So far my childhood story was pretty sad in a lot of numbers. Mom dies, I almost get killed in football and my inventions are all fails. Plus add everything the Mayor has done. I had of course suspected him for stuffing the leeches into my shoes. But uh… no. It turned out being the Falcon players. They wanted me to get off the field. I didn't think they'd mean it literally. After their coach found out what they had done, they weren't allowed to stay for the Homecoming Dance and weren't allowed to have Homecoming at their school next year.

But if you thought about it, I had a few good moments. Wait. Did I? Well, hell yeah, I did! I met that girl. Well not exactly, because I never go her name. But also that night under the stars was amazing. And the excitement of building all my inventions. Yep. And well that's it. Not too many. Wait! What about the time I got my lab coat? That was the best part.

Anyway enough of my babble. I know, I know. I'll continue. If you know what my next invention is, then keep on reading. Even if you don't know, keep on reading.

The next day was a Saturday. I was driven home from the clinic, even if I was covered in bandages. Dad made me lie down on the couch. I didn't want to lie down. I wanted to go to town and see what was up today. But dad finally gave up and handed me my lab coat, shirt, and pants. He warned me to be careful. I rolled my eyes.

"What could happen?" I threw my hands in the air and winced. I forgot my wrists were bandaged. My dad ignored my question and left into the kitchen. I shrugged and went out the front door.

Today Main Street was bustling. All the Fillionbridge fans were leaving in boats. I watched the Falcon players carry everyone's luggage. The acrobats were running around calling someone's name out. One acrobat with a lot of makeup ran up to me. She had wide eyes.

"Have you seen my pet?" she asked. I opened my mouth to ask who her pet was, but she already raced away, clutching her hair. Curiously, I wondered what kind of pet an acrobat might have. A small furry white dog? Probably. The boats began to leave, and the acrobat was pushed onto a boat. I guess her pet would be left here. I watched the boats leave and turned to go. I went into the heart of Main Street and decided to buy an Irish Cream cup of coffee.

The coffee shop was full with customers. The air in the shop was warm and smelled delicious. Only once a year our town got muffins in the shop. Maybe today was the day in the year, when the muffins came in. But I was wrong. They were toasted smoked salmon sandwiches. I bought my coffee and sandwich. Where had the salmon come from? Obviously not from here. If only we had salmon instead of sardines, life would be better. (Author's note: I once tried sardines. The grossest thing ever. You have fish breath for two days.)

Since the shop was crowded and had no empty tables, I went outside and sat on the sidewalk curb. Slowly, I put my paper bag with the sandwich beside me and sipped my coffee. The coffee warmed me up, since the October air brought chills. I couldn't wait for snow. Even if I couldn't throw snowball or skate, snow in general was fun. I loved sledding. But for now we were stuck with falling leaves. I sighed and reached for my sandwich, but it wasn't there. I jumped to my feet and saw that my paper bag wasn't there either. Instead there were crumbs beside me. Who managed to snatch my sandwich? There was no one here! Just me! I got up and gripped my coffee. My stomach flip-flopped inside me. Weird. Just plain weird.

Looking around, I began to walk down the street. The street was empty, expect for a few people walking around enjoying the autumn day. It was quiet too. If someone took my sandwich, I would have heard them! Or at least felt the presence of someone there. But it had only been a minute! Or less. Weird. My footsteps were loud as I walked down the street. It was because they were all bandaged up and my legs and feet were stiff.

Suddenly I felt someone following me. It was that feeling. I quickly turned around, but found no one there. Whoever it was, I wished they'd stop stalking me. It was creeping me out. Narrowing my eyes, I sipped my coffee and stopped walking. Then I sat down on a bench and waited.

"Good morning, Flint!" I saw Earl walk by.

"'Morning!" I called back and waved.

A soft tap came on my shoulder. Screaming, I jumped and my coffee went splattering all over the place. Thank goodness I got none on my clean white lab coat. But what the hell! I got up and spun around. No one. Seriously?

"Whoever is following me, cut it out!" I said out loud and got up. That's it. If someone was going to be freaking me out and pulling on my nerves all day, then I wouldn't stay outside. I threw my coffee in the nearest garbage bin and dug my hands deep into my pants pockets. Once again, I went down Main Street. More people walked around. I saw the Mayor hanging some banner across the street and Brent helping him. Why was Brent helping that idiot?

On the sidewalk I saw my old football team, throwing the football to one another. They looked like they were having fun. There was also some guy with them I never saw before. I see that they had replaced me already. It hadn't even been 24 hours yet. He looked fit and really muscular. At least he'd play better than me.

As I trudged back to my lab, I wondered if I should build another invention. To tell you the truth, I think I was finished. My next one would probably be a fail and explode. But then even if I were to invent something, what should I invent? I was fresh out of ideas. I already did a Remote-Controlled TV, Flying Car, and Hair Un-bladder. What else was there? A new breed of animals? Food raining from the sky? I wasn't a mad scientist. So none of that. I'd rather stick to normal (you call a RC TV normal?).

