Digger the Worm: a Big Dig

by Peter Ponzo

Digger,” Legs said. “That would be wonderful if you could really do that.”

  “Oh yes,” Digger said. “That’s not a problem. I can do it. You just wait and see.”

  But is was something Digger had never done before, and he wasn’t really sure that he could do it, but he had to try.

  “I’ll start tomorrow,” Digger said. “First thing in the morning.”

  “Why not start now?” Hopper said. “By tomorrow the monster will be closer.”

  “By tomorrow you may have forgotten,” Legs said.

  “Okay, okay.” Digger said, “I’ll start right away.”

  They all smiled, then they laughed, and it was the first time Digger had heard them laugh so loudly. They were happy and Digger was happy.

  But he still wasn’t sure he could do it.

  The Plan

  Hopper hopped and Legs ran with Digger on her back until they came to the edge of the forest. Then they waited.

  Hopper heard a CRASH and hopped back into the woods, but Legs stayed behind a bush. And they waited.

  “Is it time?” asked Legs.

  “No,” said Digger. “We must wait until dark ... until there is no noise ... until the monster is sleeping.”

  And they waited.

  Then the noises stopped and the sky darkened and Legs said, “It’s time, don’t you think?”

  “Gracious, yes,” said Hopper. “It’s time to begin.”

  “Begin what?” said Digger.

  “Digger!” said Hopper very loudly.

  “Shhh,” whispered Legs. “Digger, your plan. Remember your plan to save us from the monster?”

  “Oh yes, my plan,” said Digger, and he slid to the ground and began marching very slowly toward the edge of the forest.

  Legs and Hopper watched as Digger crawled slowly across the open field, stopping every so often to listen, then crawling again toward the far edge of the forest where the monster had been eating trees.

  Then there was a swoosh and a shadow fell on Digger and he heard Hopper and Legs shouting: “Digger! Dig as fast as you can.”

  And the little worm disappeared into the ground just as the big red robin landed on the ground. Robins love to eat worms and this robin was very hungry. The robin cocked his head and looked out of one eye but couldn’t see the worm any more ... so he flew away.

  Digger stayed under the ground. It was much safer there. Robins couldn’t see him and monsters couldn’t see him. He began to dig and to burrow as fast as he could, toward the far edge of the forest, toward the fallen trees ... toward the sleeping monster.

  Soon he bumped into roots and he knew he was there, beneath the trees, near the sleeping giant. So he began to dig, up, up through the ground and around the roots until he stuck his head out and looked around.

  The monster! It was there! Right above him! He had never seen anything so big! He dived back into the ground and waited, but there was no sound. So he peeked out again. It was quiet. The monster was there, but it wasn’t moving and it wasn’t making any noise. The sun had gone down and it was quite dark, but Digger wasn’t afraid of the dark. After all, he was a worm and when he was digging it was always dark, deep in the ground.

  “Okay,” he whispered to himself. “It’s time to get started.” So he pulled off his hat, set it carefully next to a tree, then started to ... started to ...

  “What was I supposed to do?” he whispered. “I’ve forgotten.”

  Digger sat down, scratched his head and tried to think. This was important. Perhaps the most important thing he had ever done in his whole life. And he had forgotten what it was.

  The monster creaked. It was just a small sound, a scraping, a little squeal, a tiny sound, but it scared Digger and he jumped up and began to dig.

  “Dig! That’s what I’m supposed to do! Now I remember! My name is Digger and I can dig better than anybody!”

  And he started to dig, around and around the sleeping giant, digging a hole deeper and deeper. Then he went deep into the ground and started to dig a big hole right under the monster. It had to be the biggest hole he had ever dug. It had to be the biggest hole he had ever seen. It had to be big enough to hold a tree.

  It had to be big enough to hold a giant monster!

  For hours he dug and he burrowed and he didn’t rest, not even once. He was very tired but he kept right on digging. He had to finish before the sun came out, before it got light ... before the giant woke up.

  When he was almost finished he climbed out of the ground and saw that the field was getting lighter. The sun was coming out. Soon the monster would wake up. Maybe it was too late. Maybe he just couldn’t do it.

  But he had to try, so he jumped back into the ground and started to dig again, faster and faster and deeper and deeper.

  Then he heard a noise. It was a groaning, a grumbling, a squeaking. The giant. It was waking up! Hurry! Dig faster! There was a flap and a flutter and something grabbed him and the ground was falling in and Digger started to scream, “Help! Help!” but nobody could hear him.

