Joplang and Grandfather climb the Khasi hills. These hills have trees. The leaves of the trees are waving. Pretty flowers under the trees nod at them. They come to a garden.
Grandfather speaks to a gardener. Joplang walks through the garden gates.
“Hi! How are you?”
Joplang looks around. He cannot see anyone.
“Here!Here!”
Sitting on a leaf, Joplang sees a green blob. This blob has tiny, black legs sticking out. Its eyes are red and it has one green horn.
Inside its mouth is a row of teeth. These teeth are sharp.
“Who are you?” Joplang asks. He did not know this animal. Was it a monster?
"I am Greenhorn. With my horn, I make holes in leaves of plants and trees. Then I suck the juice from them.”
Joplang did not like that. “But holes in leaves will kill these plants. How will the plants make food without leaves?”
“Who cares?” The greenhorn smiled showing all the teeth.
All the plants and trees around Joplang cry out, ‘Please save us from Greenhorn. He is killing all the leaves. We are dying.”
So Greenhorn is a monster! A wicked plant monster! Joplang thinks.
Joplang runs back to the gardener. He picks up the gardener's plant spray. It is full of insect poison.
He comes back and sprays Greenhorn with it.
“Eeeeee…..Ooooo….Aaaaa …leave me alone,” Greenhorn screams. But Joplang does not stop until Greenhorn runs away.
“Run Monster, run! Never ever come back here.” Joplang shouts.
“Thank you. Thank you. Hip-hip-hurray!” The plants cheer him.
Grandfather walks up to the boy.
“Joplang, what are you doing with the poison spray?” He asks.
“Oh! I am chasing away a wicked plant monster.”
Grandfather put his arm around Joplang’s shoulders and smiled, “So you are a plant hero!”
All rights reserved. @sutapa basu, 2020
