Don't Go to Sleep by R. L. Stine

Author:R. L. Stine [L. Stine, R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

I backed up against the cage wall. The cold steel bars pressed into my back. My legs were trembling so hard, I thought I would fall on my face.

The lion stared at me. He sniffed the air.

I’ve heard that animals can smell fear. This lion got a noseful.

My “father”—the lion tamer—stood beside me in the cage.

“We’re trying a new trick today, Matt,” he said. “You’re going to ride the lion.”

He might as well have punched me in the stomach. I was going to ride the lion?

Yeah. Right.

Some father this guy is, I thought. Feeding his own son to a lion.

The lion stood up. I kept my eyes on him. My whole body shook with fear.

ROOOAAAR!

The lion’s breath blew in my face like a hot wind. My hair stood on end.

The lion stepped toward us. Dad cracked his whip. “Ha!” he shouted.

The lion stepped back, licking his chops.

“Go on, boy,” Dad boomed at me. “Climb on Hercules’s back. Then slide up to his shoulders. I’ll crack the whip to make him walk around the cage.”

I couldn’t say a word. I just stared at the man in total disbelief.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re not afraid of Hercules, are you?”

“A-afraid?” I stammered. “Afraid” wasn’t the word. Petrified, maybe. Terrified, horrified, frozen with fear. But afraid? Nah.

He cracked his whip again. “No son of mine is a coward!” he shouted. “You get on that lion’s back—NOW!”

Then he leaned down and whispered, “Just watch that he doesn’t bite you. Remember your poor brother Tom. He’s still trying to learn how to write left-handed.”

He cracked the whip again—right at my feet.

I wasn’t going to ride the lion. No way.

And I couldn’t stay in that cage another second.

Dad cracked his whip at me again. I jumped.

“Noooo!” I shrieked.

I tugged the cage door open. I ran out of that cage so fast, Dad hardly knew what happened.

I raced out of the tent. My brain screamed, “Hide! Find a hiding place—quick!”

I spotted a couple of trailers in the parking lot. I darted behind one—and bumped right into Lacie.

“You again!” I gasped. It was weird how she kept popping up.

“I’ve got to hide,” I told her. “I’m in trouble!”

“What’s wrong, Matt?” she asked.

“I’m about to become lion food!” I cried. “Help me!”

Lacie yanked on the trailer door. It was locked.

“Oh, no!” I groaned. “Look!”

I pointed past the trailer. Two guys were running toward us.

I’d seen them before. The two guys in black.

They were coming after me!

I ran. There was no place to go, no place to hide—except back inside the tent.

I burst through the tent flap. I tried to catch my breath while my eyes adjusted to the dark.

I heard one of the guys in black shout, “In there! He went inside the tent!”

I stumbled through the darkness, searching for a place to hide.

“Get him!” The boys were inside the tent now.

I ran blindly—right back into the lion’s cage.

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