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A Monsters Tail Tracy and Lacy were little monsters. They had beady red eyes, long scaly tails and slimy four-toed feet. They lived with their parents at the edge of a smelly swamp. There were bushes, tall grass, towering trees as well as rotted trees and musty smelling water. It was a wonderful life for them. In the mornings, Tracy and Lacy helped their mother make maggot and swamp grass stew. In the afternoons, they helped their father catch elk or bear for dinner and some bats, frogs and snakes for desert. Yet they loved the evenings most, when they would sneak into the nearby town and terrified children. Tracy was good at hiding in the closets and howling hideously. Lacy was better at crawling under beds. The children cried and screamed out for their parents, of course. "There's a slimy green monster in my closet!" they would wail. "And another under the bed." "Don't be foolish!" Their parents said as they shook their heads. Since the children's parents would not believe them, Tracy and Lacy never got caught. Then one day, something terrible happened. A new family moved to town. Naturally, Tracy and Lacy decided to hide in the new children's room. When the screaming started, the parents rushed in. Instead of telling their children they were just being silly, the parents searched the room. Tracy barely had enough time to climb into the trunk under the desk; Lacy had managed to cover herself up in the laundry hamper. "I don't see any monsters here now," said the children's mother. "But, your word is good enough. Tomorrow, we'll set traps." "If that doesn't work," said the father, "we'll call the exterminators!" Tracy and Lacy raced home as soon as they could. Together they told their parents of the experience. "It would be best, if you don't go back," their mother warned. "That's right," agreed their father, giving each a freshly baked spider. "When parents start believing their children, there's no telling what might happen." Tracy and Lacy, like most children, did not listen to the warning. The next night they crept back into town. No sooner had they stepped into the new family's yard than a big bear trap snapped shut, catching Tracy by the tail! Quickly, Lacy tried to pry the trap open, but unable to do so she grabbed Tracy's hands and pulled. His tail broke away like a lizard's and the two little monsters ran home, glad to have escaped with their lives. The next morning the new family found the tail and donated it to the town museum. "Why, that is nothing but an old dead snake," some skeptics said. Others were not so sure. As for Tracy and Lacy, they took up snakeskin collecting. It was not as exciting, but it was safe. Meanwhile, in town, some of the children insisted there were still monsters under their beds and in their closets. Well, maybe there were, but they were not Tracy and Lacy.
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