The Monster

Jared read every book there was about Gila monsters. The black and orange lizards intrigued him. He had even visited desert museums to see live specimens.

Imagine Jared’s surprise when he happened upon a live Gila monster by accident. Jared had been traveling with a group of scouts in southern Arizona. He had wandered off the path to get a closer look at a cactus, when he looked down to see the lizard lurking.

Jared froze. He didn’t dare move his body an inch. He knew that a Gila monster would take a bite and not let go. If the Gila monster didn’t notice him, then maybe he could sneak away.

However, the Gila monster was staring right at Jared. It was frozen in mid-step, as if challenging Jared to make the first move. A drop of sweat dropped from Jared’s forehead.

“What am I going to do?” thought Jared. His muscles were getting tired of standing still.

Just then, Mr. Carpenter, Jared’s scout leader, grabbed Jared’s arm and yanked him as hard as he could. They ran as fast as they could without stopping. Jared knew that his leader had saved him. He smiled when he thought of it. He turned to see if the Gila monster was following. There was no sign of it.

That was the first time Jared could remember that he had distanced himself from a Gila monster on purpose.