by R. L. Stine
She held it between her fingers, trying to get a better look at the glowing light. Her fingertips tingled where she touched the charm.
What is going on? Wendy wondered.
The tingling spread. From her fingers into her hands and up her arms. A strange itchy feeling moved down her back and chest, covering her whole body. She felt warm all over.
I must be getting sick, she told herself. That’s it. I’m sick.
But this didn’t feel like any flu or cold she had ever had before. Besides, Wendy didn’t feel sick, exactly. Just . . . peculiar. Then her fingertips began to ache. What would make that happen? she wondered.
All ten of her fingers throbbed now. Her fingernails actually hurt. Puzzled, she held them up to her face.
In the bright moonlight she could see that her fingernails were very long, much longer than she remembered them. How could they have grown so fast?
Wendy’s heart began to beat faster. What’s happening to me?
She took a closer look at her hands.
Fear rose in her throat. Fear so strong it almost choked her.
Sprouting from the tips of her fingers weren’t fingernails.
They were long, sharp, curved claws.
“No! Wendy whispered in horror.
Wendy couldn’t tear her eyes away. She could see the claws grow longer. Her fingers started to shrink—becoming shorter and thicker. Wendy’s stomach churned as she watched long, reddish-blond hair sprout on the backs of her hands.
She tried to move her fingers but couldn’t. They had fused together. Her hands looked exactly like paws!
Her whole body itched. She glanced down. Fur was growing on her arms, her legs, her chest. Everywhere!
Her ears tickled. She reached up with her furry paws to touch them. Her ears were changing shape. And somehow they had moved to the top of her head.
What is happening to me? Wendy thought. She shut her eyes, too terrified to watch the terrible changes taking place.
She felt her face twist as her nose and mouth moved closer together. The inside of her mouth became dry and strange. She touched her teeth with her tongue. Her teeth were now sharp and pointed.
“No!” she cried aloud. But this time the word came out as Noooooowwwww!
Wendy’s heart pounded so hard she could hear it. She tried to sit up. Her balance was all wrong, and she fell off the bed. But instead of landing on her back, she landed on her feet—all four feet!
Terrified, Wendy jumped up on her dresser and gazed into the mirror.
She couldn’t believe it. This must be a dream.
A cat gazed back at her.
A tawny-colored cat with a white star on its forehead.
Wendy turned her head. The cat in the mirror turned, too. When she lifted her hand, it lifted its front paw.
It can’t be! Wendy thought. It can’t!
But she knew the truth.
The cat in the mirror was Wendy.
Wendy was a cat.
R.L. STINE IS ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING AUTHORS IN AMERICA AND HAS SOLD MORE THAN 300 MILLION BOOKS. HIS SERIES INCLUDE FEAR STREET, GHOSTS OF FEAR STREET, FEAR STREET SAGAS, GOOSEBUMPS, AND GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND. HE LIVES IN NEW YORK CITY WITH HIS WIFE, JANE.
ALADDIN
Simon & Schuster, New York
Cover designed by Karin Paprocki
Cover illustration copyright © 2011 by Owen Richardson
Ages 8–12
rlstine.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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Aladdin paperback edition January 2011
Copyright © 1996 by Parachute Press, Inc.
The Boy Who Ate Fear Street written by Stephen Roos
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FEAR STREET is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Control Number 2010905974
ISBN 978-1-4424-1719-9
ISBN 978-1-4424-8616-4 (eBook)
