.
"Don't worry," said Danny, doing exactly that as he looked out over the roof of the bus he and his classmates had climbed on top of, "I'm sure my parents will get here soon." But maybe if they didn't he could find some way to rectify the problem.
And pet the dogs.
Petting the dogs was a very important consideration.
See, the thing was, Cujo had located some friends of various doglike shapes and sizes. He had, naturally, chosen to introduce his new friends to the dispenser of head scratches, squeaky toys, and the occasional bone. AKA Danny.
Problem: Danny was on a field trip when this happened.
Result of problem: Danny's classmates, upon seeing a pack of 'rabid' ghost dogs, had fled for their lives and used a sudden burst of adrenaline to scale the bus, dragging Danny with them. This, despite the fact that ghost dogs could, well, fly.
Evidently, neither Danny's classmates nor the ghost dogs seemed to remember this fact. Or, at least, the ghost dogs were willing to not fly for the sake of whatever game they thought they were playing.
God, they were so cute. He wanted to pet them so badly. Even more than that, though, he wanted them to get not-dissected by his parents. But he couldn't do anything to stop that from happening, because he was on the roof of a bus with no cover.
Ugh, why did dogs have to be so awesome? And friendly? And playful?
Wait.
He had an idea. The dogs were here to play, yes?
"Hey," he said, "do any of you have balls?"
Dead silence.
"As in, like, for throwing."
Paulina frowned at him. "Why," she asked, slowly, "would we bring balls on a museum field trip? That isn't-"
"I've got one!" exclaimed Dash, holding a football over his head.
"Me too!" said Kwan, doing the same.
"Forget I said anything," said Paulina. "Do you just carry them with you everywhere?"
"Yes," said Dash.
"Give it to me, I have an idea."
"No way!" said Dash, clutching the football tightly against his chest, as if it were a baby Danny had just threatened to snatch. "You'll get your nerd germs all over it!"
"You don't actually think those are a thing, do you?" asked Mikey. "I mean, you should probably leave the bullying bit for when we aren't about to be eaten."
"Kwan," said Danny. "May I please have you football so that I can keep us from being overrun by the giant pack of ghost dogs?"
"Sure!" said Kwan, handing it over.
Danny turned and launched the football. He and his four classmates watched it soar upwards. And upwards. And upwards.
"Oh my god," said Dash. "How did Fentwig throw that?"
Danny, now that the ghost dogs were all chasing the still-ascending football, realized the flaw in his plan. That is, that normal, human him could never have pulled it off.
The football began to fall.
"Ghost steroids," he said.
Kwan gasped. "Are those legal?"