by Ann Sourbee

CAST

Little girl (Emily) and her parents, Kristie and Chris

Horses: Lavender, Snowy, Brownie and the foal Oreo

Squirrel: Big Whale

Lion: Henry

Tigers: Holly and Molly

Giraffe: Fred

Monster: Furrball 

Once upon a time, there was a small town with little cottages surrounded by farms. The townspeople would go out for a walk through the town and greet each other with a wave, “hello!” “Hello!” “Hello!”/Bonjour Bonjour Bonjour

But in a second, the whole town went quiet. A big shadow went over a cottage, and everyone ran out and looked up at the sky. But to their surprise, it wasn’t a cloud. It was a—

Monster foot! The foot was furry and scaly at the same time. The fur was blue with dark, scaly pokey spots. The foot was as big as the cottage roof, and it smashed down and flattened the cottage. The only thing that was remaining was a blanket and several broken glasses.

Everybody screamed at once, “ahhhhh!!!” and ran to their houses and started packing immediately to leave. 

As the days went by, the monster would return without warning, and bit by bit the monster was destroying the 

entire abandoned village. Only one family remained: they lived on a farm and always used a horse for travel instead of a car, and they couldn’t pack enough or outrun the monster. 

One day, a little girl named Emily took their horse Lavender out for a ride to survey the damage and check on the small zoo next to the farm where they lived. Emily and Lavender went to an arena and started riding. Lavender spotted, out of the corner of her eye, a giant blue monster foot.

Lavender got spooked and at first Emily didn’t know why. Then she saw it: the giant foot. She had never jumped before, but it was too late to stop Lavender: she was running toward the arena’s fence. Lavender took off to jump. Emily did what she saw her parents do: a two point. She lifted her bottom and then when the horse came up and leapt over the fence, she met the saddle and they cleared the fence. The horse started running just in time as the monster made a giant monster footprint that looked like a round crater where the arena had been. The monster was so big he almost seemed to move in slow motion, and the sound of his footsteps boomed and echoed slowly. Her mom and dad were watching from the window. Her mom’s mouth opened in shock and silently she tilted to the side and collapsed in fright.

Emily put Lavender in a paddock with the other three horses and ran into the house. Her father was sitting on a chair with his mouth open in shock, too.

Out in the paddock Lavender thought to herself, “One day I am going to be crushed. This is not happening. I have not lived my life yet! I need to get help stopping this monster.” Lavender figured out how to untie the knot. She untied herself and turned to the other three horses, “Who is with me? I have not lived my life. You have not lived your lives. I am stopping this!” said Lavender to Snowy, Brownie and the foal Oreo.

Snowy and Brownie agreed to help. So did Oreo but Snowy, Brownie and Lavender thought he was too young. They all said, “You stay here and guard the whole farm. If you see the monster, just say, “Heeeelp!!!” Then we can come running and set traps for the monster.

While they were taking a stroll to the zoo to see if they could find more animals to help, a squirrel appeared and said, “Ahhh! Monster! The monsters! The monsters! Don’t step on me!” The horses were taken aback—they were only about eight feet tall.

Lavender said, “Squirrel. We’re only eight feet tall. The monster is probably a hundred feet tall.”

The squirrel said, “Really? I didn’t know that! So the big monster is probably…” (he did some calculating on his paws) “about twenty-five times taller than you small monsters?”

Brownie said, “We’re not monsters—for the last time. We’re called horses,” and he spelled out the letters, “H-O-R-S-E-S.”

The squirrel said, “Really?”

Snowy said, “Do you want to join us? We’re trying to stop the monster from destroying this town.”

The squirrel said, “Yes I do. But first I think we should get out of that giant shadow behind you,” and he pointed to a big shadow .

The horses reared up in terror and the squirrel scrambled quickly  up Lavender’s leg. They bolted to the side and escaped just in time for the monster’s foot to crash down where they had just been standing. They ran a few more minutes then the squirrel said, “All the people are gone. I think we should go to the zoo…maybe there are some animals left there who could help us.”

“That is just where we were headed,” said Snowy. And away they trotted.

As they trotted toward the zoo, Lavender said “by the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is Big Whale!” said the squirrel proudly. The horses snickered as quietly as they could so they wouldn’t hurt Big Whale’s feelings.

When they got to the zoo, the first animals they met were monkeys. They said, “Please will you help us? Please will you help us?” But the monkeys didn’t answer because they were too busy eating bananas.