But then I saw something bigger than a squirrel scramble up a tree so fast, that I didn't have time to see what it was. A cat? No one in the neighborhood owned a cat.

"First someone steals my sandwich, then someone's following me, taps me on the shoulder and now I'm seeing mutant squirrels. What a morning." I blew out a sigh and climbed into the elevator of my lab. Instantly I closed the door and the elevator zoomed up. I was scared, just as I was nervous. It had to be someone quick, who was following me. When the elevator came to my lab level, I shoved the door open and walked into my lab. Slowly, I fell on my bed and laid my hand over my eyes. Maybe I'm insane. Yes, that's right, soon I'll be saying I'm seeing my mom's ghost! I thought to myself and closed my eyes. I just needed to relax.

THUD!

"What was that?" I gasped and sprang up to my feet. My eyes scanned the lab. One of my school textbooks lay on the ground, when it was supposed to be on the table. Goosebumps ran down my arms. Someone was in my lab. Oh no. Wait, but how did they get inside my lab? If they had been following me around town, then they should have gotten here when I did. Unless they saw me distracted by the mutant squirrel and ran ahead.

"Come out, whoever you are! I have a textbook and I'm not afraid to use it!" I snapped and picked up my textbook. The textbook was one of those with 700 pages. If I hit someone on the head with this, they'd be knocked out cold. Well, they'd deserve it. No need to follow me around.

"I'm counting to three and then gonna throw something!" I called out louder and glanced around. Nothing in my lab moved. There was no noise either. They were either too scared to move or were deaf.

"Scared are you? 1…2…" I began to count and that's when I saw something dart out of my 'junk' box and sprint under my pile of scrap metal. Was that the mutant squirrel? No it couldn't be. But a squirrel could steal a sandwich. But tap me on the shoulder? That was ridiculous. I came over slowly to my pile of scrap metal and slowly lifted a piece. Instantly, something pounced on me and knocked me over.

"What the—" I began to say, but my voice was muffled. I lay on the floor and looked up to see someone—um more like something, sitting on my chest. It wasn't a mutant squirrel, but a small monkey. He had huge orange eyes, and brown and white fur. He looked down at me then poked my face with his finger.

"Where did you come from?" I asked and sat up. The monkey slid off my chest and fell with a humph on the floor. His orange eyes glanced up at me in confusion. Then he said something in his own language. I blinked and reached out to pet him. He drew back and muttered something in his language again.

"Well, I'm Flint Lockwood." I smiled at him. He cocked his head to the side like a puppy and smiled back. Then he approached me again. I suddenly understood. This monkey belonged to the acrobat. But what was I supposed to do with him. I couldn't let him outside, or he'd freeze. He probably came from a warmer place. Then I reached out to pet him again and this time he let me. His fur was soft and fluffy.

Smiling, I got up and went to find something to make a bed out of for him. He followed close behind. At one point he jumped up onto my shoulder and I felt nervous. I didn't know how to take care of a monkey. But this was a while, right? I rummaged through my things and found him an extra pillow. He saw the pillow and pounced on it. I laughed and adjusted it for him. When he curled up on it and fell asleep, I watched him. What should I name him? Coco? Too girly. Bob? Too common. Fluffy? That's a good name for a cat. Not a monkey. Wait. I got it.

"I'll call you Steve." I told him and gently patted him on the head. He lifted his sleepy head to look at me and a soft smile spread across his face. When I made sure he was really asleep, I crept out of my lab and went into the house through the back door. Dad was in the kitchen rummaging through drawers. He saw me and a look of relief crossed his face.

"What did you do in town?" he asked and took some tape out of the drawer.

"Drank some coffee and walked around. Hey dad? If I had a pet and kept it in my lab, would you be okay with it?" I asked and rocked on my toes. Dad could tell something was up, because he folded his arms across his chest and gave me 'the look'.

"What pet did you get?" he demanded.

"I didn't get it. It followed me. It's a monkey." I answered and knew what was coming. Dad wouldn't let me keep Steve because he was a monkey. Then he'd probably give his whole speech on why I can't have him.

"A monkey? Flint, if a crocodile followed you home, would you take it in?" dad raised his eyebrow and glanced at me. I bit my lip and looked to the floor. He had a point, but something about this monkey made me feel sure, that it wasn't that bad. But then a crocodile wouldn't too bad. Still it was what the adults always did. Always bombarded you with questions, and then you don't know how to answer.

"No." I finally muttered and wouldn't look up. There came a loud sigh from dad and I was sure he would make me kick Steve out of the lab. But he sighed again.

"I'll let you keep him on two conditions. One, you take care of him yourself. Two, we need to take him to the clinic to get a checkup sometime this week." Dad told me. I beamed and ran over and gave dad a big thank you hug. Then I ran out of the kitchen and back up to my lab.

Now there was finally someone I could call a friend. I didn't need to join any football teams to have a lot of friends. Besides, Denis was my friend. And I guess Brent was somewhere under that category. Uh… kinda. But now I had Steve. Someone to help me around the lab and be there 24/7. Though I wished I could understand what he was saying…