Free The Power Potion by Wendelin Van Draanen

driftwoodin far corners of the enclosure, but there were, in fact, many (
many
) more that had retreated into the cool darkness of their burrows.
    Sticky’s little heart started racing.
    These tarantulas, you see, while not bird killers, did enjoy a variety of food. Grasshoppers (obviously), but also crickets and frogs and, yes, lizards.
    And Damien had, at one wicked point in his control over Sticky, placed him in the tarantula tank.
    Not to feed his hairy, scary monsters.
    Oh no.
    He had done it to make Sticky talk.
    You see, after Sticky discovered that Damien was nothing more than a dirty double-crosser, he’d simply stopped speaking to him (a tactic you yourself have probably employed at least once).
    To counteract this, Damien did not try reasoning with the gecko.
    Nor did he put him in time-out (as Sticky was already confined to a cage, which is, in essence, a permanent time-out).
    He also didn’t implore him to just grow up.
    No, he simply tossed him in the tank.
    And after being stalked and chased by an army of hungry tarantulas, after scaling the walls to escape only to be swatted down again and again by Damien, after holding out for as long as lizardly possible, Sticky finally cried, “All right, all right! I’ll talk!”
    A smug, sinister smile had crossed Damien’s face as he’d snatched the poor gecko up to safety and promptly re-caged him.
    So! It’s no wonder Sticky’s heart was
ka-pow-pow-pow
ing in his chest as he climbed up the terrarium.
    It’s no wonder he was shaky-toed and lightheaded as he stood on the mesh lid of the terrarium and peered down at the fierce, furry monsters below.

    It’s also no wonder that he thought (for more than a moment) that he was
loco
-berry burritos and should forget the whole idea.
    But Sticky really is a good and (despite evidence to the contrary) honorable gecko, and in the end he decided it was worth the risk.
    He took a deep, steadying breath.
    He verrrrry carefully opened the mesh window in the terrarium’s top.
    And then the gutsy gecko, summoning every ounce of his courage, stepped inside.

Chapter 18
INSIDE THE PIRATE CHEST
    Tarantulas (like many spiders) have eight eyes, but their eyesight is weak. Instead, they rely on sensory hairs that can feel even the slightest vibrations on the ground or in the air.
    It was, therefore, futile for Sticky to sneaky-toe down to the (fake) desert island, but charging down would also have been a mistake, as sudden movements make tarantulas feel threatened, and a tarantula that feels threatened defends itself by shooting off venomous body hairs.
    Having had some experience with this the last time he was in the tank, Sticky decided to err on the side of caution, and moved along the inside rim of the enclosure as smoothly and silently as possible.
    Still. Perhaps it was the vibrations he caused as he walked along the glass.
    Or perhaps it was the manic beating of his heart.
    Or the fact that the grasshopper hopper hadn’t dropped anything to eat in over a week.
    Regardless, by the time Sticky was above a small grove of (little fake) palm trees, spiders were beginning to emerge from their burrows.
    “Ay caramba!”
Sticky gasped (causing more vibrations to move through the air).
    He clung to the glass a moment, watching as hairy legs emerged from underground. Then, realizing that the situation was not improving over time, he made a mad dash for the mound of sand in front of the (little fake) palm trees and began digging furiously.
    As he dug, spiders approached.
    Cautiously.
    Tarantulas are, for the record, speedy runners,but these were in the presence of other (cannibalistic) spiders and were a little uncertain as to how to negotiate this meal.
    “Ay chihuahua!”
Sticky cried (because the hairy monsters were approaching plenty fast enough for him!).
    To ward them off, Sticky turned around and dug like a dog, spraying sand in their eight-eyed faces. This, of course, ticked off the tarantulas, causing some of them to rise