Giant pre-historic insects* which
DO NOT make good pets
Giant flea
“ BzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz.
The giant dragonfly whizzed around and around
..”
Arg’s cave. Faster and faster. It sounded like a swarm
Giant slug
of angry bees. Its wings were a blur, flicking up a
tornado of dust.
But there was no way the dragonfly could escape.
Not with a cycad-frond lasso around its tail. It had
taken Arg all morning to snare the dragonfly. He
knew he’d get it in the end. A dragonfly could never
outsmart a boy with a brain as big as Arg’s.
zzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz
“Bz
Giant
mosquito
Giant
stag beetle
* During pre-historic times many creatures, 8
as well as dinosaurs, grew to great sizes.
This was caused by huge forests which created 14% more oxygen in the air than today.
9
...
”
Arg gave the lasso a tug. The dragonfly bucked
Krrk-Krrk raced round and round Arg’s feet,
and weaved and spun and twirled. It didn’t like
yapping wildly. Each time the dragonfly whizzed past,
being lassoed. Arg had to hold on tight to stop it
Krrk-Krrk leapt up and tried to snatch it out of the air.
yanking the string from his grasp.
10
Microceratops liked eating dragonflies.
11
If it was a really big dragonfly, it sometimes ate the
Microceratops instead.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Arg said for the
hundredth time.
He thought having a pet dragonfly would be a lot
of fun. He could teach it all sorts of tricks. Well, he
could try to teach it tricks. Like the time he tried to
teach a giant spider to weave a web around his bed
to stop the mosquitos biting him and …
But that’s another story.
Arg never imagined a dragonfly could be so
stubborn. Or have so much energy. Krrk-Krrk puffed
to a halt. Even he was getting bored. But Arg
couldn’t let the dragonfly go now. If it flew off with a
string around its tail, it would get tangled in a
branch in no time.
“If you just stop for a second, I’ll untie you,” Arg
sighed. Maybe having a pet dragonfly wasn’t such a
good idea after all.
12
Arg’s sigh turned into a huge yawn. The dragonfly
Arg’s head shook like an earthquake as the insect’s
hovered to a halt in front of Arg’s face. It buzzed left.
wings beat furiously against his cheeks. He tried to
Then right. Then it plunged straight into Arg’s
grab its tail, but it squirmed out of his grasp.
gaping mouth!
There was only one thing to do …
14
15
CHOMP!
Arg’s teeth snapped shut. His mouth filled with
bitterness as the insect’s body slid down his chin. But
its head was stuck in Arg’s throat, cutting off his air.
Arg squeezed his neck and beat madly on his chest.
What a stupid way to die, he thought, as his face
slowly turned blue.
His mum’s shadow flitted across the cave entrance.
Arg stumbled towards her. He was saved!
“Gurgle, gurgle, gasp,” he said, pointing wildly
at his throat.
His mum frowned. She fished some earwax
from her ear and sucked it off her finger.
“Gurgle, gurgle,” Arg repeated, frantically
waving his arms.
His mum’s hand slowly rose again. Arg groaned.
If she didn’t act quickly ...
16
17
!
K
C
A
WH
Arg’s mum swung her hand like a club. It
slammed into Arg’s back, nearly knocking him off his
feet. The dragonfly’s head exploded from his mouth.
It shot across the cave and splattered against the far
wall. As it slid to the ground, it left a smear of greasy
green ooze.
“Arg no eat,” Arg’s mum grunted, grabbing his
arm. She waved a hairy finger in front of Arg’s
face and shook her head like she was rattling
her tiny brain.
“Urgh!” said Arg. “I wasn’t trying to eat it. I was
trying to train it.”
His mum didn’t understand. She dragged him to
the dragonfly’s head and pointed at it. “Arg no eat,”
she repeated firmly, squelching it with her foot.
Krrk-Krrk started licking up the ooze.
“No, Mum,” Arg sighed. “Arg no eat.”
Arg’s mum gave a satisfied grunt, then let
him go. On her way out, she scooped up the
dragonfly’s still-quivering body
The men leapt to their feet and grabbed their
and crunched it greedily in
spears. The women snatched up their babies and
half. A spurt of green juice
began herding all the children into the caves.
There was one thing that did get cave people
dribbled down her chin.
“Mmmmm, good,” she said, licking her lips.
moving quickly. That was the screech of an
Arg trailed her outside. Maybe she was going to
approaching T-rex.
do something interesting. Like collect ingredients to
As the screech got louder, Arg’s face split in a grin.
make medicines. Or gather roots and berries for
That wasn’t just any T-rex. It was his friend, Skeet.
dinner. Or …
The only time Skeet came near the village was when
She plonked down beside the fire with the rest of
he needed Arg’s help.
With a whoop of excitement, Arg rushed
the tribe.
Arg huffed with disappointment. Being a cave boy
into the jungle.
was very boring sometimes. Especially when you had
a big brain. Cave people were very lazy. They could
sit around doing nothing for days. They only moved
when they were hungry or thirsty. Sometimes they
didn’t even bother moving to go to the toilet.
E-C-H!
Suddenly a loud
S-C-R-E-
rattled through the village.
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