The Attack of the Aqua Apes by R.L. Stine Page A

Glen said. Then he stuck his fingers in his mouth and made gagging sounds. “I’ll give it back to you.”
    â€œYou’re so gross!” Scott slid away from Glen as fast as he could. The last time Glen pulled this stunt he really did throw up. “Just forget it,” Scott said miserably.
    â€œOh, all right,” Glen groaned. “I’ll pay for half.”
    Glen reached into his pocket and pulled out his money. He counted out three dollars and shoved it into Scott’s hand. “Go ahead. Order the swimming monkeys. But when the magic crystals don’t come to life, I’m not waiting for this stupid company to send my money back. You’re gonna give it to me.”
    â€œFine,” Scott agreed. “But what if they do come to life?”
    â€œThen I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” Glen cracked himself up. “Get it?”
    â€œHa, ha,” Scott said, not at all amused by Glen’s lame joke. “You’ll see.”
    In a few weeks I’ll finally have a cool story to tell at school , Scott thought. And maybe even scary, too.
    Scott had no idea just how scary his story would be.

2

    â€œN o!” Scott shouted. “No!”
    Scott couldn’t believe his bad luck. It was the first day in three weeks that he hadn’t been home to wait for the mailman. And sure enough, that was the day his package arrived.
    But that wasn’t the bad part. The bad part was that the mailman had just handed over Scott’s package to Scott’s older sister, Kelly.
    Kelly thought she was the coolest thing on earth. She constantly reminded Scott she was almost thirteen. Almost a real teenager. Not a baby like Scott—even though Scott was only a year younger.
    Scott and Glen chased Kelly around the kitchen table.
    â€œWe can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way,” Scott said, closing in on Kelly.
    He shoved his open hand out. “Now, give it to me.” But he knew she wouldn’t. Kelly never did anything the easy way.
    â€œHow do you even know this package is for you?” she teased.
    Scott inched closer to her. “Because my name is on it,” he said as he ripped the package from her grip.
    â€œJerk!” she huffed, punching him in the arm.
    Scott ignored her. He couldn’t wait to open the package. The minute the brown wrapping was off, Glen held out an open palm.
    â€œWhat?” Scott said, staring down at it.
    â€œYou might as well just give me my three bucks back right now,” Glen answered. “I told you it was gonna be a total rip-off.”
    Scott hated to admit it, but Glen was probably right. The box didn’t look anything like the ad in the comic book.
    There was no picture of a mad scientist.
    No magic crystals in his hand.
    Only lots of goofy-looking creatures. Withantennae popping up from their heads. And pink and blue bows tied to them. They swam around in a fishbowl, wearing silly grins.
    â€œMaybe they sent the wrong box,” Scott suggested, turning it around in his hands.
    Kelly snatched it from him. “Ooooh, ‘the power to create life,’ 𔄭 she read from the box.
    â€œGive that back to me,” Scott demanded.
    But Kelly just laughed. “You two are such losers. What’s the matter? Can’t find any real friends to play with so you have to grow some?”
    Then she tossed the box on the table and strolled out of the kitchen.
    â€œSo are we going to make these things, or what?” Glen asked, opening the box.
    â€œI guess.” Scott sat down at the kitchen table and watched Glen slide a small round tank from the box.
    Another disappointment. The tank was nowhere near as big as the one the mad scientist held in the ad. It was too small for even a goldfish. And it was made of plastic.
    The only cool thing about it was that it had a lid with a light you could turn on and off. And the bottom of the tank looked like the surfaceof the