Here then, is part 2. - The Space Ride

There was now a huge crater on the planet - exactly in the spot that Lemy & Rascal had crashed their spacecraft. Fortunately for our two friends, the strength of the craft meant that there was little damage to the insides of the spacecraft itself. Lemy & Rascal were dazed and groggy, but both of them were fine.

"Can we never ever try this again??" asked Lemy, still spinning from the crash.

"Wow!" said Rascal "That was some experience - it's a good thing my teeth are still here."

"Oh....why?" asked Lemy curiously.

"Well" replied Rascal in a matter-of-fact-tone. "If we do get to meet any of the inhabitants of this planet, I'll want to be able to smile properly at them, of course!"

"Humph!" said Lemy impatiently, "I really doubt there's anything living here!"

"We'll just have to see, won't we" answered Rascal.

"In the meantime, how about giving me a hand to dig out the spacecraft from this huge crater we've made with our landing!"

So, without further delay, the two stripey critters set about digging the craft out of the crater and hoisting it back up on the planet's surface. Thankfully, they had all the tools they needed in the craft.

Soon, they had the spacecraft back on proper ground.

"This place is kinda strange," remarked Rascal. "The ground is firm in places but sort of mucky in others - like there's mud around or something."

"Yeah," said Lemy. "Hope there's nothing in the muck,.... or we're in big trouble."

Just then, something scampered across, just behind them.

"Yow!!" exclaimed Lemy "What was that??!!"

"Gulp!" said Rascal "Let's get out of here, quick!!"

"No, wait!" said Lemy suddenly. "Look - its a fox!"

"A fox!??" frowned Rascal. "Hey, its got two tails!"

Rascal was correct - it was a blue fox with two tails, and following closely behind from within the mud was a set of tentacles, flailing and reaching out from the mucky ground.

"Yearrrgh!" shouted Lemy. "Those are mmm...mmuu....MUCK MONSTERS!"

Rascal could not believe his eyes, but true enough, it was one of those horrible muck monsters that everyone had heard about. Muck monsters are well known throughout the universe as hired help for inter-galactic space pirates, crooks and evil-smelling crime bosses. They're brown, slimy, mean and ugly and they look like squids but have one eye and six tentacles.

Both Lemy and Rascal had heard about these strange and scary creatures but had never encountered one before.

By this time, the blue fox had scampered up behind a large rock and had hidden itself there. The muck monster, finding no other targets nearby, turned its attention to the stripey pair.

"It's coming after us," screamed Lemy in a frightened, high-pitched voice. "Let's get back to the ship!!"

But Rascal was rooted to the spot. He was captivated by the way the monster could glide along on the hard ground by first making the ground into a muddy slush before going onto that slush or muck. No matter what Lemy said, Rascal just couldn't seem to move at all.

Lemy ran quickly into the craft, but he didn't abandon Rascal because a few moments later, he came charging out again - this time, with a dinner plate. Just as the muck monster reached Rascal, Lemy smashed the dinner plate on the monster's head. Crash! The plate broke into tiny pieces and the monster was so surprised that it quickly backed away. That broke the spell for Rascal and he realised what Lemy had done to save him.

"Thank goodness you were so brave, Lemy!" said Rascal.

"Think nothing of it," replied Lemy. "Now, lets get that blue fox and head back to the ship."

They both called out to the fox, who quickly scampered down from her rocky refuge and headed towards them.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, 3 new muck monsters appeared and tried to trap the fox.

With Lemy & Rascal shouting encouragement, the blue fox ran for all she was worth.....

End of Part 2

Puzzle of the week!