A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch!

by Pamela Butchart

And then Jodi yelled,

  When we got to the shed we saw that the door was WIDE OPEN.

  I could hardly BREATHE and it wasn’t just because we’d run MEGA FAST, it was because I knew that there was SOMETHING inside it.

  That’s when we heard a noise coming from the shed and Zach turned and looked at me and I looked at him and then I tried to look at Maisie but that’s when I realised that she wasn’t there.

  I looked down at the ground to see if she’d fainted but she wasn’t there.

  Then Zach said, “Over there. She’s gone.”

  And I looked back the way we’d come and saw Maisie running back to the ROPE COURSE.

  That’s when I said, “It’s just me and you. Are you ready?”

  And Zach gulped and nodded. And then he held up his phone to show he was ready to FILM the lake monster.

  So we walked REALLY SLOWLY towards the shed and I put my finger to my lips to tell Zach to be COMPLETELY SILENT so that I could listen.

  But to be honest, I had

  how I was managing to be in CHARGE because I was

  on the inside! But Jodi wasn’t there and this was SERIOUS so I knew that I had to be CALM and ORGANISED like she would be so that we didn’t get eaten by the monster.

  That’s when we heard a SHUFFLING sound coming from inside the shed and Zach pointed to a small WINDOW at the top.

  So I nodded and Zach lifted me up as much as he could and I pressed RECORD and lifted the phone up to the window.

  But then we heard the shed door OPENING and Zach put me down and we both lay FLAT on the ground and didn’t move, just like Jodi had trained us to do.

  And that’s when we saw that it WASN’T the lake monster leaving the shed – it was the HOTEL OWNER.

  So we waited until she was gone because we obviously weren’t supposed to be there and we didn’t want her to tell Miss Jones.

  Then Zach said, “She came out of the shed. We must have missed the monster and she went in after it left.”

  And that’s when I realised how LUCKY she was and that if she had gone to the shed probably even ONE minute before she would have come face to face with the

  That’s when Zach said that we should look inside the shed for EVIDENCE that the monster had been there. So we got up and snuck round the side of the shed and tried the door but it was locked.

  But then I remembered about the video so I said we could watch that and it might show us something since we couldn’t get inside.

  So I pressed play and that’s when I

  Zach said, “What is that? I can’t tell. It’s too shaky.”

  And the video WAS all shaky and blurry. But I still knew what we were looking at.

  So I said, “Zach! That’s the monster’s TAIL!”

  So we ran.

  As SOON as we got back to the lodge Jodi wouldn’t stop asking me and Zach the same questions OVER and OVER again. Like, were we SURE it was the monster’s tail? And were we SURE we saw the hotel owner coming out of the shed?

  And I was doing my best to stay calm and answer her questions but then there was a knock at the lodge door and I SCREAMED because I was

  Jodi said that it was probably just Gary Petrie and that we should ignore it until she had finished the DEBRIEFING (which is what Jodi calls it when she has a lot of questions to ask someone about something they’ve seen that she hasn’t seen and it’s very STRESSFUL).

  But then a voice said, “Let me in, please. Right away.”

  And I looked at Jodi and she looked at me because it WASN’T Gary Petrie. It was Miss Jones!

  And that’s when Zach said, “I thought you covered for us!”

  And Jodi said, “I did! I said that you felt sick after the hot-tub pizza and that you’d had to run back to your lodge to be sick and that Izzy had gone with you to make sure you were OK!”

  Maisie jumped up and unlocked the door and let Miss Jones in.

  And that’s when we saw that she did NOT look happy!

  Miss Jones walked over and sat down next to us and that’s when Jodi slipped the

  under the couch so Miss Jones wouldn’t see it.

  Then Miss Jones looked at Zach and said, “How are you feeling?”

  And Zach GULPED and said that he was feeling much better, thank you.

  Then Miss Jones looked at me and that’s when I remembered how SCARY Miss Jones could be when SHE thought that you’d done something WRONG.

