PART 4 - BIG BUGS

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Lemy and Rascal stared at the bug in amazement – it was holding onto a piece of metal and using it like shades!*(1).

Large shades – enough to shield its eyes from the bright sunlight of the desert area. Lemy wasn't so sure - but he was quite certain that the creature was grinning at him.

"Now we’re really in trouble….!!." said Lemy as both of them got into the train and put the engine in reverse.*(2) The train started creaking backwards – slowly at first, and then quickly picking up speed.

The creature merely stared at the train moving away from it, and seemed as if it was trying to decide whether or not to chase after it.
As the train started to move away, the creature went back into the hole and slipped away from view.

"Ha!" shouted Lemy happily. "Hey, stupid creature! Can’t catch us, can you??"

"Don’t do that!" scolded Rascal fearfully. "That creature isn’t as dumb as you think – after all, it was smart enough to pick up shades for itself right? So it can’t have given up so easily…."

"Oh…." said Lemy quietly, as he understood what Rascal was saying. "I suppose the creature must be planning something underground."

Rascal was already scanning the railroad tracks for signs of the creature.

Sure enough, a little further back along the tracks, Rascal could see the tell-tale signs that the creature was pushing its way up through the ground, so that it could ambush*(3) the train.

Lemy tried his best, but the train was moving backwards too quickly and would not be able to stop in time.

The tracks that the train needed to use, were being ripped up right before their eyes.

The creature tore through the tracks and turned to face the on-coming train.

"Jump!!" said Lemy. "We’re going to crash!!"

The two friends quickly jumped off the train and scrambled away as the creature grabbed the engine and started to tear it to bits.

It seemed to like the metal.

 As Lemy and Rascal ran away from the train, they could see that the creature was more interested in this new pile of metal (the train engine) than it was in chasing them.

After running a short distance, they stopped completely to look at what the big bug was doing.

Will you look at that…" said Rascal. "The creature’s eating the train parts –   metal bits!"

"Hmmm…so that’s why we found the tracks all messed up in the first place. "

"This creature must have come and done this, in order to eat the metal. And it must have scrambled down the hole in the ground as soon as it heard the train coming." reasoned Lemy.

 

 

Both of them were able to sneak off quite easily because the bug was now busily eating the train. Very quietly, Lemy and Rascal made sure that they were well hidden behind a pile of rocks as they continued to observe the big bug.

Rascal used his communicator and called back to home-base for some new transportation. "Get us something that will fly!" whispered Rascal urgently into the communicator. Ranger Fox, who was at the other end, understood the situation and told the stripey pair that help was on the way.


For the next 5 minutes, the two of them watched as the creature devoured *(4) the entire train, leaving only the wooden parts behind. Then, having been satisfied, the creature made its way back down the hole – completely forgetting about Lemy & Rascal.

"Whew! - that was a close one." said Lemy.

"But the danger’s not over," replied Rascal. "That thing has got to be stopped!!"

"Well, I’m not going to be the one to do it!!" answered Lemy

AND THAT, IS THE END OF PART 4, CLICK HERE FOR PART 5

Some new words to learn this week:
(*1) shades - an item that can be used to block off light or the sun - it can be made of tinted glass, plastic or in this story...metal.

(*2) reverse - to move backwards or to send something back the way it came from - like the train, for example.

(*3) ambush - according to Lemy an ambush is when someone or something hides where it can't be seen, so that it can jump out at you when you're not looking. Is that correct?

(*4) devoured - to eat something hungrily - in this case, the creature ate the metal as if it was very hungry and hadn't eaten for a while.

Copyright notice: Lemy & Rascal are part of the SuperTrain collection of stories, and the property of Alexander Choong & Aloysius Choong. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission from the authors is prohibited. Email:lemy_rascal@yahoo.com for further information. Big Bugs - copyright Oct 1999