Next, they came to a bird house. The horses were too big to fit inside and the squirrel was too terrified to leave Lavender’s neck. “Anyways,” said Brownie, “If we got birds to help they’d probably just get crushed. We should leave them safely here.”

Next they came to the lion’s cage. Lavender was very good not only at untying ropes but also at opening locks, and she got the cage open and went in. When the lion saw the door was open he roared, “Who left this door open! Anyone could wander in!”

“I did,” said Lavender. And she explained the whole story about the monster flattening the village. The lion, who was named Henry, was convinced and agreed to help them. He walked out of his cage and did not like it at first. He hadn’t been out of his cage since he was a lion cub.

Next they came to the tiger twin sisters Holly and Molly. The Lion explained what was happening and the tigers listened, looking bored. “Sure we can help,” they said. “All we have to do is roar and that monster will be terrified and leave.”Even though The others doubted this was true, they didn’t say so.

The team made their way around the zoo, but most of the other animals said “do you really believe that monster tale the people have been saying?” and refused to help. Finally, they came to the giraffe pen where a sign said “This is Fred, the Giraffe.” The horses and everyone else were out of hope. But the giraffe, who had overheard them talking to the hyppo said, “Agreed. I’m ready!”

“Woohoo!” said the horses in delight.

Big Whale said, “We need to make a monster trap. I will make an acorn canon. I will make the monster woozy and he will fall into a net. Simple!” But soon enough they realized that if they put a net around him, he would definitely break free. 

Fred spoke up politely, in his deep giraffe voice, “Pardon me Big Whale, but an acorn will be like a raindrop hitting the monster.”

“Yes,” said Big Whale, “I guess so. But we should still try it, right?”

Just then the sky darkened. They looked up and saw the slow-moving monster foot. “We will scare him away forever with our terrifying roar!” said Holly and Molly. “I’ll roar with you!” said Henry the lion. But when they roared at the monster, it sounded like a tiny, faint “squeeeeeaaaak” to the monster’s distant ears. The monster didn’t even notice them and disappeared over the hill, leaving huge footsteps behind him.

The horses said, “Ok, if we keep doing these little things, it isn’t going to work. We have to try something all together. First, why don’t we think about where the monster’s home was? Because we never see him sleeping here.” They thought about it a moment and agreed that it probably meant his home was on the other side of the hill. The horses and giraffe agreed to go explore without being seen.

They left at a walk, then a trot, then a cantor, then a gallop. Finally, they got to the top of the hill. What they saw to their animal eyes was amazing. Below them was a valley with all different types of flowers. In the meadow was a herd of wild horses. Lavender asked if the wild horses had seen a giant monster, and if they knew where it lived?

“Oh yes,” said one of the horses, “We have seen something very big and strange that seems to live on the other side of that big hill.”

“Thank you!” our heroes said, and the horses and giraffe galloped through the valley and up the hill on the other side. When they got there, they saw the biggest boulder they had ever seen. Crouched inside was the monster, and it looked small compared to the rock cave surrounding it.

The animals glanced at it, then ran as fast as they could back to where the other animals were waiting for them near the zoo.

The horses explained what they had seen. Big Whale said, “We could lure him to the other side of the mountain with seeds and acorns. While he’s distracted eating, Lilly, Fred, Henry, Holly and Molly, and maybe even Rosy, Lavender, Snowy and Oreo will go and put a punch of acorns, seeds, fruit and vegetables in his cave. I’ll lure him back to the cave and he’ll start eating and eating. He’ll grow bigger and bigger inside the cave and he won’t be able to fit through the entrance. He’ll be trapped in there for a hundred years, or maybe a thousand!”

And this is what happened. The monster grew and grew eating the food inside its cave, and grew so big and fast it became trapped inside the cave. The people returned to the town and set-up livestream cameras to watch the cave and make sure the monster didn’t escape. 

One day Big Whale squeezed between the bars and stood on his back legs with his hands on his squirrel hips and his big tail all bushy. He looked up at the monster and said, “That monster looks like an ant compared to this giant boulder.” “Why don’t we name the monster Anty?” suggested Lavender.

Big Whale didn’t really get it but he played it cool and said, “Ok. I like that.”

I could tell you many more stories, but if you stayed here for five years, I couldn’t tell you all the stories of this place and the animals and their ancestors.

About the Author

Ann Sourbee

Ann Sourbee has three labradoodles and one poodle. She loves to go to the zoo because she lives really close to the zoo. But, she doesn’t live on the highway. Her Mom owns a restaurant named Denny’s. Ann Sourbee loves to spend time with her family and play dominoes.