The Green Monster
by
Erik Oosterwal
Erik-Philip and Matthew were playing in their sandbox, when all of a sudden
Erik-Philip saw that his green shovel had turned all brown.
"Hey!" he cried. "My green shovel turned all brown!"
Matthew looked up from where he was playing with his dump truck and saw that
his new green bike was brown too. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. "My new bike's all
brown too. And the grass is brown, And the leaves are brown. What are we
going to do?"
"Let's go tell Mom and Dad" Erik-Philip said. "Maybe they'll know what to
do."
Erik-Philip and Matthew ran in the house.
"Mom! Dad! Mom! Dad!" they yelled. "Look outside! All our green stuff is
all brown!"
"Mom and Dad looked outside and then they looked really worried.
"Boys" Said Mom. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I think the
Green Monster came and took all the green away."
"The Green Monster?" asked the boys.
"Yes boys, the Green Monster" said Dad. "The
Green Monster comes around and takes all the green
away, and leaves a plain old yucky brown in it's place."
"Can we go and find the Green Monster and get
our green back?" asked the boys. "Please?"
"Well, we don't know where to look, but we can try" said Mom.
"You get in the car, and I'll get the keys" said Dad.
So Erik-Philip and Matthew and Mom and Dad all got in the car and started
driving down the street. Everywhere they looked, the grass was brown and
the leaves were brown and the cars and trucks that were supposed to be green
were all brown.
"It looks like the Green Monster has already been
here" said Mom. "Let's drive over to Grandma's house and see if the
Green Monster is over there."
They turned the car around and drove all the way over to Grandma's house.
"Grandma! Grandma!" Erik-Philip yelled when they drove in the driveway. "The
Green Monster was at our house and took all our
green. The grass is all brown and the leaves are all brown and my shovel's
all brown..."
"And even my bike" piped in Matthew. "My brand new bike that I got for
Christmas!"
"Mom and Dad said they would help us find the Green Monster so we could get
our green back" Erik-Philip continued. "Have you seen him?"
"Oh, yes" said Grandma. "That old Green Monster
was already here. And do you know what? He took all the green out of my flowers,
and he took all the green out of my lawn, and he even took all of the green
out of my favorite chair!
"Don't worry Grandma" said Matthew. "We'll find that mean old
Green Monster and we'll get your green back for
you."
Erik-Philip and Matthew got back in the car and Mom and Dad drove out the
driveway and they all continued their hunt for the Green Monster. Everywhere
they looked they saw nothing but brown. Not a green leaf or blade of grass
could be seen. They drove past brown corn fields. They drove past brown cows
eating brown grass. They even drove past a forest of brown trees. Everywhere
they went, the Green Monster had already been
there.
Finally, Dad had to stop for gas. There was a TV on in the gas station, and
the newspeople were talking about the Green Monster.
Someone said that the Green Monster had gone to
the zoo, and was trying to get all the green from there. Erik-Philip and
Matthew asked Dad to hurry. Dad paid for the gas and they all got back in
the car and drove as fast as they could to the zoo. There they found two
T-shirts that were green, and the boys put them on.
"I've got an idea that I think will work" said Erik-Philip. "Matthew, you
get a box and come with me."
Matthew found a shoe box and he raced after Erik-Philip.
They found a couple of trees that still had green leaves at the very top,
so they climbed up one of the trees. When they got to the top, they held
on tightly to the branches and stayed as still as they could hoping that
the Green Monster would think they were leaves.
Sure enough, after about a minute, the Green Monster
saw that there were still a couple of green leaves at the tops of the trees
and he started to climb up the one where Matthew and Erik-Philip were
waiting.
He started out at the bottom and he climbed slowly, slowly, closer, and closer
to where the boys were waiting. He got nearer and nearer and the boys could
see his eyes and hear him breathing right below them. The
Green Monster reached out his hand and was about
to grab the green on Matthew's shirt when all of a sudden...
Erik-Philip grabbed the Green Monster and stuffed
him in the box.
The boys climbed down from the tree with the Green
Monster stuck in the box, yelling and screaming to let him out.
"Let me out of this box!" yelled the Green Monster.
"It's dark in here and I can't see my green!"
"We won't let you out of the box until you promise to put all the green back
where you found it" said Matthew.
"But I LIKE green" said the Green Monster. "It's
my favorite color."
"It's my favorite color too" said Erik-Philip. "And if you take it all, no
one else can have any."
"I don't care" said the Green Monster.
"If you don't put the green back," said Matthew, "you can't come out of the
box. You'll be stuck in there forever."
"If you promise to put all the green back and you promise to share," said
Erik-Philip, "we'll let you out."
The Green Monster was very quiet for a little
while and then he finally said, "All right. I promise to put all the green
back where I found it, just as long as you promise to share with me."
The boys opened the box and the Green Monster
put all the green back where he found it. He put the green back on the grass
and on the leaves, and on the flowers, and on Erik-Philip's shovel and Matthew's
bike. He even put the green back on Grandma's favorite chair.
Now, every year just before the snow comes, the Green
Monster gets all the green off of the leaves and keeps it for the
winter. And every year when the winter is over and the snow melts, he comes
back and puts the green back on the grass and on the leaves and on the flowers.
Just like he promised.
Copyright Erik Oosterwal - 1996 - 2004
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