Read Notebook for Fantastical Observations for Free Online Page B

me and still holding the pick.
    “You’re keeping me awake,” I say with mock bravado. “Can’t you quiet down?”
    “Noooo . . . must diiiig,” it says in a voice that’s little more than a whisper. “Gasssssss come from pipes. Sloooowly at first, like hissss of snake. Now worse. Choke or flame. Choke or flame. Must tunnel into a new building.”
    That’s what the smell is. A gas leak.
    I run up the three flights of stairs, run to our apartment, push open the door, and go right into my parent’s room. I shake mydad’s arm hard and he groans, eyelids fluttering.
    “Gas leak,” I say. My voice comes out somewhere between a shout and a squeak. It seems to work, though, because he nearly falls out of bed.
    Together, we go down to the basement. The creature is gone, but the tunnel is still there. It seems like there might be light at the other end. Maybe the what-ever-it-was actually made it into some other basement.
    “You saved us, honey,” Dad says.
    But I didn’t.
    TAP. TAP.
    —Keisha X.
    ANALYSIS: At one time, knockers were found in mines and often warned miners of impending disasters. It is unclear what this one was doing in this apartment building.
    —H. B. & T. D.

Here’s a creature I would expect to find in most basements:

Here’s what else I know about it:
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    There once was a kid with extraordinary hearing. One day at school . . .
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An advertisement:

    If I could hear stones speak,

My cover of a book about a creature that’s able to hear the earth speak:

My cover of a book about me:

Unusual objects I have found:

“They are master shape-shifters — clever, sly, and cruel. Strong, too, unfortunately.”
    FROM B OOK 5: W RATH OF M ULGARATH

OGRES
    I’m not a scaredy-cat or a yellow chicken or any of those other things people call me. You would have screamed too.
    So, I was going for my Order of the Arrow badge. To get it, you have to wear a stick around your neck, not talk, and sleep out under the stars without a pillow or blanket or any kind of comfort. It’s supposed to test your bravery.
    But it’s not like you’re totally alone or anything. The scoutmaster puts up his tent and huddles in his cushy sleeping bag nearby. There’s usually a bunch of us going for the Order at the same time, so even though it feels like you’re alone outside, there’s probably another kid not too far away from you.
    So anyway, I brushed together a bunch of leaves and twigs and whatever. Then I kind of climbed into it, shoving the stuff over me sojust my head was visible. My plan was to combine camouflage and insulation. You know how if you get stuck out in the snow, you should build an igloo, because it is actually warmer? I thought that this would work the same way.
    After I was settled, I had to try not to think about the weird scratchy feeling of all that stuff on top of me. It made me wonder what kind of worms or bugs could be crawling over my skin. I was concentrating so hard on that,