Freaky in Fresno by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Author:Laurie Boyle Crompton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2020-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 18

I’m breathing heavy when I step outside, feeling silly for reacting so strongly to a little mouse. Then again, that seemed like a very aggressive little mouse. And I definitely saw teeth.

“Was that some sort of immortal mouse?” I ask Lana. “I can’t believe Zelda let—” But then I’m distracted by a blinding glint of light. I lift up my arm and sunlight reflects off of it, making me squint. My arm has turned solid silver.

I look over at Lana and see she’s completely silver too.

“Did we just switch back?” she asks as she holds up her shimmering arms, twisting them back and forth in amazement.

“I’m pretty sure I’d feel taller if we did,” I say. “Wait a—” I rub at my wrist and tiny flakes of silver float into the air. “Arrrrgh!” I yell.

Together, Lana and I both wail, “GLITTER!”

So much glitter.

“The front door must’ve been rigged with a giant bin of it.” Lana scowls and calls out, “Nice one, Erik!”

I look around. “Is Erik even here?”

“He’s not, but I’m sure one of his cameras is.” She scans the parking lot a moment and gestures to Wes’s black Jeep and then to a light post. “It could be anywhere.”

“I don’t see anything.” I shake out my pink skirt, making it rain silver around my feet.

“That’s the point. Trust me, it’s there.” Lana tries to wipe the glitter off her arms, but it doesn’t budge. “This is awful. Glitter is forever!”

The door to the concession shack opens and Wes strides toward us with Zelda tucked under one arm. He’s laughing so hard he can barely walk, and the Chihuahua has her head held high. She’s gripping the mouse in her mouth by its tail.

Lana screams and points. “There’s blood around that thing’s mouth!”

Zelda looks even prouder.

Wes gives a fresh bout of laughter, then reaches down and takes ahold of the mouse, trying to wrestle it from the Chihuahua’s grip.

“Don’t touch it,” I yell.

Zelda bares her teeth at Wes and hangs on to the tail, but he manages to lift the small, dead creature with two fingers. He aims it in our direction and Lana gives another scream.

“Wait, is that real?” I move in for a better look. The mouse has exposed fangs and blood drips from its mouth. Zelda growls as I get close but not before I’m able to see the mouse was never actually alive.

“It’s a fake zombie rat!” Wes laughs.

“I saw it run across the snack counter,” I say. “Is it motorized or something?”

“Remote control,” he says proudly. “One of Erik’s gadgets.”

“I should’ve known,” Lana says. “He once got his buddy with a ferret that scampered around like it was loose in his car.”

“So then it wasn’t the real estate guy sabotaging our snack sales for tonight?” I say.

Wes makes a face. “I’d never give that guy time alone in the snack bar, Lana. Although I wouldn’t put it past him. He stands to gain a huge commission if he closes the sale on this place.”

I burst out, “Are you considering selling?” and stop breathing as I wait for Wes’s answer.

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