to find out the kid was in their apartment.

Just then the girl popped up from behind a chair and ran toward them, babbling happily.

The monsters dodged out of the way. The girl reached up and tugged at the window shade, which flapped open. Peering out the window, the little girl waved at the helicopters.

Mike grabbed a broom and used it to lift the child away from the window. As soon as he’d moved her, Mike quickly sprayed disinfectant on the spot where she’d been standing. But no sooner had the girl jumped off the broom than she discovered Mike’s CD collection. The CDs were arranged in neat little piles. The girl reached toward them.

“No!” Mike cried. “Don’t touch those, you little—”

The girl pulled a single CD from the middle of a tall pile. The entire stack collapsed.

“Oh!” Mike moaned. “Those were alphabetized….” Mike lifted the strainer from his eye. “It’s all right,” he reassured himself. “As long as it doesn’t come near us, we’re gonna be okay.”

Just then the little girl popped up next to Mike and sneezed on his arm.

Mike screamed and began to wildly spray disinfectant at the spot where she’d sneezed. Unfortunately he had the can turned the wrong way. The spray hit him right in the eye. “Ahhh!” He screamed in pain.

Meanwhile, the girl was creeping toward Sulley. He moved backward until he was pressed up against a chair next to the fireplace. Suddenly the child babbled and pointed to a teddy bear sitting on the mantel.

Sulley grabbed the teddy bear. “Oh, here—you like this?” he asked. “Fetch.” He threw the teddy bear over the child’s head. She chased it.

Mike, whose eye was bright red from the disinfectant, gasped when he saw the girl holding his bear. “That’s it!” he declared. He ran over and swiped the bear out of the little girl’s hands. “No one touches little Mikey!”

The girl whimpered. Her eyes filled with tears.

“Mike, give her the bear,” Sulley said in a cautious tone. But Mike held tight. The girl opened her mouth and…screamed!

Mike and Sulley covered their ears. Suddenly the lights in the apartment flared up.

Outside, the circling helicopters turned and began to fly in the direction of their apartment.

Panicking, Mike dropped the teddy bear and ran to shut the window shade again. “Make it stop, Sulley!” he cried, peeking out the window.

Sulley picked up the bear and offered it to the girl. “Here, see the bear? Nice bear.”

But it was no use. She cried even harder. The lights continued to blaze. Desperately Sulley began to sing a song and make the bear dance.

“Keep it up! You’re doing great!” Mike said. Slowly the girl stopped crying. The lights in the apartment returned to normal. The helicopters began to fly away. Sulley and Mike breathed a sigh of relief.

But Sulley was still holding the bear, and now the little girl wanted it. She reached out, but it was high up in Sulley’s big hand. Frustrated, she began to cry again.

“Sulley, the bear! Give it the—” Mike ran forward. Just then he hit a slick spot on the floor. “Whooooahh!” Mike flew into the air and landed in a garbage can.

The little girl let out a big belly laugh. Suddenly all the lights in the entire apartment building surged even brighter than before. Then they burned out!

“What was that?” Sulley asked when the girl stopped laughing.

“I have no idea, but it would be really great if it didn’t do it again,” Mike replied. At this rate, the CDA would find them in no time. The little girl started to giggle again.

“Shhhh,” Sulley said to the girl, putting a furry finger to his lips.

Amazingly, the child seemed to understand. She held a tiny finger up to her own mouth. “Shhhh,” she said. She grinned at Sulley.