  And then she said, “Mrs Muir, the hotel owner, said she saw two pupils down by the lake at the store shed.”

  And that’s when I could feel a WEIRD FEELING going through my FACE and my HANDS and then my LEGS.

  But I stayed completely still and didn’t say anything.

  And then she looked at me and then at Zach and then back to me and she said, “The two of you weren’t in that shed, were you?”

  And I shook my head and so did Zach, and I didn’t feel too bad about doing it because it wasn’t REALLY a lie because we HADN’T actually been INSIDE the shed.

  And that’s when Miss Jones said OK and that she needed to know where we were at ALL TIMES and we all nodded and she left.

  And then as SOON as she had gone, Jodi said that the meeting had

  and that we needed to keep a CLOSE EYE on MRS MUIR, the hotel owner.

  So I asked Jodi what she meant and her EYES went WIDE and she said, “Are you being serious?!”

  And that’s when me and Zach both

  because we’d just realised that Mrs Muir had been in the shed at the SAME TIME as the monster!

  I’d been so freaked out by seeing the BLURRY MONSTER TAIL in the video and knowing that it was IN THE SHED when we were standing RIGHT OUTSIDE that I hadn’t even thought about Mrs Muir!

  That’s when Zach said, “I don’t understand! Why didn’t she scream?!”

  And Jodi’s eyes went WIDE and she said, “Because she KNEW it was in there. She KNOWS it. It might even be her PET!”

  And Zach

  and said, “You’re right! AND I know what she’s DOING! I know what she was doing in the shed! She’s feeding it! It IS her pet!”

  And then Zach got a really SERIOUS look on his face and said, “I think she’s feeding it because it comes out of the lake when it’s hungry and she doesn’t want it to eat US!”

  Later we ate our dinner as FAST as we could at the hotel and it wasn’t just because MRS MUIR was there. It was because Jodi had said that we had to get BETTER FOOTAGE of the LAKE MONSTER and that we had to get it

  before it was

  I knew what Jodi meant. She meant that we needed to get our EVIDENCE before the monster got so hungry that it ended up eating one of us!

  But when Mrs Muir put our DESSERTS down on the table, Maisie SCREAMED and then Zach GASPED and Mrs Muir got a WEIRD LOOK on her face and then she put her hands behind her back REALLY FAST and walked away.

  I had

  what the SCREAMING and GASPING had been about but then Zach looked at us and said, “Her HANDS. Did you see??”

  And Maisie nodded and the table started shaking.

  But me and Jodi shook our heads and then Jodi said, “I saw her hide them behind her back. Why did she do that? What did you see?”

  And that’s when Zach did a GULP and said, “They had green CRUSTY BITS on them. I think it’s

  Once we got back to the lodge, Jodi said that we were going to be doing a STAKE-OUT, which is something that has NOTHING to do with STEAK the food and is just a really PROFESSIONAL way of saying that we were going to be staying up ALL NIGHT LONG, looking out the Big Window until we spotted the LAKE MONSTER.

  Jodi said that we had to keep ALL the lights turned OFF to do the

  But Maisie started freaking out a bit because she has a PORTABLE NIGHT LIGHT that she takes with her when she stays over at places and she even takes it when she stays over Jodi’s house and at my house and it keeps me awake because it’s a bit too bright.

  But then Jodi said that if the curtains were open wide and it was DARK outside and w
e had a light on INSIDE, then people and OTHER THINGS would be able to see inside. And that opening the curtains and turning off ALL the lights would make us INVISIBLE.

  And that’s when Maisie nodded and said that she didn’t want her night light any more and that she would just hug her whale, FRANCISCO, instead.

  So I said that I would do my STAKE-OUT SHIFT with Maisie and that we would go first.

