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Sa beside hi of indistinct shape

The giant bug picked up a Junior Mint, which noas not a can but a big, novelty-sized box

Sam woke suddenly

Astrid was shaking hiht in is face, scared “Wake up!”

He was up in a flash, al Astrid over

“What?”

“Petey,” Astrid cried Her eyes ith fear

Sam ran for Pete’s room He stopped dead in the hallway outside it The door was open

Pete was in his bed He wasn’tHis eyes were shut His face was peaceful He was asleep But how he could sleep was beyond Sam, because the room around Pete was filled with monsters

Literally filled Wall to wall Up to the ceiling

Monsters A hundred nightmares’ worth of monsters They slithered from under his bed They crawled from his closet They floated like they were heliu parade in miniature had floated into Little Pete’s room But instead of cartoon Shrek and the Cat in the Hat there were things much more sinister in their place

One of the s tendrils hanging froe with bloodred eyeballs perched on top

The largest was a shaggy hteen-inch spikes at the ends of its paws

There were creatures that were all sharp edges, as if they’d been assembled out of razor blades and kitchen knives There were creatures of glowing ma There were creatures who flew and others who slithered

“Like the other day? In the plaza?” Sam asked in a shaky whisper