On Tuesday Matt put the Gobbler in a plastic card case and gently slipped it into his backpack He took it with him to school At morning recess he took it out There was not a lot to do at recess besides play with Monster Zap cards The play area outside the school was just flat hard concrete It was also really gross out there The schoolyard was covered with garbage Crumpled bags plastic wrap and even crusts from bread Nobody ever put their trash in the garbage cans Kids just threw their junk on the pavement Plus there was no jungle gym like the one at the park down the street There were only a few balls skipping ropes and Hula-Hoops to use Most of the big kids took those And it had been a wet spring so the field was too muddy to play on 4
At least Matt had his cards When Matt’s friend Tyler saw the Blue-Fanged Gobbler he put his hands on his head and said Eeearrrgh Are you okay Matt said Tyler jumped up and down twelve times Eeearrrgh That’s a Blue-Fanged Gobbler Matt He jumped up and down some more I know That’s the best card I’ve ever seen Tyler kept jumping Matt nodded Me too Did you say a Blue-Fanged Gobbler another voice called out Before Matt knew it five or six other kids were gathered around him and Tyler Whoa That card rules 6
Soon they all had their cards out and were happily playing Monster Zap Not long after they started it was time to trade Matt would never trade his Blue Fanged Gobbler But he did have a Fire Breathing Zwart which was a pretty good card Tyler saw it and his eyes grew as big as saucers Whoa I want that Zwart Tyler said Matt looked at the Zwart card in his hand He stared at the Gross Eyeball card in Tyler’s hand I’ll trade you the Zwart for the Eyeball Tyler looked at his card My uncle bought me this one He got it from a special card shop Tyler gave the Eyeball card a long stare He took a deep breath He really wanted that Zwart Okay he said finally 7