  I could TELL by the look on Jodi’s face that she didn’t want me and Maisie to go FIRST because she doesn’t like not being involved and not controlling

  So she said that she would just sleep on the chair in the living room so she could be READY if needed. And Zach said that he would sleep on the couch.

  So me and Maisie pulled all the cushions over to the window and made a STAKE-OUT DEN and it was quite fun to begin with, but after an hour it got a bit BORING because there was nothing to see outside except for the lake.

  That’s when Maisie said that we should phone ROOM SERVICE and get SNACKS like Gary had and that maybe Jonathan could bring us some MOCKTAILS.

  I didn’t think that Jodi would APPROVE of us getting mocktails when we were meant to be doing a

  But then I looked over at the chair and saw that she was fast asleep and DROOLING a bit so I just said yes.

  But we couldn’t find the WELCOME PACK Gary had mentioned ANYWHERE so we didn’t know what number to call.

  That’s when Maisie said, “I can text Gary. He’ll be able to help us. He’s got a mobile too.”

  I looked at Jodi again because I knew she would be FURIOUS if Gary found out about the

  But she was drooling even MORE now so I said, “OK. But don’t tell him about the stake-out. And ask him to bring us packed lunches!”

  Twenty minutes later I almost JUMPED out of my SKIN when a FIGURE appeared right in front of the Big Window!

  But then I saw that the figure had a tray with two MOCKTAILS and two packed lunches and also that it was Gary Petrie.

  Maisie waved at him but he didn’t wave back and that’s when I remembered what Jodi had said about it being like we were INVISIBLE because all the lights were off.

  So Maisie went RIGHT up to glass and shone the PHONE LIGHT on her face and Gary JUMPED and then laughed and put the packed lunches down and did the same. And then they BOTH pretended to be GHOSTS at each other through the glass.

  And eventually Gary waved bye and ran off.

  I couldn’t WAIT to go and get the packed lunches because I was hoping there were loads of SANDWICHES in there, especially the BRIE ONES with GRAPES because I didn’t think that I liked cheese like BRIE until I tried them at Gary’s lodge and they were

  But Maisie made us wait for a while because she said she wanted to be

  that the LAKE MONSTER wasn’t out there and that was a good point so we waited.

  Then, when we were sure, we snuck over to the front door and unlocked it really quietly and slipped out.

  But as SOON as we got outside, we heard NOISES at the lake.

  Maisie grabbed my hand and tried to pull me back inside but I stayed still and listened because I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just someone walking past or a bird or something because I REALLY wanted my packed lunch!

  But then we heard SPLASHING and weird SLUDGING SOUNDS like someone or SOMETHING was walking in wet mud. And then there was a weird SLURPING SOUND and that’s when I looked at Maisie and hissed, “Open the door. NOW!”

  Maisie unlocked the door and we LEAPED inside and locked it behind us with a loud THUD.

  That’s when Jodi jumped up and said, “WHAT? WHERE? I’M READY!”

  And Zach groaned and rolled off the couch and landed on the floor.

  Then Maisie RAN over to the window and just stood there and didn’t say anything.

  So I went over to see if she was OK and that’s when I saw that she had her eyes SHUT TIGHT.

  But I knew that she was OK because she was pointing the phone at the window and it was recording!

  I looked out the window but I couldn’t see anything, just the lake. And that’s when Jodi came over and asked what was going on so I explained about the SPLASHING and the SLUDGING and the SLURPING noises that we’d heard when we went outside to get the sandwiches.

  Jodi looked SHOCKED and she said, “What packed lunch?!”

  And I didn’t have time to explain so I just pointed out the window and said, “Those o––”

  But I couldn’t finish my sentence because the food Gary had left us was GONE.

  And that’s when I looked at Zach and said, “You were right. It IS coming out of the water because it’s hungry. The monster ate our

  Jodi made us all watch the film on Zach’s phone over and over again but none of us could see the MONSTER.

