No matter how hard she tried, Emily couldn’t figure it out. The werewolf had helped her. And in doing so, it allowed itself to get captured. Emily couldn’t imagine an evil monster doing anything so brave and heroic.
It was a puzzle, and Emily needed help with it. Lucky for her, she knew just whom to ask. She walked to the door at the end of the long hospital hallway, and she peeked into the room. “Can I come in?” she said.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” replied the jolly old man, lying on his hospital bed. “Yes, Emily, come right in.”
The girl smiled as she entered. She sat in a chair beside her injured leader. He looks fine, she thought, except the top of his head is all bandaged up.
“How are you feeling, Santa?” said Emily.
“Oh, I’m all right. I have a headache, and it hurts to open my eyes. But I can spare a few minutes for you.”
“Thanks, Santa. I won’t stay long. I just wanted to ask you a question.”
Santa nodded. “Of course. What can I help you with?”
“Well, I was wondering,” said Emily. She leaned forward. “How do we know that the werewolf is evil?”
Santa remained silent for a long moment, thinking about her question. Then at last, he answered. “I heard that it attacked you, but if you’re asking me this, you must not believe it.”
“You’re right,” agreed Emily. “I don’t.”
“Well, in that case, I will first say the werewolf is probably not evil. However, it is dangerous.”
Emily began to protest, but Santa stopped her with a wave of his hand.
“Agent Vance is my friend and leader of the Monster Division,” Santa continued. “If anyone would know, he would.”
“But what if he’s wrong?” said Emily.
Santa sighed and rubbed his eyes. Emily could tell that the pain was starting to bother him.
He answered, “Monsters—and especially werewolves—are bad. The whole world knows it. That’s just the way it is.”
Emily disagreed. She wanted to say so, too, but Santa wasn’t feeling well. She had already stayed too long. She smiled once more and said, “Thank you, Santa.” And with that, she left him to his rest.
How do we really know werewolves are bad? she thought, as she walked back to her room. And how do we know Agent Vance didn’t make a mistake?
She opened the door and stepped inside. “We don’t,” she said aloud, answering her own question.
Thud!
The door behind her slammed shut. Emily spun around in surprise.
Then she gasped.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was staring at three visitors—three monsters!
A vampire.
A mummy.
And a Frankenstein.
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