In a land full of loud growls and giant growlers, there lived a tiny, teal monster named Tork.
Tork wasn’t tall.
Tork wasn’t tough.
Tork wasn’t terrifying.

At Monster Mountain Academy, the best scare school in the world, Tork dreamed of becoming a Scarer.
“Scarers must stomp!” said the teacher.
“Scarers must shout!” said the coach.
“Scarers must shake ceilings!” said the headmaster.

Poor Tork could barely shake a curtain.

The lockers laughed when Tork walked by.
“You? A scarer?” they giggled.
Even the windows whistled with doubt.
The shadows seemed to snicker.

Tork tried his best.
He studied scare charts, tiptoed through tunnels, and practiced pouncing on pillows.
He even stared at himself in the mirror and whispered, “You can do this.”

The other monsters weren’t mean, just... big.
Blorg was as tall as a tree.
Cragg had claws like carving knives.
And Flump? He could flatten a sofa just by sitting on it!

Tork felt as small as a sock in a laundry mountain.

But he kept going.
Because big dreams don’t care about small sizes.

One stormy night, the sky crackled with lightning—BOOM! 

Tork jumped, then laughed.“If I can survive that,” he said, “I can survive anything!”

He read The Beginner’s Book of Boos three times.
He built a “Scare Lab” under his bed.
He even scared a spider—well, almost.