Carlos secured his SeaSpace helmet and checked his supply of harpoons. There were twenty in the sling attached to his SeaSpace suit. He hoped that would be enough for him to journey across the Coral Planet and through the lair of the OctoSnatchers. He needed to reach the space clam breeding grounds where he could collect enough asteroid pearls to refill his blaster.
It was a catastrophe. A cat-astrophe to be exact. The Witch Familiar Obedience Exam, known as the WFOE, was in fifteen minutes and Alice’s cat was not cooperating. Alice thought an obedience exam was a silly idea anyway. Since when were witches’ familiars obedient?
Darius carried his laundry basket to the basement. His dad said he had to do the wash before he could play video games. The pile of clothes was so high that it teetered back and forth as he walked down the stairs. When he plunked it on top of the washer, a sock fell off the top of the pile and landed behind the machine. Great.
Once upon a time, in a place that is now Wales, a baby boy was born. His name was Arthur. He was the first son of King Uther Pendragon, and he was heir to the throne. But times were dangerous. Britain was not united, and many groups were fighting. The king was worried that the baby would be killed.
The king’s advisor, a wise magician named Merlin, suggested that Arthur be taken away from his family. For his safety, his identity was kept a secret. Even Arthur himself didn’t know that he was the prince.
When Benjamin Forrest turned on the faucet to brush his teeth, nothing came out. Then, slowly, there was a drip…drip…drip. Then, suddenly, there was a sea monster.
The sea monster was about the size of an apple, with shimmery purple skin. She had little green fins that were webbed and glistening with water drops. She sat in the porcelain sink, blinking in the harsh light of the bathroom.
“Blarp,” she said.
“Hi, Blarp. I’m Benjamin.”
Mrs. Forrest called up from the kitchen. “Ready for bed?”
Giant footprints in the snow. A glimpse of a hair behind a tree. The shadow of a tall, human-shaped being lurking behind a rock. Have you ever seen something mysterious like this? What could it be?
Maybe it’s a cryptid. According to Webster’s dictionary, a cryptid is, “an animal that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist.” There are many cryptids that appear in stories from all over the world. One of the most common is the legend of a huge, hairy, human-like beast.
