Hugo got up and walked over to his bookshelf Rick-a-tick-a-tick Gigi frowned at the sound From the bookshelf Hugo pulled out a very thick hardcover book called The Biggest Biggest Ever Book of Cryptids His best friend Boone had lent the book to him and Hugo had been reading it every day Even when it was past his bedtime he would read the book under his blankets using his jar of glowworms for light The book listed all the known cryptids which is a fancy word for mysterious creatures in alphabetical order It had full-color illustrations of each one of them too Once in a while there was a photograph of a cryptid but those 4
were usually pretty blurry and could just as easily have been something else Hugo walked back to Gigi to show her the book Rick-a-tick-a-tick Hugo Gigi said staring down at Hugo’s feet when was the last time you cut your toenails I don’t know Why Hugo sat down beside her and leafed through the book to find the section about Snallygasters Because your toenails are so long that they’re clicking against the ground Hugo ignored this He flipped through 5
the pages past pictures of creatures that he had never heard of before reading the book There was an Owlman and Swamp Monsters and Tommyknockers and Globsters Globsters Some of the creatures were no bigger bigger than a pinkie toe and others were taller than the tallest pine tree 6
it Snallygaster Here is Hugo pointed at a page with a picture of a snaky-looking beast He read A dragonlike dragonlike creature that is half bird half reptile with razor-sharp teeth There I told you they were a real thing Right then they heard the noise again Rick-a-tick-a-tick Well that’s obviously not my toe nails Hugo told Gigi Hugo stood up and walked over to the little stream that ran right through his bedroom It entered the room through a hole in the bottom of the wall then it wiggled across the room and exited through another hole in the wall by Hugo’s toy chest The little stream was 7
