Green Planet

by Anthony E. Southby

  Chimzen stopped dead in his tracks and looked up into a tree alongside the enclosure’s edge. The boys were walking in a daze, with both of them feeling tired and hungry. They continued walking, not noticing that Chimzen stood stationary.

  ‘Hey! Where are you two going?’ he yelled, smiling as he watched them walk on like a pair of sleepwalkers. They turned their heads in surprise and hastily bounded to his side.

  ‘Sorry sir, we didn’t realize that you had stopped,’ Frank said, wondering what he was up to.

  ‘I take it you boys must be quite hungry by now?’ Chimzen asked, smiling down at the two sad faces. They both nodded together, not really understanding his point. The wizard pointed at a tree close to the edge of the enclosure.

  ‘You see that tree over there?’

  They squinted in the dark trying to get a clear view. It looked exactly like a banana tree with long green leaves. It was nothing unusual except for one very strange thing; the tree didn’t have any bananas growing on it. It did have fruit though, and they were shaped like bananas, only they had a prickly pineapple covering.

  ‘Yes! What on earth is that?’ Philip exclaimed.

  ‘That my friend is a pinana tree!’ Chimzen announced, chuckling at Philip’s puzzled expression.

  ‘A pinana tree?’

  ‘Yes! It is a cross between a pineapple and a banana, and the fruit is absolutely marvellous. Why don’t you boys go and pick a bunch, I’m absolutely starving.’

  Without giving it a second thought, the boys climbed up the tree like a pair of real monkeys, and carefully plucked a bunch of prickly pinanas. The Malcos spun after them to light the way and make sure that they returned safely.

  The three sat together, munching on the soft juicy pinanas. Fortunately, Chimzen had a small pocket knife with him, or otherwise it would have been rather difficult to split the pinana by hand. Once it had been stripped of its hard pineapple covering, it resembled an ordinary banana. Yet when you took a bite it gushed with sweet pineapple juice, and mashed between your teeth like a sweet ripened banana. Though the combination may sound bizarre, the three chomped at the pinanas like they were choice food from heaven. They lay on their backs, with bloated stomachs pointed up to the stars. They were feeling a lot better after such a delicious meal.

  * * * * * * * *

  Chimzen stood to his feet and dusted the grass off his robe.

  ‘We had better get moving boys; our time is running short,’ he said, rubbing his swollen belly.

  Shortly, the party of three was back on track, scanning the open stretch of grass for the precious flower. Frank and Philip felt fresh and renewed, eager to continue with the search.

  ‘What’s that?’ Philip cried, pointing to something near a large overhanging leaf, protruding from the grass.

  ‘If you think you have seen something don’t take your eyes off it, Philip, not even for a second!’ Chimzen commanded excitedly, following Philip’s pointed monkey finger carefully with his eyes. Philip bounded off to the large overhanging leaf and plonked himself down next to what he thought was the magical flower.

  ‘I’ve found it! I’ve found it!’ he cried, his eyes locked firmly in place.

  ‘My goodness, you have indeed!’ Chimzen exclaimed, sitting next to Philip on the grass. Frank’s heart leapt with excitement after hearing the wizard’s confirmation. He bounded across the turf and joined the other two, eager to take a peep at the strange flower.

  The three sat with eyes glued to the magical Frego flower. The outer surface of the petals was black just like Chimzen had said; other than that, it looked quite ordinary, and the boys weren’t feeling confident that it was the answer to their problems.

  Frank couldn’t understand how Philip could have seen it because it blended so well with the dark surroundings. The trio hovered above the small group, nicely lighting the surrounding area.

  ‘What time is it here on planet Floran, Zen?’ Chimzen asked, gazing up at the shining ball.

  ‘It is exactly half past ten master,’ he replied in his usual squeaky voice, sounding very much like a talking alarm clock. The trio kept perfect time, able to instantly adjust their internal clocks to all the various time zones on different planets.

  ‘That’s good, not very long till midnight.’

  Frank and Philip started to feel the excitement well up inside. At last they would be human beings again! At last they would be heading back home!

