The Not-So-Scary Zombie

Max loved baseball more than anything. Every Saturday, he and his best friend Lily would meet at the park, gloves in hand, ready for their favorite game. But this Saturday was different.

Max had lost his favorite baseball somewhere in the old, overgrown garden behind his house. His grandmother called it the Sleeping Garden, where flowers grew as tall as sunflowers and fireflies danced at dusk.

"I'll help you find it!" Lily said, grabbing her glove.

As they crept between the towering roses, Max heard something. *Clomp. Clomp. Drag.*

"What's that?" Lily whispered, her eyes wide.

From behind the hydrangea bush stumbled the most peculiar creature Max had ever seen. It was greenish-gray, with messy hair and clothes that looked like they'd been through a washing machine explosion. One arm hung loosely at its side.

"A zombie!" Max gasped, but then he noticed something strange. The zombie wasn't trying to scare them. It was limping toward them with... a baseball in its good hand?

"Is that... your baseball?" Lily asked, pointing.

The zombie smiled a crooked smile and held out the ball. Then, with a groan that sounded strangely like "play ball," it tossed the ball to Max.

"You want to play?" Max asked, amazed.

The zombie nodded enthusiastically. For the next hour, Max, Lily, and their new friend—who they named Zed—played the most wonderful game of baseball. Zed couldn't run fast or throw straight, but he could hit the ball farther than anyone Max had ever seen. *WHACK!* The ball would soar over the garden fence while Zed did a little victory hop.

When the sun began to set, Zed waved goodbye and shuffled back behind the hydrangea bush.

"Will we see him again?" Lily asked.

Max smiled, clutching his recovered baseball. "Every Saturday."

That night, Max learned something important: sometimes the scariest-looking things aren't scary at all. Sometimes, they're just lonely souls looking for someone to play catch with.