Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
by Anna Micallef, age 11

Chapter One
Monsters

Do monsters exist? That is the question! No doubt about it, we all have heard a story, a myth or a legend about these hideous creatures. Vampires, werewolves, mummies. But are these fact or fiction? I used to think that such things did not exist. Until I met Lucy Dunmore, that is. Lucy is my next-door neighbor. She moved in with the old man next door a few days ago. Lucy and the old man aren't very normal. Actually they are far from normal.

To start with, the old man rarely comes out of his house and when he does his face is always covered in a thick scarf. As for Lucy, her major problem is that the sight of her makes you want to barf. When I first met her, Lucy told me that she had been quite pleasant to look at and that she used to live in a busy town, where she lived happily. Then, because of an annoying habit, she caught a terrible disease that made her look horrible. How? Well, I asked the same question: how can an annoying habit bring you a disease?

To this question a gray cloud covered her monstrous face. She looked as if she was resisting the urge to let the cat out of the bag. However, I felt that she was going to tell me the whole naked truth. Her grim eyes clearly showed that she wanted to get a ghastly secret off her chest. I closed my eyes and nodded stiffly, as if promising that I would believe her and that I would never betray her trust. Then, Lucy told me this story, the story that totally strengthened my belief in monsters.

Chapter Two
The Tall-Story Teller

"She tried her best to ignore the deafening footsteps behind her, tried to ignore them until it was too late.until.suddenly, sharp, needlelike claws tightly grasped her legs. She fell to the ground with a huge bump, and then she saw a pair of gleaming, yellow eyes. A cold feeling took control of her legs.her whole body. It was getting stronger, stronger and stronger.um.er."

Lucy tried her best to keep the serious expression she was holding, but she couldn't. She burst out laughing, crying tears of laughter. Her brother was crying too, but not with laughter. Like her grandfather, Lucy's favourite hobby was to tell tall-stories to scare the living daylights out of little children, in particular her little, annoying brother, Josh, who was scared of his own shadow. Lucy was always conjuring up scary stories of drooling, famished monsters. Her personal favourite monsters were Bigfoot, Medusa and her two Gorgon sisters, Dracula and Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately, her hobby always got her into trouble, and every time she scared her brother she had to face a thirty-minute lecture by her mother.

Lucy prepared herself. Her mother came into the room hands on hips, her face as scarlet as a plum.
"Lucia!" her mother mouthed between her teeth.
Lucy took a deep breath. There was always trouble when her mother called her by her proper name.
"How many times do I have to tell you? DON'T YOU EVER, EVER . DON'T EVEN THINK . ABOUT SCARING YOUR BROTHER AGAIN . OR ELSE YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU'VE EVER BEEN BORN . GO TO YOUR ROOM . YOU'RE GROUNDED . BIG TIME!"

On her way up the stairs, Lucy turned to her brother and hissed "You little rat!" threateningly punching her left palm with her right fist. On reaching her room, Lucy opened her closet to get some magazines. Her eyes popped out and her heart missed a beat. There was a repulsive, green monster in the closet.

Chapter Three
The Green Angel

Lucy rubbed her eyes twice. No! It was true. There was a real monster in her closet. Lucy stood back, staring at the thing. It had a sick, green face with huge, angry boils all over it. Suddenly, the thing roared
"Hi. My name is Puke. You can call me Green Angel."
Lucy stood there, stunned. The Boil-Monster stood there too - even looking more stunned than Lucy herself - then he said bitterly;
"Oh, it's you."
"Do you know me?" a trembling Lucy asked. These were the only words that came out of Lucy's mouth. She didn't feel totally afraid of the monster though. She felt as if she'd known him somewhere. The . well . Green Angel laughed.
"Oh, Goosey Lucy! I know everything about you. You wear spotted underwear, you like old country songs," the Green Angel snorted "and you have a crush on gorgeous Matt Robinson."
Lucy grew as red as a beetroot.
"How.er.do you know?" she asked.
"That," said the Green Angel angrily "is none of your business. I have been here longer then you have.SO SHUT UP AND HAVE SOME FUN!"

