R. L. Stine_Mostly Ghostly 07 by Freaks, Shrieks Page A

back.
    “We're safe now,” Nicky said. “Smollet's brain is tucked nicely inside the chimp. He can't do any evil in there.”
    “But what if they switch brains again?” I asked.
    “No way,” Tara said. She took the chimp by the hand. “We're taking Mr. Harvey to the zoo.They'll find him very interesting since he's so smart.”
    Nicky laughed. “The smartest chimp in history! Maybe he'll be famous.”
    “The zoo will never let him go,” Tara said. “Dr. Smollet will
never
get his brain back.”
    “Hoo hoo!” Dr. Smollet called.
    We ran down the long hall, dragging the chimp with us. Out on the street, the night air felt fresh and cold.
    I hugged Nicky and Tara again. Yes, my performance for Ballantine was ruined. But I was a lucky dude. Lucky to have such amazing friends.
    I watched Nicky and Tara head off with Mr. Harvey, the brilliant chimpanzee. I hoped he enjoyed his new home.
    Then I took the Miller Street bus back to my house.
    Mom was in the kitchen, grinding stuff in the food processor. “Max? Where have you been?” She had to shout over the deafening roar of the machine.
    “I was kidnapped by a crazed ghost scientist. I traded brains with a chimpanzee,” I told her. “Then we traded back.”
    “That's nice,” she shouted. “Now go upstairs and do your homework.”
    “No problem,” I said.
    • • •
    The next Saturday, Mom surprised me with two tickets. Two tickets to see Ballantine the Nearly Amazing in an all-star performance at the City Center!
    Can you imagine how excited I felt? I'd never seen the great magician do his act live. And our seats were in the
second
row!
    Before the curtain, I could barely sit still. Finally, the lights went dim. The huge auditorium grew silent.
    A white spotlight moved across the deep purple curtain. And a voice boomed over the loudspeaker: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present the world-famous magician Ballantine the Nearly Amazing. Tonight he will be performing the new comedy-magic act he calls Monkey Magic. Let's hear it for Ballantine!”
    The crowd cheered. The purple curtain rose slowly. I saw a carnival set. A table loaded with magic equipment.
    And out came Ballantine in his glittery cape and turban, wobbling like a chimp. He turned to the audience and called out, “Hoo hoo hoo!”
    The audience roared. They thought it was a riot.
    Ballantine, acting like a monkey! He climbed onto the table and peeled a banana. He made the banana disappear back into the peel.
    “Hoo hoo!” he called.
    The audience roared and cheered. I sat back in my seat, my mouth hanging open. Mom turned to me. “Max? You're not enjoying it?” she whispered. “What's wrong?” “He … he stole my act!” I cried.
    TO BE CONTINUED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Robert Lawrence Stine's scary stories have made him one of the bestselling children's authors in history. “Kids like to be scared!” he says, and he has proved it by selling more than 300 million books. R.L. teamed up with Parachute Press to create Fear Street, the first and number one bestselling young adult horror series. He then went on to launch Goosebumps, the creepy bestselling series that gave kids chills all over the world and made him the number one children's author of all time
(The Guinness Book of Records).
    R.L. Stine lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jane, their son, Matthew, and their dog, Nadine. He says he has never seen a ghost—but he's still looking!

Be sure to check out the next book in the Mostly Ghostly series,
    Don't Close Your Eyes!

    I N A TERRIFYING EPISODE , an evil sleep ghost named Inkweed has inhabited Max. The ghost has come to put Nicky and Tara to sleep forever.
    But Inkweed is powerless until Max goes to sleep. He stays dormant inside Max, waiting for the moment when Max closes his eyes so that he can bring his crushing evil powers to life.
    Nicky and Tara frantically work to keep Max awake—until they can come up with a scheme to rid him of Inkweed. Days go by, and poor