A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch!

by Pamela Butchart

  I was SHOCKED because I thought Maisie would be TERRIFIED to go out on the lake because of the MONSTER. But she said, “Two isn’t enough if something goes wrong. They might need me.”

  And that’s when I realised that if MAISIE could be brave even when we had a LAKE MONSTER to deal with, then I could be, too.

  So that’s when I said that I was coming as well and Maisie smiled and we ran towards the lake and yelled, “Wait for us!”

  Ranger Tam put our life jackets on and double-checked that we’d remembered ALL the rules and then he made us answer QUESTIONS about the rules and when we got them all right he said, “OK. Let’s get you on the raft.”

  As soon as we got on the raft, Jodi looked across at Gary and yelled,

  And that’s when I realised that Jodi wanted us to RACE Gary.

  So we all started using our paddles but we must have been doing it wrong because we kept going in CIRCLES rather than forward.

  That’s when Gary Petrie’s raft pushed RIGHT past ours and he SPLASHED us with his paddle ON PURPOSE and yelled, “SEE YOU LATER, AMIGOS!” And then he started laughing REALLY LOUD and all FAKE.

  That’s when Zach said that we all needed to stop paddling, so we did.

  And then he said, “On the count of three, we’re all going to start again at the same time and do it like THIS, OK?”

  And then Zach did a demonstration and that’s when I realised that it was MY fault that we had been going round in circles because I’d been paddling BACKWARDS by mistake and Maisie had been copying me.

  So as soon as Zach counted to three we all started paddling again the RIGHT WAY and the raft started to move forward and Jodi yelled, “THAT’S IT! KEEP IT UP IN THE BACK!”

  I looked at Maisie because WE were the back and Maisie’s little arms were going so fast I wasn’t sure how long she was going to be able to keep paddling!

  Then I looked up and saw that Gary’s raft was WAY ahead of us and so were all the other rafts.

  But then all of a sudden Zach STOPPED paddling.

  And Jodi said, “ZACH!”

  But Zach didn’t answer.

  And we all watched the paddle slip RIGHT out of his hand and into the lake!

  And that’s when I shouted, “Zach! Grab it!”

  But Zach DIDN’T grab it.

  He didn’t even MOVE.

  He just said, “What’s THAT?!”

  And I leaned over and looked where he was looking and that’s when I GASPED because there was a long, thick GREEN THING with SPIKY BITS on it floating right beside us!

  Zach yelled, “It’s a tail, isn’t it?! IT’S A TAIL!”

  Then he started

  and I didn’t blame him because it WAS a tail and it obviously belonged to the MONSTER.

  And then Jodi started yelling, “WHERE’S THE REST OF IT?”

  But I could only see the tail and I knew that that could only mean ONE THING.

  I looked at Maisie and her eyes were

  And that’s when I said, “Maisie, listen to me VERY CAREFULLY. Whatever you do, DON’T FAINT!”

  And Maisie nodded loads and started doing her MEDITATION BREATHING EXERCISES.

  Because I knew that there was only ONE place the monster could be.

  It was underneath our RAFT.

  We all sat frozen in our seats, waiting for Ranger Tam to come over. Jodi had managed to get his attention by waving an EMERGENCY FLAG in the air that she’d taken from her SURVIVAL SUIT.

  As SOON as Ranger Tam paddled over and saw what WE were looking at, his face went

  And that’s when Zach started

  Before we could do anything, he fell off the raft and into the lake!

  Zach was splashing EVERYWHERE and that’s when Jodi looked at us and said,

  And even though it was CHAOS, I grabbed Jodi’s legs and so did Maisie and we held on TIGHT while Jodi leaned over the raft.

  And then she yelled,

  But Zach wasn’t listening because he was PANICKING.

  And then he started screaming,

  And I looked around as much as I could while I held on to Jodi’s leg but I couldn’t see the tail ANYWHERE.

  I looked at Maisie and she looked at me and I could see

  in her face and I knew that there was probably

  on MY face too because we both knew that we’d just seen the MONSTER’S TAIL and that Zach was probably STANDING on it RIGHT NOW.

