I’m NOT a MONSTER

I’m NOT a MONSTER

A red suitcase rolled inside Neel’s house. It was once full of books.

A thumb-shaped girl, with a horn on her bald head, popped out of it.

Neel screamed, “MONSTER!” and cowered behind the door.

“I’m not a Monster, Little Sir. I’m Bookworm,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’m delighted to meet you.”

Neel returned her cheerful greeting with a frown. His grandpa had filled the suitcase’s huge belly with books. Now, there was not even a piece of paper in it.

“Where did the books go?”

“BURP!”

“Oops, I’m sorry,” the Bookworm said, her face turning beetroot red.

The books were inside her little belly. “I read them all, and then I ate them all. The book sandwiches were delicious,” she said.

“Monster,” Neel muttered.

“May I correct you again, Little Sir? I’m not a Monster. I’m a voracious reader — Bookworm,” she replied.

Neel’s school bus was about to come honking. But there was a BIG PROBLEM. The Bookworm was licking her lips at the sight of his bookshelf. Neel feared that if he left her behind, she would gobble up all his books.

He decided to take her with him to school, though he worried her horn and unusual shape might scare his friends.

Neel draped a green scarf around her head and placed a hat on top. She wore his long, high-collar coat.

He called her “Mogician, the Monster Magician.”

“I’m Bookworm, not a Monster, Little Sir. Please call me Magiworm.”

As no one liked worms, they finally agreed on “Woogician.”

Inside the bus, she showed Neel’s friends the Read-N-Eat magic.

She read aloud Ria’s chocolate book — and then ate its chocolates. She found the pineapple in Anna’s book yummy. She almost lost her teeth to Moin’s board book.

Neel’s friends cheered and clapped. Outside the bus, they called her their friend. But soon, a strong wind carried away Bookworm’s hat and scarf.

“SHE HAS A HORN!” a boy shouted.

Seeing it, all the children ran inside the school screaming, “Monster! Monster! Monster!”

Bookworm burst into tears. “I’m not a Monster. I’m your friend.”

Neel felt sad seeing her cry, as he had grown fond of her. He held her hand and took her to his class.

“She is my best friend Bookworm,” he told his classmates. “And she is not a Monster. She is just unique — like you and me.”

Bookworm’s face lit up. She finally had a friend.

Later at home, she promised Neel, “I’ll never eat books again. I’ll only read them.”

Bookworm made her home atop Neel’s bookshelf. She kept her promise. She could often be seen eating a carrot while reading a book.

Published by Mogool Time