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Robbie and the Meal Monster
Winter was biting hard and its cold, icy breath covered everything with a white frost. Poor little Robbie shivered with cold and his empty tummy rumbled with hunger.
He remembered the summer. It was warm then and the world was full of lots of juicy caterpillars, worms, beetles, grubs and bugs to eat. But now winter had come and they had all gone.
The frozen ground was so hard that he couldn't dig for food any more. He could find nothing to eat but berries. Robbie didn't like them at all, but at least they were food. 'Ee-oo!' he whined as he bit into them. 'Yuk!' he complained as he chewed. 'Bleeah!' he grumbled as he swallowed. He ate as many as he could bear, but they didn't fill him up the way bugs did.
Then he began to hear stories from passing birds of a giant Meal Monster who would reward only the boldest and bravest of birds with food. 'There's nothing else for it,' said Robin. 'I will have to find the Meal Monster and ask it for food.'
'Do you know where I can find the Meal Monster?' he asked his friend, Finch. 'No, but I know where to find seeds,' she said chirpily, 'seeds in a see-through stick. You can eat as much as you want and it never gets empty. It's magic!'
'I hate seeds,' said Robbie. 'I only eat grubs and bugs, but I can't find any!'
'Bugs and grubs!' sniffed Finch. 'I ate them when I was young. Can't stand them now. But if you really want to find the Meal Monster,' she whispered, 'ask Blackbird!' And with that she flew away.
Robbie found Blackbird in a tree. 'I'm looking for the Meal Monster,' said Robbie. 'Have you heard of it?'
'Heard of it?' said Blackbird darkly, 'I've seen it! It's dozens of birds tall it is, with two legs like trees. It has giant silver claws that turn the earth over and a huge silver beak that digs in the soil.'
Robbie was scared but he said, 'Where can I find it? I'm so hungry. I need food.'
'Then follow me,' said Blackbird flapping his great black wings and flying off. They stopped to perch on a post by a patch of hard, frozen earth in a big garden. There were dozens of other birds lined up on the garden fence, big ones, small ones, all chattering nervously, waiting to test their courage.
'Does the Meal Monster eat birds?' asked Robbie.
'I've never seen it do that. But we birds are jumpy, jittery creatures. Most of us fly away as soon as we see it. But if you're brave enough, you will be rewarded with all the worms and bugs you can eat. Are you brave enough?' asked Blackbird.
'I think so,' said Robbie in a small voice.
'Shh!' hissed Blackbird. 'It's coming!'
WHUMP-WHUMP! WHUMP-WHUMP! Nervous finches and tits panicked and flew into the air at the sound. The braver birds stayed.
When the shadow of the Meal Monster fell across them, other birds took off in alarm. Robbie trembled as he looked up at the Meal Monster. The huge, two-legged creature was as tall and terrifying as Blackbird had said. The noise it made sounded nothing like bird talk.
Then he saw the sun glint off its four sharp silver claws on the end of its thin wooden arm. Again and again, it thrust its claws into the ground, breaking up the hard soil. Then it lifted its other wooden arm with its huge shiny beak-like thing on the end. It began to turn the lumps of earth over.
It seemed to Robbie as if the Meal Monster was looking for something. Then Robbie gasped. There, wriggling in the turned-over earth were lots of worms! But the Meal Monster didn't touch them. It just moved on, looking in the earth for something it couldn't seem to find, ignoring the feast and the birds.
Blackbird flew down and snatched up a worm. Other brave birds flew down too and were soon eating as much as they could. The Meal Monster ignored them all.
'Go on, you try!' said Blackbird.
Robbie took a deep breath, swooped boldly down on the freshly dug earth and gulped down worm after worm. Soon he had eaten his fill and felt happy and warm again.
So brave little Robbie had faced the Meal Monster and lived. He knew this would help him survive the cold winter until spring arrived again.
Quietly, he thanked the Meal Monster and hoped that one day it would find what it was looking for, just as he had.