  But then Ranger Tam shouted, “Zach! Listen to me. That’s the BOTTOM OF THE LAKE you can feel. Stand up. “

  And Zach stopped splashing and stood up and that’s when we saw that the water was only up to his WAIST.

  Zach looked a bit SURPRISED and then he said, “Oh, yeah.”

  And then Jodi helped him climb back on to the raft. And when he sat down, we all saw that he didn’t look like he’d looked before he went into the water and we kept telling him how weird his FACE and EYES looked and asking him if was OK.

  And that’s when Maisie said, “It’s because he saw the monster.

  And Zach nodded a bit and said that he was in shock, but we already knew that because it was obvious.

  So that’s when Ranger Tam started acting a bit PANICKED and said it was time to get back to shore. And then he told all the other rafts to turn back.

  That’s when Gary Petrie said that it was RUBBISH because we’d only just got on the rafts and that Zach was FINE and the water wasn’t even that COLD.

  Then Gary put his arm in the water to show everyone that it wasn’t cold and that’s when Maisie shouted,

  And Gary gasped and pulled his hand out of the lake RIGHT AWAY.

  And I looked at Jodi and Jodi looked at me because it hadn’t just been MAISIE that had shouted “NO! DON’T!”

  Ranger Tam had shouted it too!

  And Ranger Tam looked

  As soon as we got back to the lodge Jodi called an

  Zach had changed into some clothes that weren’t wet but he was still shivering and that’s when Jodi said that we needed a TINFOIL BLANKET to wrap round him to get him warm ASAP. But we didn’t have any tinfoil in the lodge so Maisie just wrapped loads of normal blankets round him and that helped.

  I was watching Ranger Tam from the Big Window because even though he’d sent us all back to the lodges, he was still on a raft out on the lake, peering into the water. And I knew that he was looking for the MONSTER.

  That’s when Jodi said, “The secret meeting has officially begun.” And she took a deep breath and said, “I think we can all agree this is probably the most SERIOUS problem we’ve ever had to deal with.”

  And we all nodded.

  Then Jodi said, “Zach was almost eaten by a lake monster today.”

  And me and Maisie both GASPED because even though that was definitely TRUE, we hadn’t been expecting Jodi to say it (especially right in front of ZACH who was clearly still in SHOCK)!

  I looked at Zach to see if he was OK and that’s when I saw that his head was sort of slumped to the side and that he was leaning against Maisie and also that he had fainted.

  Then all of a sudden there was a loud knock at the door and Maisie squealed.

  Jodi looked at me but I just shrugged because I didn’t know who it was.

  And then Maisie squeaked a bit and we looked and saw that Zach was actually LYING on top of her now so that she was squashed against the side of the couch.

  So we pulled Zach off and that’s when he woke up and started SHAKING again and saying, “What’s happening?! What’s happening?!”

  And that’s when we heard Gary Petrie yell, “It’s me! GP!”

  And Jodi rolled her eyes and said, “GO AWAY, GARY! WE’RE BUSY!”

  But then Gary KNOCKED AGAIN and yelled, “I’ve got lunch for us all at my lodge to say sorry for moaning about Zach falling in the water. Is he OK?”

  That’s when my stomach started RUMBLING and I realised that none of us had even eaten breakfast because of everything that was going on.

  And then Maisie said, “I
’m hungry.”

  And I could tell that Jodi wanted to keep doing the secret meeting but then HER stomach rumbled TOO. And she yelled, “Do you have any foil at your lodge?”

  And Gary laughed and said, “It’s GP’s lodge! We have

  I couldn’t BELIEVE how big it was inside the boys’ lodge. They had a MASSIVE kitchen and it was so big that the POOL TABLE was in it.

  That’s when Gary said, “Zach, you can take a dip in my hot tub if you want to warm up?”

  And Zach nodded that he did want that. And Maisie said that Zach still looked a bit pale and that maybe she should get changed into her COSTUME and get in too in case he fainted again.

