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    What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories
    What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories
    What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories
    Ebook105 pages54 minutes

    What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories

    By Copper Iris Books LLC

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    About this ebook

    Ten short stories that combine fiction with facts about animals.
    A dog with a nose for trouble, a cat under attack, two wild burros, a determined bear, a talking bird..these are a few of the amazing animals that live on the pages of “What’s Watching Me? And Other Animal Stories.” Mysteries unfold, dreams form, friendships blossom, secrets come to life, and fantasy flourishes. You meet ordinary kids whose lives are affected in surprising ways by animals that will long linger in your imagination. The magic of fiction merges with fascinating bits of trivia and amazing facts to captivate and inspire the middle grade reader.
    This book is the first in the Twixt and Tween Series

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCopper Iris Books LLC
    Release dateOct 29, 2013
    ISBN9780984016839
    What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories
    Author

    Copper Iris Books LLC

    Copper Iris Books is the collective spirit of two friends who share a passion for literature, literacy, and life in Louisiana. Both Carol Stubbs and Nancy Rust are wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts, as well as avid readers and dedicated writers. Carol and Nancy are both members of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Writers’ Guild of Acadiana, Friends of the Library and Friends of the Humanities. They are also active volunteer teachers and tutors through VITA (Volunteer Instructors Teaching Adults) and do what they can to promote local public education and local schools. Carol is also a member of the Louisiana Crafts Guild and the Lafayette Art Association. She is a potter who works with a group called the Cracked Pot Friends who put on two shows each year, volunteer at festivals and teach workshops for children. Carol has a BA in Journalism from Louisiana State University and a MEd from University of Louisiana in Lafayette. She has been a freelance writer for over 30 years and was an editor of Acadiana LifeStyle for three years. She has been a regular contributor to local publications and tourism guides in Acadiana and for many years edited and edited and wrote copy for a bi-annual Bridal Guide. She has published many features about the fascinating people and places in South Louisiana. Carol lives in Lafayette with her husband, Bill, one dog, Mickey, and two cats Mario and Ruthie. Nancy has a BA in English from Western Kentucky University and MA and Education Specialist degrees from Louisiana State University. She grew up in Kentucky in a family of readers and has always loved literature and books. For twenty-five years, she taught reading and literature to secondary, elementary, and middle school students and to special populations of gifted and English-as-a-Second-Language students in Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona. During that time, she also sponsored yearbook and magazine publications, designed and implemented summer programs, presented at educational seminars and conferences, and wrote grants. Nancy has written several books for her grandchildren and is in the process of completing a middle-grade novel. Her poetry has been published in a national publication and her fiction in the Jubilee Anthology. She lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, with her husband and her dog Truman.

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      Book preview

      What's Watching Me? and Other Animal Stories - Copper Iris Books LLC

      Loup-Garou (lu ga ru) is a mythical wolf-like creature that preys on disobedient children.

      As soon as I walked outside I knew it was no ordinary night. It was a supermoon night when the moon was so bright I could see my shadow. (Supermoon is a popular name for perigee-syzygy when the full moon comes nearest to Earth.)

      I decided it was light enough for me to take the shortcut from Jake’s house to mine. The shortcut is a trail that cuts through a thicket of woods beside the bayou. Although Jake and I used it during the day, I had never walked on it at night.

      I was probably halfway into the woods when I saw the dark form of an animal on the trail ahead. Its eyes glowed. I froze; my heart pounded. For a second I thought it was a dog or a coyote, but then it climbed the tree quicker than a lightning flash. What was it? It couldn’t be a cat. The shape was wrong, and the tail was long and bushy. It didn’t look like a raccoon either.

      Suddenly it dawned on me! It was Loup-Garou, the evil monster who comes for bad kids! Grandma had often warned me about him. Shep, she said, Loup-Garou’s going to get you, for sure, if you don’t behave better.

      She was right. Jake and I had crossed the line in Miss Bea’s yard, and now Loup-Garou had come to get me. The tree he climbed had huge branches that hung over the trail, and he was crouched on one of them ready to pounce on me when I walked under it.

      I backed down the trail. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a second creature dash up a tree to my left. Another one! A whole pack of Loup-Garous! I turned around and tore out of the woods, past Jake’s house, and down the sidewalk until I reached home and was safely inside the kitchen. I leaned against the door while I caught my breath.

      I’d never heard of Loup-Garou snatching someone inside the house, no matter how disobedient or rowdy the kid had been. But to be on the safe side, I locked the backdoor.

      Shep, Mama called, don’t lock the door. Angela’s still out. She’s babysitting for the Russells.

      The Russells lived next door, and my sister Angela walked home when she babysat for them. I was the one who’d misbehaved, the one Loup-Garou wanted. But what if he was willing to settle for a substitute? And Angela was that substitute?

      What time is Angela coming home, Mama?

      About ten.

      I looked at the clock. I had less than an hour to devise a plan to protect Angela. If I told Mama, she’d make sure Angela was safe. But that would mean confessing, and Mama would be as mad as a hornet. Which was worse, telling Mama or facing Loup-Garou?

      I drank a glass of water and took a deep breath before I went into the living room with Mama. I had to find out if I’d put Angela in danger.

      Hi, Mama, I said, walking over to the sofa where she sat crocheting a blanket. I sat down beside her.

      I knew better than to dive right into the subject of Loup-Garou. She’d ask so many questions I’d have to tell her the whole truth. Who’s the blanket for?

      A child in the hospital. Making blankets is one of the women’s club projects, she explained without pausing in her crocheting.

      What’s wrong with the children in the hospital? I asked, trying to think of a way to bring up Loup-Garou.

      Different things – pneumonia, surgery, dehydration, injuries.

      Injuries? There was my chance. Did you ever hear of a kid getting injuries from a Loup-Garou attack?

      A Loup-Garou attack?

      Yes, a kid might do something bad, so Loup-Garou attacks him. Or a pack of Loup-Garous. And the kid escapes, but with injuries.

      No, I’ve never heard of that.

      Of someone escaping?

      No, of a pack of Loup-Garous. Have you?

      Maybe…on a full-moon night.

      She stopped crocheting and looked at me. I opened my eyes wide and tried to look innocent.

      Were you running from Loup-Garou? Is that why you ran in the house?

      I just like to run.

      Unhuh. She wasn’t convinced.

      Probably nobody could outrun Loup-Garou, I said, trying to stick to the truth, so I didn’t make things worse with Loup-Garou by telling a whopper. "Do you know of a way to

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