  The minutes passed very slowly; it must have been the longest hour and a half in their lives. Chimzen sat patiently, not at all concerned with the time. Patience was something he had learnt well over his long trying life. Philip gazed at the Frego flower hardly even blinking, never mind looking away; he wasn’t going to take any chances at that stage of the game.

  Finally midnight was closing in.

  ‘It’s two minutes to twelve master!’ Zen squeaked, spinning over Philip for a closer look.

  ‘Now when the flower opens out, I want the two of you to each carefully pluck a petal from it and place it in your mouth. I must warn you though, the petal is going to taste terrible, and you only have a minute to pluck it, chew it and swallow it.’

  The boys nodded firmly, eager for the flower to spread itself.

  ‘Look it’s moving!’ Philip cried, poking the twitching flower with his little hairy finger. The boys shuffled forward to take a closer look. The time reached twelve o’ clock, and in an instant, the black ball of petals sprang open into a splendid array of silver beauty. They gazed at the shimmering flower, mesmerized by its magical silver petals, and the bulging golden centre that glowed brightly in the moonlight.

  ‘Come on boys, hurry! There isn’t much time!’ Chimzen cried, giving Frank a shove. The boys reached forward with trembling monkey hands. They each plucked a petal from the awesome flower and forced it into their hairy mouths. They began chewing vigorously, breaking down the magical ingredient. Their faces turned to a look of absolute disgust as they swallowed a piece of the silver leaf. For a moment Frank thought Chimzen was trying to poison them; the petal was absolutely horrid. Nonetheless, the leaves were chewed and swallowed within the allocated minute, and the boys sat clutching at their throats, desperately trying to suck down the horrible tasting petal saliva from their mouths.

  ‘Not to worry boys, you did it. This will help to remove the bad taste in your mouths,’ Chimzen said, handing each of them a small piece of left over pinana. They reached forward and snatched the heaven-sent fruit from him, and hurriedly shoved the sweet pieces into their mouths. Their pale scrunched up faces immediately transformed into big smiles of relief as they swallowed them down.

  ‘So I guess the two of you would like to be people again?’ Chimzen asked, scratching his hairy chin, trying to look as serious as possible.

  ‘Yes sir, most definitely sir!’ the boys chirped, grinning from ear to ear.

  ‘Maybe I should just leave you as a pair of monkeys. After all, it’s not really all that bad, now is it? Think of it, you guys can swing in trees all day and live on juicy bananas and fresh nuts. Not to mention the most wonderful thing of all, you would never have to go back to boring school ever again.’ He covered his mouth neatly to disguise an exploding smile. Frank and Philip gave him a pale faced solemn blank stare, not believing what they had just heard.

  ‘I’m joking! Of course I’m going to change you back, you silly fools!’ he roared, laughing as he stood to his feet, giving them each a good solid pat on the back. The boys stood up, breathing a big sigh of relief. The wizard really had them worried there for a moment.

  Chimzen groped inside his pocket for a few seconds, in search of his little black book.

  ‘Ah, there you are!’ he said, retrieving it from the corner of his pocket. He held it up to his nose, and searched carefully through the pages. The Malcos hovered directly above him, lighting up the little pages to help him see the fine print clearly.

  ‘I think it’s at the back here somewhere,’ he muttered, fluttering speedily t
hrough the little book.

  ‘Aha! Here we go: “Humans to Animals”, no, not this one, maybe a bit further on. Here we go: “Animals to Humans”. Yes, that’s the one!’

  ‘Are you monkeys ready to be boys again?’ he asked, smiling at the two anxiously waiting creatures with his right eyebrow pointed up.

  ‘We most definitely are!’ they shouted, bouncing up and down in excitement. Chimzen placed the boys next to each other and stepped back about three paces, roughly the length of his staff.

  Looking carefully into his little black book, he began chanting in a foreign language – which read in English as follows:

  ‘Though you appear as monkeys, rather hairy it may seem,

  Your animal appearance, is only a wicked scheme,

  Magic Frego flower, shimmering silver one,

  Surge through their veins, to make this spell undone,

  Oh talking monkeys, with little given choice,

  Be now restored to cheerful schoolboys.’