  That’s when Gary said that we could ALL get in the hot tub if we wanted and that he’d get Jonathan to serve us lunch there.

  And that’s when I looked at Jodi and back at Gary because I had

  who Jonathan was because there wasn’t anyone in our class called Jonathan and I didn’t understand why someone called Jonathan would be serving us anything.

  Then all of a sudden a door opened in the kitchen and a man wearing a CHEF’S OUTFIT came out and put loads of plates down on the kitchen table and said, “Mr Petrie, your pizza is still cooking. I’ll bring it out shortly.”

  And Gary nodded and said, “Thank you, Jonathan.”

  I looked at Jodi and she had her mouth WIDE OPEN.

  We all STARED as Jonathan disappeared back into the kitchen and Gary took off the SILVER DOME covering one of the big plates and that’s when we saw that Jonathan had made

  Then Gary explained that the lakeside lodges came with PRIVATE CHEFS and that he’d read about it in the WELCOME PACK and that Jonathan had been making him LOADS of food and that he’d even made him a

  That’s when I got really annoyed with myself for not reading the WELCOME PACK and I was starting to wonder if there was maybe a HOT TUB at our lodge somewhere too!

  Then Gary said, “I wasn’t sure what everyone would like, and I know Jodi’s a bit weird with a lot of food, so––”

  And that’s when Jodi interrupted Gary and said, “I am not WEIRD with food, GARY. I’m a VEGETARIAN. I’ve told you THAT about a million times!”

  But Gary wasn’t really listening because he was too busy pointing at all the sandwiches and saying, “Chicken and bacon, mozzarella and tomato, three cheeses, and Coronation chicken – without raisins, obviously!”

  And I couldn’t BELIEVE how FANCY everything was because I have never SEEN sandwiches piled up in such a fancy way on a big silver tray before and it looked AMAZING!

  And then Gary said, “Please note all the crusts have been removed at my request. ENJOY!”

  I didn’t understand why Gary was talking so WEIRD all of a sudden but I didn’t really care because I was STARVING and the sandwiches looked DELICIOUS.

  So we all started eating them

  and Jodi said it was actually the MOST sandwiches she’d eaten in ages and that there were LOADS of vegetarian ones!

  Then Gary looked at me and WINKED and I knew that it was because he HAD remembered about Jodi being a vegetarian and that he’d probably ordered loads of sandwiches especially for Jodi and that he’d just been winding her up because he likes to do that.

  But then I noticed that Zach wasn’t really eating and that he’d only had a tiny bite of one ham sandwich and then put it back down.

  So I asked him if he was feeling OK and he said that he wasn’t sure and that it was hard having a

  and then eating a sandwich.

  And Maisie nodded LOADS and said that that’s how she felt ALL THE TIME especially when really scary stuff happened like the time she saw a GIANT SEAGULL.

  And that’s when Gary looked at us and said, “Am I missing something?”

  And Maisie looked at Jodi and did WIDE EYES but Jodi just shook her head and reached for another sandwich. But then Maisie PULLED the sandwiches away so Jodi couldn’t reach them. And then did even WIDER EYES at Jodi.

  And I knew that Maisie wanted Jodi to let Gary IN on our

  We’ve done that before if we’ve needed his help, like the time with the PHANTOM LOLLIPOP MAN (but Jodi wasn’t very happy about it).

  Jodi says we need to keep a TIGHT CIRCLE when things like YETIS and DEMON DINNER LADIES and VAMPIRE RATS attack our school so that we have the best chance of

  But then Gary got up and said, “Why don’t we all discuss this further in the hot tub? Jonathan can bring us some lemonade.”

  And that’s when Jodi tapped her fingers on the table for a bit.

  And then she said, “Well. That might be OK, I suppose. And did Jonathan say something about a pizza?”

  Zach said he felt MUCH better once we were eating pizza in the hot tub. And that it was probably the most RELAXED he had felt in AGES.

  Gary said he was probably going to get a hot tub in his garden when he got home so that he could relax after being at school all day.

  But the person who was enjoying the hot tub most was DEFINITELY Jodi.

