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nightmares. Only this one was real, as real as the grass and the blue sky and the gray squirrel that leaped out of its way and darted from the yard.
    The green creature dove out of the shadows of the tall shrubs and scrambled across the yard. I saw Saralynn with her back turned.
    No time to warn her. I tried to scream but I couldn’t make a sound.
    No time. No time.
    The creature looked like something out of a horror movie with huge, three-fingered hands, a round green head with rows of long pointed teeth hanging from its mouth, a slender green body, naked, totally naked.
    A few feet from Saralynn, it turned. It saw me! It spun away from her and came galloping at me, grunting, its huge bare feet thundering over the grass.
    Before I could move, it dove forward—and grabbed me around the waist.
    I opened my mouth and uttered a shrill scream.

 
    11.
    â€œYou idiot!” I cried. “You stupid idiot!”
    Nate laughed and slid the green creature mask off his head. His dark hair was damp and matted across his forehead. “Lisa? Did I scare you?”
    I pumped both fists against his green rubber chest. “How could you do that to me? Did you think that was funny ?”
    â€œOops. Sorry,” he said, his smile fading. “I just wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”
    â€œYou ruined the whole scene,” I heard a voice behind me say. I turned and saw Isaac with a little camcorder in his hand. “We’ll have to start again.”
    â€œToo bad,” I said. “I can’t believe you would do that to me, Nate. Especially after … after…”
    He tried to slide his green arm around my shoulders but I backed away. “I just got carried away,” he said. “Guess I like being a demon too much.”
    â€œWe’re sorry,” Saralynn said, her eyes on Nate. “It’s just that we’ve been working for days on my horror video.”
    â€œDo you like the demon costume?” Nate said, thumping the green chest with one fist. “It was actually used in an old Universal horror film back in the fifties. It’s from my costume collection.”
    â€œHey, Nate, you should do it without the mask,” Isaac said. “Your face is a lot scarier.”
    Saralynn put an arm around my waist. “Lisa, forgive us. Sometimes Nate is an idiot.”
    â€œYou don’t understand,” I said. “These days, I’m scared of my own reflection. Last night I saw a creature running through the woods. And now—now when I saw you in your costume coming at me…” My voice trailed off.
    Saralynn kept her arm around my waist. “We know you’ve been having a tough time.”
    I took a deep breath and forced myself to stop trembling. “I’m going to stop being ridiculous,” I said. “I promise. I’m going to be myself again. You’ll see.”
    â€œMaybe we should go inside,” Nate said.
    â€œWe need to shoot the rest at night,” Isaac said. “It’s too nice outside to be scary.”
    I started to follow them to the house. I felt much better. They really were good friends. Other kids might have laughed or made jokes or tried to embarrass me for seeing a demon in the backyard. But they tried to assure me that I wasn’t crazy.
    Nate stepped up beside me as we made our way along the side of the garage. “I have a new horror film on DVD,” he said. “ My Big Fat Blood-Soaked Wedding. Have you seen it?”
    â€œOf course not,” I said.
    â€œI heard it’s a riot,” Isaac said.
    â€œLet’s watch it,” Saralynn said. “Nate, what have you got for snacks?”
    I stopped at the kitchen door. Through the window, I could see Nate’s mom taking something out of the oven. The smell of chocolate floated over the backyard. “I can’t stay,” I said.
    â€œSorry,” Nate said, squeezing my hand. “A horror film is probably a bad