THE MONSTERS

"GEORGE!"

 Mrs. White yelled.

"Stop drawing your monsters in class." She said sternly.

But I wasn't about to. For three reasons:

1. I was bored out of my mind.
2. I loved drawing my monsters.
3. The cute little girl in front of me liked my monsters.

Her name was Collette. I really liked her pretty, golden hair. It was always braided.

I saw Collette for the 1st time, on day number one of the 5th grade. I was assigned to sit right behind her. Every time I walked down our isle to my desk, I passed by her desk. At this point, she became super shy and looked up at me with a sheepish smile. And then, I would trip over my feet and make a complete fool of myself.

It was love at first sight!!

As the school year progressed, we used the monsters to help us become friends. When I drew a monster, I'd passed it up to her. Then she wrote some nice comments and passed it back to me.

Mrs. White never got upset with us because we weren't disruptive, and because she got a real kick out of me. Also, because Collette, and her best friend Tracy, were the best students a teacher could ever want: straight A's, obedient, and perfect manners. And we considered Mrs. White a great teacher!!

Collette became really good at telling the difference between a well-drawn monster and a mediocre or poorly-drawn monster.

"I really like the 5th grade!" I announced to my parents one night at the supper table. They almost choked because I had never had a positive thing to say about school. But life was different now! Sure, I had always enjoyed my monsters, but now a cute little girl enjoyed them with me!

"Life is so good!!" I said to myself,  joyously.

Then one day, Shawn Zimmerman tried to dethrone me!

"My monsters are much better than George's." Shawn bragged.

"And I'm smarter, more talented, and better looking than Anderton." He said as he flexed his muscles, and winked at the girls.

"Shut your mouth!" I yelled. "Or I'll rip your blankety-blank lips off!"

I wanted to beat him to a pulp! I hated him! Honestly, did he really believe that his monsters were better than mine? I had been perfecting my art for years and had probably drawn more than 200 monsters. Shawn had only drawn a few, and they were totally unremarkable. Shawn's monsters had absolutely no style.

Shawn was constantly trying to convince the girls that his monsters were better than mine. Unfortunately, some girls listened to him. After all, Shawn was pretty popular because he was a great baseball player.

"We need to think of a way to get Mrs. White herself to sponsor a monster-drawing contest." I said to Guy. "Then the class will declare, once and for all, that I draw the best monsters."

Then Guy said: "Let's suggest to Mrs. White, that a monster-drawing contest would be a great way to keep the boys occupied, and having fun, while the girls are at their maturation class."

"That's a great idea, Guy!!" I said as I slapped my best friend on his back.

Then we presented the idea to the teacher.

Mrs. White really liked the idea! The next day, the maturation class began.

As soon as the girls were excused, Mrs. White directed the boys to draw their best monster. She told them that whoever drew the best monster would win a prize. The girls would be the judge.

"The contest is on!!!" I laughed to myself. "After I win, Shawn will have to gargle dog spit!"

Shawn drew his monster in 29 seconds. He grabbed his paper and a brown crayon and raced to draw a large oval-shaped head. He made regular eyes, a slit nose, and line lips. His monster didn't even have ears or even a mediocre jaw. It had no hair on it's face or head. Then, Shawn got out a green crayon and smeared the face green, not even staying within the lines. It looked like it was drawn a 3-year-old. Finally, he got out a red crayon to draw lines for what was supposed to be blood, dripping from cuts. The idea was scary, but the monster was clearly drawn by an amateur.

"What the?" I said. "I thought we were supposed to be doing more than just scribbling!"

My monster, on the other hand, was drawn with great care and took the entire 20 minutes available, as I had planned. I drew it with 12 colors and not just 2. I used colored pencils and not crayons, so as not to look like it was drawn by a wanna be. My creature looked very realistic. It was not exclusively like Frankenstein's monster. It was a combination of a classical monster, and a deranged, confused, sinister MAN. The result was that it gave you the creeps! You didn't know if you should stay (and be scared) or run for it NOW!!

When the girls came back, they were given 10 minutes to pick the winning monster.

"As you can clearly tell," Shawn bragged. "My monster is the best." Shawn's followers agreed, while my followers pretended to be getting ill because of what he said.

When the time was up, Mrs. White tallied up the votes. I knew I would win.

BUT NO!!

Zimmerman beat me by one LOUSY point! How could such a lousy drawing win?!
But he was a good baseball player and had big muscles. And to some people that's all that matters!

Well, it was what it was.

 But, I'll always remember that I won the best vote from my dear friend - - - -


COLLETTE!