  And she kept GIGGLING when Gary turned up the BUBBLES and Jodi NEVER giggles!

  That’s when Maisie said that she really liked Jonathan and that he was very helpful and nice. And Gary said that he WAS and that he was going to miss him when we went home and that he was going to see if he could get his mum to put a chocolate on his pillow before bed like Jonathan did.

  And Maisie GASPED and I KNEW that she was going to ask her mum about the

  Then Jonathan appeared again with a tray of drinks and they looked AMAZING and they had bits of PINEAPPLE on the side and CHERRIES and EVERYTHING!

  Gary took a sip of one and said, “Delicious mocktail! Bravo, Jonathan!”

  And Jonathan laughed and went back into the lodge.

  I didn’t really know what a MOCKTAIL was but Gary said that it was like the CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS the teachers loved except instead of champagne it had MANGO and PINEAPPLE.

  So we all tasted our MOCKTAILS and they WERE delicious!

  Maisie liked hers so much she didn’t even really take a BREATH. She just kept sucking through the straw until it was all gone!

  And that’s when Gary said, “OK. Spill the beans, compadres. What’s going on?”

  And that’s when Jodi said, “We think there might be something in the lake.”

  And THAT’S when I knew that Jodi had

  But then Gary said, “You mean the MONSTER. Go on.”

  And Jodi did a weird DOUBLE-BLINK THING and I knew that it was because she didn’t realise that Gary knew about the MONSTER!

  And that’s when Jodi said, “We’re on a mission to prove to the world that the monster exists. And we won’t let anything or ANYONE get in the way. OK?”

  And Zach said, “What?! Is that still the plan?! Even after it tried to EAT ME?!”

  But then all of a sudden Miss Jones appeared. And she looked SHOCKED when she saw us all sitting in the hot tub with our swimming costumes on eating pizza and drinking MOCKTAILS.

  And she said, “What on EARTH?! EVERYONE is waiting for you at the meeting point! We were supposed to be at the ROPE COURSE five minutes ago! Get out of there and let’s go!”

  Gary asked Miss Jones if she could pass him his robe and slippers, and Miss Jones did that thing that she does when she closes her eyes and breathes through her nose really

  When we got to the ROPE COURSE, I felt a bit sick. And that’s when Zach said that he felt sick TOO and Miss Jones told us that you’re not supposed to EAT in hot tubs because it can make you feel NAUSEOUS.

  So I said that I didn’t feel nauseous and that I didn’t even know what that WAS but that I just felt a bit like I was going to be SICK. But then Zach said that that was what feeling nauseous WAS.

  I wasn’t sure if I was feeling sick because of the

  or the MONSTER TAIL or because the TREETOP ROPE COURSE was MUCH higher than I thought it was going to be. But it was probably because of ALL of them.

  Ranger Tam asked who wanted to go up first, and before he had even
finished his sentence, Jodi was standing RIGHT in front of him with her hand in the air.

  But then Gary Petrie ran forward and said that HE wanted to go first and that’s when Ranger Tam said that they could BOTH go first and Gary yelled,

  (which didn’t really make sense because they were both going first but that’s just what Gary’s like sometimes).

  We all watched as Jodi and Gary got their HELMETS and HARNESSES on and then Ranger Tam said, “OK, time to climb!”

  That’s when Jodi started to climb REALLY FAST and she was WAY AHEAD of Gary.

  I thought she was doing it because she is MEGA COMPETITIVE (which means she likes to win at everything). But when she got to the very top she didn’t go across the beam like she was supposed to. She just stood there STARING at something. And that’s when I realised she was staring in the direction of the LAKE.

  And then all of a sudden Jodi shouted down, “THE SHED BY THE LAKE. GO!”

  I looked at Zach and Maisie and we all started to PANIC a bit because this was obviously about the MONSTER. And I knew that it meant Jodi had SPOTTED the monster near the shed and that she wanted us to go without her because she’d never get down in time.

  I looked at Ranger Tam but he was too busy trying to help Gary who’d got a bit stuck.