At that moment, to Lucy's absolute horror, a radio with two gigantic speakers appeared from nowhere. The Green Angel started singing to the tune of A Little Less Conversation:
"Lucy how annoying Can you get!
Today or tomorrow You always fret."

In a twinkle the thing disappeared into the closet as Lucy's mother barged into the room.
"What is this horrible singing?" shouted Lucy's mother. "You are grounded for two weeks. Period."
And she left the room slamming the door behind her. Lucy sighed as she collapsed into her bed. Somehow she knew that the thing was going to be a big pain in the neck and that this was only the beginning.

Chapter Four
Crying Wolf

The next morning Lucy woke up early and remembered that the day before had been a very, very bad day. Her mother had grounded her for two weeks and a hideous monster was hiding in her closet. Sitting up on her bed she decided to go downstairs and tell her parents all about the Green Angel. Even though, deep down in her heart she knew that they wouldn't believe her. And they didn't! As her parents were ranting and raving, scolding Lucy for her tall-story telling, Lucy, with a bolt of panic going right through her like lightning, suddenly remembered that she had left the Green Angel alone in her room. When she rushed to her room, Lucy found the Green Angel dancing and singing his horrible song on her bed.
"That's the last straw!" she bellowed,
"I'm going to prove to everyone that you exist!"

With that, she stormed out of the room, only to bump into her annoying brother. For the first time though, Lucy was almost glad to see him.
"Josh!" she beamed, "Listen to me! You can't go in my room! There's a monster that looks like death warmed up and."
Lucy started to explain, but -
"I thought you had finally matured like me, Lucy," Josh said, "but still you look like you haven't had enough of that silly rubbish."
Lucy gave a rude snort and went red with rage.
"Are you imitating mum or something? Come on! You have to believe me! Honest! THERE'S A MONSTER IN MY ROOM!"
"Yeah right! Watch you don't trip on your nose, Pinocchio!" Josh giggled.
And with that, he roughly led her to their parents' room.
"Lucy is playing her silly little game again. Please tell her to stop telling lies."

Lucy went scarlet with rage! She had told her whole family about a huge problem and still they wouldn't believe her! Before she had any time to punch the lights out of her brother, Lucy stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a loud BANG!

Chapter Five
Truth will Tell

Lucy's heart missed a beat and she almost fainted when she stepped into her room. Her beloved room was turned upside down. Her bed was cracked in two and her desk was turned into tiny splinters. But still, something was missing.

Suddenly, something that seemed like a ball of mashed peas fell from the ceiling. The ball was actually the thing - Lucy's hideous monster - the Green Angel. At first, Lucy thought that the thing had given up its ghost, but then, it quivered a bit. Confused, Lucy gently nudged him. With a sudden start the Green Angel burst out laughing and a small blue book fell from his disgusting claws. Lucy, determined to see what was so funny, grabbed it. On the front cover there was written: LUCY'S EXTREMELY SECRET DIARY PRIVATE!!!!!!

Lucy's face turned scarlet with anger.
"Enough is enough!" she bellowed, longing to see the Green Angel's hideous face full of fear.
But instead, the thing laughed even more loudly.
"I can't believe it! You have another crush! On Micky!
'Hi diary, you know, Micky Blue Eyes smiled at me today. Oh! He's SOOO charming! When he looks at me, I can feel his eyes taking me to the ocean.' Ha! Lucy and Micky, sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Lucy with a baby carriage!"

While the Green Angel was rolling over the floor, howling with laughter, Lucy started going over things in her head. Why did she enjoy telling tall-stories? Why did she enjoy telling lies? Maybe if she had always told the truth, she would have been believed.... Before Lucy had a chance to cry over spilt milk, she noticed something. A head peering into the room. "JOSH!"

