Chapter 1

His eyes widened at the newest treasure that he and his best friend recently excavated.

"Look Hoods, isn't she beautiful?" says Carl, your typical preteen boy whose main interest is gross things which are bound to frighten, disgust, and/or repulse normal people.

"She sure is, Carl," Hoodsey replied satisfactorily.

The two boys were covered in dust and flies. They desperately needed showers. But the time they spent, the toil in the rubbish that was Sheltered Shrubs' City Dump, didn't matter. It was all worth it.

The speckled baby rat stared at the boys with her wide eyes, as if searching for her mother. She wasn't the most attractive animal in the world, but the excitement of owning a city rat triumphed over her sordid appearance. Normally, Carl wouldn't have had the heart to separate such a creature from its family, but she appeared to be abandoned and in need of a home.

"You can have her, you know," Carl said to a surprised Hoodsey. "I mean, Mama Hoodsey. It kinda suits you."

"Wha-You mean it? Well, you're the one who found it and all…"

"Lets just say that it's an early birthday present." Hoodsey beamed at his newfound pet. But then, the realization suddenly hit.

"But Carl! My parents-Well my dad wouldn't care, but my mom would kill me! What would I do if I took home a rat from the dump?" Carl sighed at the obviousness of the situation.

"Duh, Hoods! You don't tell her that she's from the dump. Tell her that it's for a school project or something. I seriously doubt that she'd would call Zorski if you mentioned school as your excuse."

"You really think she'd fall for it?"

"No doubt." As he said that, he dug out a small cage. "What do small rats eat, anyway? Erg…yeah. Feed her lettuce and carrots or something. That should do it." He gently grabbed the tiny rodent and placed her in the cage. "Now, we searched far for something worthwhile in that dump. I want to take good care of…"

"Pinky," Mama Hoodsey declared. He checked his watch. "I have to be home in time to take a shower before dinner. My armpits stink."

As soon as Hoodsey left with Pinky, Carl tip- toed slowly to his room, enjoying the last few moments that he would carry this "heavenly" scent with him. Unfortunately for his older sister, Ginger, the smell was spreading quickly and his pace up to his room was much too slow.

"Ugh, Carl! What have you been rolling around in?!" yelled a disgusted Ginger as she poked her head out from her room.

"Nothing, but good ol' trash, Sis." Ginger rolled her eyes.

"Well, you hurry up or Macie might faint from breathing that in with her one good nostril."

"Can do, Sis. Can do." And Carl raced to the bathroom shower for the sanity of his sister and her friends.

Meanwhile, Ginger sighed as she went back to sit on her bed with her two best friends, Macie and Dodie.

"Ginger, that was Carl, wasn't it? I could smell him from all the way back here. And I'm guessing Hoodsey is gonna stink up my house as well," Dodie sighed.

"It's probably better that I don't have an adolescent brother who enjoys these things. Wouldn't be good for my sinus infection," said Macie as she stuck her head out the window for some fresh air.

"Sorry, guys. I mean, it's actually starting to worry me. He's enjoyed this stuff ever since like, what? Ever? And now, he's practically fourteen. Isn't this the stage where normal boys start to grow up and mature? I mean, seriously," said Ginger.

And as Carl listened to the teenage girls chatting away about his strange interests from the shower stall, he smiled to himself. He was Carl Foutley. He was the same immature boy everyone has always known. If it were his choice, would choose to be surrounded by jars of body parts, interesting insects and creatures, and other random artifacts. He would go dig in the dump everyday for treasure. And he was certainly in no rush of growing up.

He was no normal boy.