  The wizard chanted the foreign rhyme, waving his staff over their heads. Frank and Philip stood riveted in position, unable to move a single muscle as a surge of energy rushed through their hairy bodies. Their blood felt like it was starting to boil as the magic petal sap reacted with their muscle tissue, and their heads felt like they were about to explode under the pressure of the incredible transformation. Their poor little bodies rushed with an electrical surge, while thick clumps of monkey hair flew in all directions. Then they both started shaking violently, falling to the ground as if they were taking a fit, with spit spraying wildly from their convulsing mouths. They thought something was going seriously wrong as they glanced over their patchy deformed looking bodies. The transformation process was so disturbing and unbearably painful that they eventually passed out from the shock.

  Chimzen stood at Frank’s side, and tapped him gently on his cheek. Frank woke up with a jerk, coughing and spluttering, and feeling very disorientated. After taking a few deep breaths, he wiped the drool off his mouth and immediately looked down at his arms and legs.

  ‘I’m back! I’m back!’ he yelled, hardly believing his eyes as he touched his human body from top to bottom. Shortly afterwards, Philip also stirred from his unconscious spell, and could hardly believe what he saw. Thrilled to be human again, he hastily wiped the drool off his mouth, smearing globules of spit into his mop of scruffy red hair. He leaped excitedly to his feet.

  The boys spent a while touching and rubbing themselves, which would have looked quite strange to someone standing on the outskirts completely unaware of the bizarre situation. It felt very strange to them having their old bodies back because they had grown quite accustomed to the feel of being monkeys by then. Fortunately they were back in their school clothes and weren’t left standing naked. Chimzen watched them jump up and down with joy, and felt very relieved that they had been successfully restored.

  ‘I’m terribly sorry that the two of you had to suffer so much during the transformation process. Unfortunately it is far more traumatic to restore a lesser being to a greater being. Humans are just far more complex creatures. I didn’t tell you boys about the trauma involved because I felt you didn’t need the unnecessary stress of knowing what was to come.’

  ‘Not to worry Chimzen, at least it’s over. Thank you very much for helping us,’ Frank said, beaming with appreciation.

  ‘Not a problem young man, at least I finally got to see what the pair of you look like.’ He held his head back and laughed out loud. ‘Philip, I noticed a few freckles when you were a monkey, but now you have an epidemic of them. Are you sure that you don’t have chickenpox by any chance?’

  ‘Ha ha!’ Philip chirped in a sarcastic tone, not sure whether to laugh or be angry about the witty comment. To make matters worse, Frank burst out laughing as well, as if poor Philip didn’t have a low enough self-esteem as it was. Philip scowled at Frank, yanking off his filthy yellow knotted tie and shoving it forcefully into his pocket.

  ‘Never mind my boy, everyone has self-conscious issues,’ Chimzen said, placing his hand gently on the boy’s shoulder. ‘I must apologize. My intention was to amuse and not to offend. I do forget sometimes what it’s like to be young and sensitive though.’

  ‘It’s okay sir, at least I am a freckle faced boy, that’s a lot better than being a hairy monkey,’ Philip said, trying his best not to show the obvious hurt.

  ‘You are right about that, boy; imagine eating bananas your whole life through!’

  ‘Yuck!’

  * * * * * * * *

  Frank and Philip’s hearts bubbled with joy, both very relieved to be returning home soon. Most importantly, they would be returning home as people.

  ‘Okay Malcos, let’s be off!’ Chimzen shouted, sounding like a pirate returning home with a ship full of booty. The three walked further out into the opening and stood back to back in teleport position, eager to depart from Floran and all its dangers.

  The Malco trio spun around the three excitedly, eager to take them back home to safety. After coordinating their exact positions, Chimzen produced a small blue ball from his pocket. Muttering something under his breath, he flicked it into the air. The little representation of planet earth hovered slightly above them. The wizard waved his staff at the ball, chanting a few lines out loud:

  ‘Dre jitle sales op kanijal firth!

  Three little balls of magical birth!

  Kestore es trow op slanep aarde!

  Restore us now to planet earth!’

