GOOD NIGHT STORIES

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

GOOD NIGHT STORIES

(By MAX TRELL.)

When you're standing near a basket of fruit, you don't expect, to hear a voice coming from the middle of it. Neither did Mij, Flor, Hanid, Yam and Knarf—tho five little shadowchildrcn with the odd, turned-abont names. But hear it, they surely did. It was a thin, piping little voice. "Come right in," it kept saying, apparently to them, although they couldn't see anybody, only fruit. Then Mij looked at Flor, puzzled. And Flor looked at Yam, and Yam looked at Hanid, and Hanid looked at Knarf. Poor Knarf, not having anyone else to look at, had to look at the fruit. In a way this was fortunate, for his eye happened to fall on a pear which was lying atop of the pile, and he caught a glimpse of a tiny head. He looked again and saw that it was a worm, which was gazing out of its hole in the pear. "Come right in," the worm invited cheerfully. "O-oh, so it was you talking!" the shadow-boy cxelaimed.

"Of course! Whom did you think? But won't you come in? I'm sure you'll like my little house. We can have a party."

By this time the others were staring at it too.

"Yes, do come right in," the worm urged. "We can take a long walk, and then stop for a bite to eat, if you don't eare to have a party."

There didn't seem to be any reason why they shouldn't accept the kindly worm's invitation, so, making themselves ars small as the head of a pin (a thing which shadows have not the least difficulty doing) they followed the worm iuside the hole.

Picture to yourself, if you can, a long corridor, the walls of which are formed of tlie juicy inside of a pear. It was a pleasure to walk down it, especially for Mij, who wa6 exceedingly foiul of the fruit.

"How do you like mv house?" the worm asked proudly, after they had proceeded quite a way into the interior, "it's quite the best T could find—or I should say, my mother could find, for it Wiis she who put me here. I was bom here, you know. Of course, it wasn't as big as it is now. It was just a tiny hole. But I've eaten my way around, and now it's quite comfortable."

Tho shadow-children all nodded, to show that they quite agreed with it.

"It's a pleasure," it went on, "to have a home like this. You never have to bother about going to the grocer's or the butcher's. Everything you need is within reach. If you feel hungry, you just take a nibble of the wall, or the floor, or the ceiling."

"Are you going to live here a long time?" inquired Yam. They had reached UAe centre of the pear. Here the corri|dor opened into a large, liigh-ceilinged I loom decorated here and there with the brown, shining pips.

"I plan to spend the winter here. In the spring I shall grow wings and go for a flying trip, probably into the country."

"But suppose," said Knarf, looking very thoughtful, "suppose your pear should be eaten. The people in this house eat pears for dinner every day."

"They wouldn't dare!" the worm exclaimed angrily. "They wouldn't dare! The pear belongs to me, and nobody dares touch it!"

Just then an extremely odd thing happened, which shows how mistaken some creatures can be, especially worms. The sound of gnashing teeth suddenly drowned out the worm's voice. They could make out huge portions of the house being bitten away. The worm drew back in terror.

"T-they'll p-pay for th-i-s!" it quaked.

All at once the teeth bit through tho corridor itself and laid bare the worm, all curled up in a knot and turning away from the glaring light.

"Ugh!" boomed a tremendous voice, just above the fragment of pear. "Ugh, a worm!"

The next instant the worm and what was left of its fine house were dropped hastily into a saucer and carted oil into the kitchen.

"See," it boasted to the shadows, "I (old you they didn't dare."