  The giant woke up with a great roar. It raised its arms and pushed over a tree. It opened its mouth and a mountain of dirt fell out. It slowly spread its feet and rose up from the ground, stretching, growling, squealing.

  Just then the ground trembled and shook. The giant began to sway back and forth. The ground shook some more.

  Then, in a great CRASH, the ground opened up and became a giant hole and the monster fell into the hole and a cloud of dust rose out of the hole and the monster disappeared inside the hole and it was covered with dirt.

  Then everything was quiet. The monster didn’t move. It was buried deep in the ground and didn’t move. When the dust cleared, Hopper and Legs were standing there, staring at the hole filled with dirt. Just a few minutes ago the monster had been there. Now it was buried, deep in the ground.

  “Hmm, gracious, he did it,” Hopper said.

  “Yes, yes, he really did do it, didn’t he?” Legs said. “Digger dug a hole even bigger than the monster.”

  “And the monster fell into the hole,” Hopper said. “And now it’s buried.”

  They waited, looked around, but couldn’t find Digger.

  “Digger?” said Legs. ‘Where are you?”

  “Digger!” shouted Hopper. “Come out. The monster is dead!”

  Then Legs began to cry. “He’s buried in the ground. Digger is dead, I know it, he’s deep in the ground, buried with the monster.”

  “Hmm, hmm, worms are buried all the time,” Hopper said. “They don’t die in the ground. They live in the ground.”

  That was when they heard Crow laughing.

  “Caw, caw, dumb animals!” Crow shouted. “Digger isn’t dead at all.”

  And Crow flapped down from a big tree and landed next to Legs. On Crow’s head was Digger, waving his hat.

  “Here I am!” Digger shouted. “I almost got buried underneath the monster, but old Crow flew down and got me out and carried me to a tree. Then we watched the giant fall into the hole.”

  “He’s no dumb worm,” said Crow, and the crow smiled and it was the first time anybody ever saw Crow smile.

  “Hmm, gracious,” said Hopper, “Digger is quite a digger.”

  “That’s his name!” shouted Legs. “Its’ what he does ... it’s his name ... Digger!”

  And they all shouted: “Digger! Digger! Digger the worm.”

  Then Digger said, "Crow! Fly me home!"

  Crow said, "Caw, why not stay here? You wanted to find a new place and you did. Why not stay here?"

  "My mother will worry," Digger said. "She always worries when I'm late for supper. She worries when I hurt myself. She worries when I play too long. She worries when ..."

  "Caw! Okay!" said Crow. "I'll fly you home. Where is it?"

  "Where is what?" asked Digger.

  “Hmm, gracious,” said Hopper, “You really must try to remember things.”

  Legs said,
"You wanted to go home, Digger, and Crow will fly you there. Do you remember how to get home?"

  "Uh ... no," said Digger, "but I remember ... I remember ... uh ..."

  "Try hard, Digger," said Hopper. "Remember where you live. Remember what it looked like. Remember ..."

  "Wait!" cried Digger. "I remember a big old maple tree with a swing hanging down! I do remember that!"

  "Caw!" shouted Crow. "I know exactly where you live. I've been there lots of times. Hop on!"

  And Digger climbed onto Crow's back and held tightly to his feathers and Crow flapped his wings and flew into the air.

  "Goodbye Digger!" shouted Legs.

  "We'll miss you!" shouted Hopper. "Come back to visit."

  And the crow and the worm disappeared above the trees.

  When Crow landed in the old maple tree with the swing hanging down, Digger was so excited he jumped off the bird's back and onto the swing then onto the ground and crawled as quickly as he could to his wormhouse, but before he went inside he stopped and waved to Crow.

  "Thank you, Crow!" he shouted. "Come back and visit, if you please."

  The bird was quiet and Digger thought he saw a tear in the bird's eye and there was a tear because Crow was so sad.

  "I really like that little worm," the crow said to himself, then he flew off just as Digger vanished into his hole.

  His father and mother were so happy to see him.

  "We were worried," said his mother. "We were very worried."

  "Did you have a good time?" said his father.

  Digger said, "I went to a new place. I ran on the back of a deer. I flew on the back of a bird. I burrowed and burrowed and killed a monster as big as a tree!"

  "Yes, dear," said his mother, "of course