  Following the same procedure that the trio had used to gain access to planet Floran, they lined themselves up next to the small blue planet and disappeared shortly afterwards.

  Chapter 11

  In a short while the Malco trio returned to Chimzen’s little tree house in the woods. Quite strangely, it was still daytime on earth. Time had passed very slowly while the trio were away. They appeared outside the little green planet all neatly lined up, shining gold in colour. Gradually they changed from gold to bronze and finally glowed brightly red. Once they had cooled down, restored to their usual silvery selves, they spun off into position next to the round table and formed a pyramid of light, the final stage of the teleport process. The trio waited in suspense for the three to reappear. No such luck! There was no sign of anyone. About ten minutes had passed and Zen was getting progressively more and more anxious.

  ‘It looks like something has happened to them,’ Zen squeaked despairingly, ‘they are no longer in our teleport range.’

  ‘Fortunately there is still a gateway open to Floran, so we can return there right away and find out where they’ve got to,’ Zip squeaked, trying her best to sound hopeful.

  Elvis leapt out of the water and landed on his little platform. He seemed rather agitated about something as he hopped up and down on his tail fin.

  ‘Where’s Master Chimzen?’ he bellowed in his usual deep voice, scanning the room with his beady little eyes.

  The balls spun anxiously above Elvis and explained to the little fish that the teleport procedure had failed.

  ‘That’s terrible! We so desperately need him here; the woods are a mess!’ Elvis exclaimed, his little voice trembling with fear.

  ‘Why, what’s wrong?’ Zet asked.

  ‘Well, Squidget came in here about an hour ago desperately searching for Chimzen. I was fast asleep at the time and woke up startled by a sharp tapping at the side of my tank. I dashed out to the surface to see what all the fuss was about, only to find a very excited squirrel jumping up and down in front of my tank. Poor Squidget, he looked an absolute wreck. I tried my best to calm him… ’

  ‘We don’t have much time Elvis,’ Zip interrupted, bouncing up and down in frustration, ‘could you please get to the point?’

  Elvis cleared his throat deeply and shook his little head in an effort to speed up his story. The poor little fish had very little understanding of the concept of time in his lazy world.

  ‘Basically what I am trying to say is: Mathias has create
d hundreds of enormous killer ants and they are busy destroying everything in sight as we speak, and as far as I know, the wizard’s tree has also been chewed to pieces!’ he blurted all in one breath, with his little gills flapping wildly for fresh air.

  The three balls disappeared out through the window at the speed of lightning, leaving the flustered goldfish behind to regain his composure.

  They gazed over the enormous expanse of barren land in absolute horror, with the sight of countless trees shredded into fine sawdust. The devastation which lay ahead stretched out as far as the ball could see. The little beasts had eaten everything in sight, except for a few shredded branches and leaves. The area had been so neatly cleared that it appeared as though a construction group were in the process of erecting an enormous block of flats. Chimzen’s tree house floated high in the air, surrounded by absolutely nothing other than a large enclosure of fertile soil. The trio looked over the woods in absolute dismay, not quite believing the magnitude of Mathias’s wickedness.

  ‘We desperately need to get back to our master; he could be in terrible danger!’ Zet exclaimed, spinning frantically around the others.

  ‘But we can’t leave these beasts to destroy everything in sight!’ Zen exclaimed, torn between two worlds. ‘When we return from Floran the woods may possibly be completely destroyed by then.’

  ‘Our master is very powerful and perfectly capable of taking care of himself,’ Zip rattled assertively. ‘I think he would want us to save the woods. We really don’t have a choice, Zen!’

  The other Malcos agreed that Zip was making perfect sense, and they had to do something before it was too late.

  * * * * * * * *

  Without any further hesitation, they launched forward towards the beastly ants. They were running short of time and blasted ahead like solitary killing machines. The ants chomped at the trees with unsatisfied greed, snipping them into pieces with persistent chainsaw pincers. Absolutely nothing could stop them; they were programmed for destruction, destroying and gobbling every bit of green in sight. Where would they go next, after cancelling every single tree in the woods? That was a very scary thought.