  Zach said that what we’d heard must have been the monster coming out of the lake and walking towards the lodge because it had smelled the

  and that by the time we had got back inside and started filming it had devoured the FEAST and slipped back into the lake. And Jodi said that that made sense because she thought Jonathan’s sandwiches smelled delicious, especially the ones with

  And then Jodi got a weird look on her face and for a second I thought that it was because the

  was back! But then I realised that she was just thinking about sandwiches.

  But then all of a sudden we heard SPLASHING and Jodi

  So we all ran after her and when we got outside we found her standing next to the lake taking PHOTOS of the ground.

  And then she turned to us and said, “It must have still been here but it’s gone now. Look!”

  Maisie GRABBED my hand and squeezed it tight and we walked over to Jodi.

  Jodi took something out of her

  and got down on the ground and that’s when I saw that it was a MEASURING TAPE and that she was measuring a giant FOOTPRINT.

  Then all of a sudden there was MORE SPLASHING in the lake a few metres away and we all FROZE and held our breath.

  And then we heard SNORTING.

  I was just about to say that we should GET OUT OF HERE ASAP when Maisie GASPED and said,

  And I looked at her and she had gone REALLY PALE. And she was pointing at something next to the water and we all looked and saw that it was a WHITE ROBE.

  And that’s when Maisie looked up at us with BIG EYES and said, “That’s GARY’S ROBE.”

  And I GASPED because I realised that Gary must never have made it back to his lodge after he’d brought us the sandwiches.

  The lake monster had

  Maisie GRABBED the phone out of Jodi’s hand and called Gary Petrie’s number. Then her eyes went WIDE and she said, “Hello? GARY?!”

  Then she took the phone away from her ear and her eyes were ENORMOUS.

  And Jodi said, “What happened? Did he answer??”

  And that’s when Maisie said that someone or SOMETHING had answered but she could only hear SPLASHING SOUNDS.

  Then Maisie got a really

  look on her face and said, “There might still be hope. He might have managed to get away. Let’s go!”

  And then she started running along the side of the lake.

  But we all just stood there because we had NO IDEA what was going on or where Maisie wanted us to go.

  “Where are you GOING?!” shouted Jodi.

  And Maisie stopped and turned round and said, “We need to get out on the lake and try to save Gary! It’s almost midnight! Ranger Tam’s tour is about to leave. Let’s GO!”

  When we arrived at the dock there were LOADS of people waiting to get on the boat.

  Jodi hissed, “Now’s our chance. Follow me and STAY DOWN.”

  So we all followed her and she rushed to join the back of the queue JUST as the last people were stepping on board.

  And then she stepped on to the boat and said, “Grab a life jacket and meet me BELOW DECK.”

  Then she took one of the life jackets and put it on and started CRAWLING along the deck.

  So we did the same and on
ce we got BELOW DECK Jodi made us all hide under a big BLANKET she’d found and stay COMPLETELY STILL. So we did.

  And that’s when we heard the boat start to MOVE and I got a bit excited because even though this was SERIOUSLY SCARY I’d never really been on a boat like this one before, especially not at midnight!

  Jodi said that we needed to be EXTRA CAREFUL while we were ON BOARD and that boats were NO JOKE and that this was SERIOUS and also DANGEROUS, because of the water, and we all nodded loads.

  Jodi said that the rule was to stay in PAIRS at ALL times. And not to RUN. Not even if we saw the

  and we all agreed. Then she said that once we went ON DECK we had to hide behind the other passengers so that Ranger Tam didn’t see us or we’d get in trouble because we didn’t have permission to be here and also because we hadn’t bought TICKETS.

  That’s when Zach said that people who did what we had done were called STOWAWAYS and that we might get put in

  And that’s when Maisie took a DEEP BREATH and said that THAT was a risk she was willing to take to save GARY’S LIFE and that if they wanted to put her in jail for that they could.

  Jodi said, “Me too!”

  Then me and Zach said it too because everyone else was saying it and also because we knew it was the RIGHT THING to do.