The Forest Monster of Oz | Page 4

all three of them in an instant! It might have, too, had it not been distracted by the sight of a small yellow cat which was darting by. It took the feline in its massive claws and raised her to its mouth.


CHAPTER 3
THE FOREST MONSTER
Elephant stampeded frantically toward the scene, fearing for the life of the cat.
"We'll need all the help we can get," Elephant said grimly. "That animal is big! But it has poor Fisher the Cat. We can't let it eat her up!"
"Why not?" asked Nibbles.
The Elephant slung himself against the Monster's leg as hard as he could, but the creature did not even seem to notice. In a glance it was apparent to the bird and the mouse that their companion was in trouble.
"Elephant!" shouted Tweaty. "Get away from that thing! Look at its teeth! It will eat your nose off! Get your body away from it!"
[Illustration: Elephant vs. Forest Monster]
But Elephant was determined. He made a loud trumpet noise and stepped on the Monster's foot. With a howl of pain, the Forest Monster dropped the cat.
"What do you think you're doing, to try and eat Fisher up like that? A poor defenseless cat! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"I wasn't going to eat her up, you dolt!" said the Monster in a cold and scratchy voice. "I was trying to see if it was a lion. I was told by a certain squirrel that it was a lion who lopped my head off."
"But you've still got your head," Tweaty interjected.
"Yeah, now!" said the Monster. "But it was a pain in the neck trying to get it back! And before I could, my body began to shrink. I kept getting smaller and smaller. I felt like Alice after eating the wrong thing!"
"Holy cow!" said Nibbles. "Are you saying that you were once bigger than you are now?"
"No, actually. I found myself a way to restore my size."
"How is that?"
"I have captured a very magical insect-bug in one of my webs. Sweet little thing, too. Some people spray insects with a flit gun, but I like to eat them up. Bugs are yummy in my tummy! But my little Lovebug is special. She doesn't go in my tummy. Instead, she gets to stay wound up in my web, only to be let free long enough to give me what I need."
"What is that?" asked Elephant with a shudder.
"The biggest and grandest thing in the universe is, of course, True Love. Even though shaped a bit like a cockroach, my Lovebug can produce the stuff inside her teeny little heart. All I have to do is chant a certain incantation and then to have her kiss me once or twice each day, and I stay as big as I like!"
"But that is terrible!" said Tweaty. "You can't abuse Love that way! Love is supposed to be beautiful and friendly and stuff like that! To cheapen this sacred gift by forcing someone into submission by magic or force is an abuse of Love, and not what the gods had in mind for us at all. If you are making this Love-insect your slave, you are abusing the whole concept and also missing the point!"
With another tremendous roar, the huge spider was gone. He obviously did not care for any more lecturing that day.
"Good riddance, I say!" spoke Nibbles. "That big old thing was ugly! And it smelled awful!"
"Where's Fisher?" asked Elephant.
"I think the thingy ate her up after all."
"I sure hope not!"
"I'm fine," came the feline meow. "Is that beast gone away yet?"
"It has," answered the pachyderm. Oddly, neither Nibbles nor Tweaty felt the slightest tinge of fear at the sight of the cat. In Oz, natural enemies ofttimes become the dearest of friends. Indeed, Oz is a truly remarkable land!
"I think I saw all nine of my lives flash before me that time!" said the cat. "What in the heck was that thing that had me?"
"I don't know," said Elephant. "But I hope we'll never see it again."
"But you have to rescue that poor little insect!" said an earthworm, poking her head out of the ground. "Didn't you bozos hear what that thing said about Lovebug? He's got her stuck in his sticky web, and he is treating her like a slave and he's even making her--ugh!--kiss him! How yucky can you get? You must save that poor little bug. She is a good bug. Love is always good! Please help her. Please. I can't bear to think of her in that predicament!"
"It's a stupid bug, for crying out loud!" said Tweaty. "Don't you think that we have more important things to do than to go and save a stupid bug?"
"But this is Oz, where everyone is equal," Nibbles pointed out. "Even a cat like Fisher is our