Chapter Six
The Fibbin' Goblin

For the second time in her life, Lucy was overjoyed to see her brother and she gently led him into her room. On seeing the Green Angel, Josh's jaw dropped and he rushed downstairs to tell his parents. When Lucy and Josh's parents came in the room, they both looked surprised and . almost happy.

Without warning, they both jumped on the thing, tightly gripping it by the neck. They quickly wrapped the Green Angel in a thick blanket and took the bundle downstairs. In a while, Lucy's mother came back into the room and, with a look of unease on her face, she sat down on a stool and started to explain: -

"That little monster is the Fibbin' Goblin" she started, "and this is the second time that your father and I have captured him."
Lucy and Josh were silent as their mother continued.
"Do you remember how your grandfather looked before he went away?" she asked.
Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin as she remembered her grandpa's face before he went away. It was all green and covered with huge, angry boils and that was why Lucy had felt that she had known the Fibbin' Goblin somewhere. He looked just like her grandfather.
"Grandpa?" shouted Lucy and Josh together as they recollected how their grandfather used to horrify them with his tall, scary stories.
"Yes" their mother continued. "When you were little children your grandfather, my father, used to enjoy terrifying you to death with his scary tall-stories. Although your father and I tried to make him stop he kept going on and on and your father and I got very angry. One dark night, while you were crying in your beds after grandpa had told you the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we wished upon a falling star that something will bring your grandpa to his senses and the Fibbin' Goblin appeared in front of us. He told us that he was very furious with grandpa's stories, which were even scarier than his own. The Goblin also told us that he could help us and that all we had to do was to allow him to enter our house to curse grandpa with the Puspuke disease. In our anger we foolishly accepted."

Chapter Seven
The Puspuke Curse

Lucy and Josh sat in silence as their mother continued:
"The next morning your grandpa came downstairs as sick as a dog. The Fibbin' Goblin had cursed him with the Puspuke disease and grandpa's face was all green and covered with huge, angry boils."
The children watched a sad tear rolling down their mother's cheek as she went on with her story.
"Your father and I went up to grandpa's room where we found the Fibbin' Goblin laughing his head off. He told us that at long last he had gotten his revenge on grandpa. He also told us that the curse will only disappear in six months if grandpa promised not to tell any more lies. Angrily we jumped on him and wrapped him up in a thick sack and bundled him off into the woods where he belonged."

"We didn't know what to do with grandpa here; we had nowhere to hide him. So, he went to live in a small house in a quite village way out in the country until the curse wears off."
With a sad expression on her face, Lucy's mother looked at her daughter and continued
"Alas, Lucy every day you were becoming just like your grandpa. Lately you've made us very angry with your scary tall-stories and lies so we decided to call back the Fibbin' Goblin. So Lucy.I suggest you look in the mirror."

Lucy couldn't move. Her feet felt as if turned to stone. Nearby, her brother was muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "I'm putting myself up for adoption" but his worries were nothing compared to Lucy's.

O.K., finding out that you had gone through your whole life acting like a monster with your lies is terrible.but what about finding out that you also look like a monster? Between these thoughts, Lucy was feeling her face, and she noticed that huge boils were beginning to grow all over it. And that is why Lucy is now living next door with her grandfather. When I had recovered from shock, I turned round and started running as fast as my plump legs could carry me, leaving Lucy's tragic sobs behind me.

Chapter Eight
Parents and Children Take Heed

Maybe right now, you aren't feeling as scared as I was when Lucy told me this story. Maybe that's because you don't have a monster living next door, like I do. When I arrived home, I started thinking . Just because she had always invented stories and lied .

At that moment, I realised how much trouble lies and tall-stories can get you in. And I vowed that I would never lie again. I hope you take my example. Look at Lucy...and remember.lies and tall-stories can cause big trouble.

And parents remember.sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.