The Missing Cousin
by R.L. Stine and DragonLadySage
A/N: This is using a R.L. Stine story, I don't own his story. No copyright infringement intended.
When I saw her standing in the eerie yellow-green light, I gasped in horror…
Kristy had a creature in her arms, holding her tight. It looked like it was a cross between a flamingo and an African monkey. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. Was this what my uncle spent his years working on in his basement?
"Kristy, what is that thing?"
"Well, it is a Flamankey. Isn't he cool? His name is Hermin. He's the first one of his kind," she responded simply.
"A Flamankey? What is a Flamankey?" I asked.
"It is a cross between a flamingo and a monkey, so it is a flamankey."
"Oh," I said still stunned at the odd looking creature. I was a bit shocked; I most definitely did not expect this. I imagined my uncle making a poison or a toxic chemical to kill off things, but not a mutant monkey…bird…thing. "Are you sure that thing's safe. He's not going to attack you or anything, is he?"
"No no no. He's perfectly safe. Well, as long as you're not a piece of furniture. You see, he loves to eat couches and pillows and stuff. He made a complete mess of the living room," she explained.
"How strange. I would picture him eating seeds or bananas or something. Not furniture."
Yeah, well, we weren't expecting that either. It was quite a surprise when he got loose and tore up the place. It was an utter mess."
I slowly walked over to the creature and reached out for him. I hesitated when he shifted, but then, gathering my courage, I petted him on his head. He kinda purred in response and rubbed his check again my hand for more. He wasn't so scary, he was actually kinda cute once you got used to him. "So why did you name him Hermin," I asked. Out of all the names on the planet, I don't know why she picked that one.
"Well, it just came to me one day. He would run all over the house, eating every piece of furniture he could get his hands on. This reminded me of the Hermin the Worm story I would tell when I was little. It just kinda fit with his appetite, so that's what I named him. We eventually had to lock him in the basement so he wouldn't eat the entire house. He's pretty cute isn't he?"
"Yeah he is, and he's really friendly too."
"Do you want to see him do a trick?"
"Sure," I responded.
She set Hermin down and grabbed a chair and put it in the center of the room. Giving Hermin a nod of approval, he took his cue and did a handstand on the back of the chair. My eyes bugged out in surprise. Then Hermin proceeded to do a back flip and landed in the chair.
"Good boy," she said. Then she gave him a little piece of wood, which he scarfed down in no time.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the basement, playing with Hermin, and creating new tricks for him to do.
The End