Creech

By Michael J. Waugh

Creech is the hilarious story of one man's ... sorry, one creature's journey from his lonely days as an outcast to finally finding a family of his own. As he adjusts to his new world, Creech learns to appreciate the things that matter most. Things like friendship. And family. And tuna.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael J. Waugh
• Release date: Jul 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370203659

Michael J. Waugh

Michael J. Waugh's debut novel, Creech, draws inspiration from four of his greatest loves... monster movies and his three daughters Katie, Abby and Persie. In addition to writing, Michael J. Waugh teaches Latin, coaches baseball, and plays guitar in a metal band. He resides in Lawrenceville, Georgia with his three daughters and his wife, Rebecca.

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Creech

By Michael J. Waugh

Copyright 2016 Michael J. Waugh

Smashwords Edition

Creech is a work of fiction. Names, characters, locations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, locales, or other fictional characters is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art: Michael Waugh

Digital Enhancements: Rebecca Waugh

Editing: Debbie Waugh

Title Font: Creature Feature by Anthony Robinson via dafont.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Creech

By Michael J. Waugh

For the real Katie, Abby, and Persie.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

One: The Creature Gets Neighbors

Two: The Neighbors are Strange

Three: The Girls and the Yellow Jackets

Four: The Creature Makes an Appearance

Five: The Creature Discovers Tuna

Six: A Lesson in Modern Art

Seven: The Parents Go to Town

Eight: The Creature Comes to Tea

Nine: The Creature and the Teachers

Ten: The Creature Takes the Stage

Eleven: The Creature is Discovered

Twelve: They Lived Happily Ever After

One: The Creature Gets Neighbors

Hello there.

You’ve heard all those stories about the creature, right? All those tales from the black lagoon? I’m pretty sure they’re about me, although I don’t live in a lagoon. I mean, does anyone actually use that word? I live in a pond, a nice little pond in a nice little forest. And it certainly isn’t black. Greenish maybe, but I guess the Creature from the Greenish Pond just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Speaking of creatures, that’s not really nice, now is it? How would you feel if people called you a creature? If they avoided the nice little forest with the nice little pond just because they thought something like you might live out there? You wouldn’t like it one bit, I can assure you. And all those things they say about how you’re a blood-thirsty demon or a government experiment gone wrong or a murdering fiend from the deepest pits of … well, it gets to you. Especially when you’ve never even harmed a single soul. Except for fish, of course. A creature’s gotta eat, you know, and they are so delicious.

I know what you’re thinking. Well, what about that hunter a couple of years ago?

That was not even my fault. Yes, he came to the nice little pond in the nice little woods that he wasn’t even supposed to be hunting in to begin with, but that’s not the point. There he was, tramping around, squelching in the mud, just looking for something to shoot. For the life of me, I cannot fathom what it is that makes a guy want to spend his weekends roaming around the forest killing furry little woodland creatures, but to each his own, I suppose. And yet, they call me a monster.

Anyway, it had been a long while since anyone had been in my neck of the woods, so I was pretty excited to see that hunter. Really excited. I jumped out of the water, threw up my long, green arms, and made my best ‘Yay! Let’s play!’ noise. I hadn’t learned to talk yet, so all that came out was my usual blubby roaring sound, but I thought with the way I was waving my hands around and everything he’d get the idea.

In fact, he did not get the idea. He shot me! He screamed this awful scream like I was the most terrifying thing on planet Earth, and then he shot me. Don’t worry, it didn’t hurt or anything. After all, I am covered in these awesome green scales, but who shoots somebody they just met? I ran toward him then. I really just wanted to get the gun away from him so we could play, but he completely freaked out and fell down and hit his head on a rock. When the people from town finally figured out he was missing, they came out to take him away, and you can only imagine the comments I heard when they noticed my webby footprints in the mud.

You might be wondering how I’m even writing this. How does a guy with big webbed hands and thick black claws on his fingers even hold a pencil? That is a long story to be sure, and one we’ll get around to eventually.

But first, a little about me. As you now know, I live in a nice little pond in a nice little forest. I’m about eight feet tall. I’m green, scaly, and kind of fishy in the face. The townspeople call me all sorts of things. There’s the obvious one about that black lagoon, but they get pretty creative, too. The Bog Beast. The Monster of the Marsh. Oh, and my personal favorite, the Frog Fiend from the Filth. Come on, Frog Fiend? Where do they get this stuff? I don’t even look like a frog. Well, not much like a frog anyway.

OK, full disclosure, I do look kind of like a frog.

How long have I lived here? To be honest, I don’t really know. I don’t remember much about the early years, just a lot of swimming around and watching the leaves change colors. It is a nice little pond though, and a nice little forest unless you happen to be a furry woodland creature during hunting season, but it is so lonely. Guess how many other large, green, scaly creatures live out here? Exactly none, that is how many. That’s why I get so