THE GIANT CROCOACH RETOLD BY SASICHA RANI

THE GIANT CROCOACH

RETOLD BY SASICHA RANI

Tommy and his friends were playing at the park. A pretty butterfly flew by. It was red and black.
“That’s a monarch butterfly,” said Kim.
“How do you know?” asked Andy.
“We’re studying insects at school,” answered Kim. “Did you know that spiders are not insects?” she added.

“Yukk, I don’t like bugs,” said Sam.
“They are creepy crawlies!”
“Oh no they are not. And you shouldn’t call them ‘bugs’.
Bugs are just one kind of insect. Most insects do good things,” said Kim.
“Tommy, could you ask RK-5 to take us to a place to see insects?” asked Kim.
“I’ll ask him. He’s on the bench with Bongo,” said Tommy.

“Kim is interested in insects,” said Tommy to RK5. “Could you please take us to a place where we can study insects?”
“Of course I can. I can take you anywhere. I can even talk to insects,” said RK-5.
RK-5 told Tommy which buttons to press on his number pad. Tommy pressed the buttons. There was a flash of light and a cloud of blue smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Sam started to shout.
“What’s happened? RK-5 has made everything huge!” she yelled.
“No, I haven’t made everything huge,” said RK-5. “I’ve made all of you small, so that you can study insects.”

“Oh no!” said Tommy. “We didn’t want to become small. We wanted to see insects at a museum or a zoo. Can you make us big again?” asked Tommy.
“Not for another hour,” answered RK-5.
Suddenly, Kim started screaming. A big spider was walking towards them.

RK-5 spoke to the spider. He told them not to worry.
“The spider is friendly but curious. Her name is Sandra. She wants to know why you are here,” said RK-5. “I told her you were studying insects.”

“I’m scared,” said Kim.
“Don’t be afraid. Sandra said that most of the insects will not hurt you. There is one bad insect — Corky, the cockroach!
You should stay clear of him. He’s a bully,” said RK-5.
Two pretty caterpillars walked by. One was green and red. The other was black and yellow. The caterpillars smiled at the children and waved.

“The caterpillars asked if you want to ride on them,” said RK-5.
Tommy jumped on the green and red caterpillar and Sam jumped on the other.
“I think they want to race,” yelled Tommy.

  

“First to reach that big daisy is the winner,” said Andy. “Ready, set, go!”
The caterpillars quickly headed for the daisy. Tommy’s caterpillar ran faster, but Tommy fell off. The other caterpillar went more slowly. She was second to reach the daisy, but Sam was still on her back.

Everyone laughed at Tommy. He was sitting in the long grass. They all stopped laughing when they saw something move behind him. It was Corky the cockroach.

Everyone began yelling. “Run! Run! Corky the cockroach is behind you!”
Tommy got to his feet. It was too late. Corky grabbed Tommy with his front legs. Corky saw the other children. He wanted to catch them too. He ran towards them. 

Sandra the spider helped the children climb up her web. It was easy to climb up the sticky threads. They reached the middle of the web. Corky could not reach them. They were safe, but how could they help Tommy? 

Suddenly, a huge, furry foot trapped Corky’s back legs. Corky was so surprised he let Tommy go. Tommy ran to the web and quickly climbed up to join his friends.
“Look, Taffy has caught Corky,” said Lucy.
“An hour has passed,” said Tommy quietly, “RK-5, please make us big again.”

There was a flash of light and a cloud of blue smoke. When the smoke cleared, they were back to their normal size. Tommy ran to Taffy.
“Thank you, Taffy. You saved me,” he said. Taffy wagged his tail.
Tommy then said to RK-5, “Please promise never to make us small again.” RK-5 didn’t reply. 

The End