The Attack of the Aqua Apes
Read The Attack of the Aqua Apes Online
Authors: R.L. Stine
LOOKING FOR MOPE SPOOKY ADVENTURES
ON FEAR STREET? DON'T MISS:
HIDE AND SHRIEK
âANDâ
WHO'S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY GRAVE?
“Y
ou have the power to create life!” That was what the ad in the back of the comic book claimed.
“Pretty cool,” Scott Adams said as he studied the ad carefully.
Scott sat on the porch steps in front of his house, reading comic books with his best friend, Glen Brody.
“Check this out!” Scott handed Glen the ad. It showed a picture of a mad scientist. He was peering into a giant tank of water full of strange-looking creatures. Creatures called “aqua apes.”
“Â âAqua apes?'Â ” Glen laughed. He pulled off his glasses and polished them on his flannel shirt. “What are those? Swimming monkeys?”
“I don't know.” Scott shrugged. “They look more like lizards to me.”
“Well, what are you supposed to do with them?” Glen asked.
“You grow 'em. That's what's so cool. They come from magic crystals. See?” Scott pointed to the packet of magic crystals in the mad scientist's hand.
“Oh, right.” Glen rolled his eyes. “Swimming monkeys from magic crystals. I don't think so.”
“Yeah, well, they say it's guaranteed. Or you get your money back,” Scott said. “They wouldn't say that if it didn't work.”
“Maybe.” Glen didn't sound convinced.
“You want to send away for them?” Scott asked.
“No way,” Glen replied.
“Come on. What have we got to lose?”
“Three dollars and ninety-five cents,” Glen answered. “Plus postage and handling.”
Scott knew it would be hard to convince Glen to spend the moneyâbut he had to. You see, almost all the kids in school could tell creepy storiesâstories about totally weird things that
happened to them. Like being chased by ghosts in the Fear Street Cemetery. Or getting attacked by half-human, half-animal creatures in the Fear Street Woods.
But Scott didn't have a single story to tell. Not one. Which, when you think of it, was the weirdest thing of all. Because everyone knew that if you lived near Fear Street, scary things happened to you. Period.
But Scott had lived near Fear Street his entire life. And he didn't have a single creepy story to tell.
Untilâmaybe now. If he could just convince Glen to send away for the magic crystals. . . .
“Such a small price to pay for âthe power to create life.'Â Scott repeated the ad's promise in his best mad scientist voice. He wished he looked more like a mad scientist. It was hard to be really scary with blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles.
“Forget it,” Glen declared. “First of all, I've never seen a swimming monkey. Not even in the zoo. And second of all, it's impossible to grow a living animal from a âmagic crystal.' In case nobody told you this yet, you need a mommy monkey and a daddy monkey to get a baby monkey.”
“They're not monkeys!” Scott protested.
“They're . . .” Scott struggled to come up with an answer. “They're . . . something else.”
“Yeah, apes. Aqua apes.” Glen pointed to the words. “Same thing as swimming monkeys.”
“Well, I'm getting them,” Scott insisted, grabbing the comic book out of Glen's hands.
“So get 'em,” Glen answered. He shoved his curly brown hair off his forehead.
“I will,” Scott assured him. “As soon as you lend me some money.”
“I'm not paying for some stupid water monkeys. You're the one who wants them.”
“I'm not asking you to pay for them. Just the postage and the handling,” Scott said. “And I wouldn't even ask you for that. But you did eat up half of my allowance yesterday at the Ice Cream Castle. Rememberâyour sundae to celebrate the last day of summer vacation?”
“Okay. Okay,” Glen said. Then he stuck his fingers in his mouth and made gagging sounds. “I'll give it back to you.”
“You'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.
“Oh, 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.”
“Fine,” Scott agreed. “But what if they
do
come to life?”
“Then I'll be a monkey's uncle.” Glen cracked himself up. “Get it?”
“Ha, 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.
“N
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 Scottâeven though Scott was only a year younger.
Scott and Glen chased Kelly around the kitchen table.
“We 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.
“How 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.
“Jerk!” 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.
“What?” Scott said, staring down at it.
“You 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. With
antennae popping up from their heads. And pink and blue bows tied to them. They swam around in a fishbowl, wearing silly grins.
“Maybe they sent the wrong box,” Scott suggested, turning it around in his hands.
Kelly snatched it from him. “Ooooh, âthe power to create life,'Â she read from the box.
“Give 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.
“So are we going to make these things, or what?” Glen asked, opening the box.
“I 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 surface
of the moonâwith a big crater in the center of it.
Next, Glen pulled out some aqua ape food and the package of magic crystals. It was smaller than a packet of sugar.
This is going to be a total failure, Scott thought to himself. Then he asked, “How big are the ape things supposed to get anyway?”
Glen flipped through the instructions. “It says that happy, healthy adult aqua apes can grow up to half an inch long.”
“A half an inch?” Scott moaned. “The ones in the ad were monsters.”
“The instructions say we need distilled water,” Glen said, continuing to read. “Got any?”
“No,” Scott answered. “And I am not going to spend any more money to buy some either.”
“Then you're not going to grow any aqua apes,” Glen informed him. “Because it says right here that you have to use distilled water.”
“I have a better idea,” Scott said, suddenly feeling more enthusiastic. “Let's go down to the Fear Street Woods and scoop some water from the lake.”
“Are you crazy?” Glen exclaimed. “Haven't you heard about the gross things that live in
Fear Lake? I know a guy who drank some of the lake water on a dareâhe had to go in the hospital. Who knows what we'll get if we use that water?”
“Exactly!” Scott smiled his mad scientist smile. “Who knows what we'll get!”