THEM! ZOMBIE DINNER STAFF FROM OUTER SPACE
PART ONE
The dark night sky hung over Dullsville making it even duller than usual. It was nine o’clock and everyone had gone to bed - that’s how dull it was in Dullsville. But if anyone had stayed up they would have seen a glowing red meteorite getting bigger and the reason it was getting bigger was because it was getting closer and closer and closer and as it got closer and closer and closer it began to get redder and fiercer and angrier.
It sizzled through the night sky. It zapped over the rooftops of Dullsville leaving a glowing red tail behind it. It whooshed passed sleepy bedroom windows and when it had sizzled, zapped and whooshed as far as it could it plunged into the swamp on the edge of town with a loud plop. Then slowly sunk below the surface and disappeared. The small frog on a lily-pad nearby sat wide-eyed and thought, “Did that really just happen?”
And then, from below the water, a slimy, green hand appeared, felt around until it found a tree stump and dragged itself out of the water!
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The lunch time bell tinkled loudly and Pradeep and Laura headed for the lunch hall. Pradeep, who was the taller and more confident of the two, strode into the dining room and grabbed a tray. Laura, who would much prefer to be reading a book somewhere, trailed on behind. Pradeep and Laura had known each other since nursery and were probably the best friends you could ever imagine. And they always told each other the truth.
“This stinks!” said Pradeep, poking his fork into something which was supposed to be bangers and mash, “Which bit is the banger?” he asked.
“Mine is horrid, too!” agreed Laura, “It’s the grossest food we’re ever had here.”
“I think we should complain!” said Pradeep. Laura loved it when Pradeep had new ideas.
Moments later Pradeep and Laura found themselves standing before the new head of catering, Mrs. No Left Turn. Everyone thought it was an odd name, but no one questioned it.
“My dinner stinks, miss!” said Pradeep.
Mrs. No Left Turn looked up and stared at them with piercing red eyes. Laura noticed her hands was slightly green and slightly slimy and was tugging at Pradeep’s sleeve to tell him about them when Mrs. No Left Turn suddenly stuck out her tongue! And it was no ordinary tongue! It unfurled like a roller-blind all the way down her chest to about the level of her belly button. Then, unbelievably, it reached out to Pradeep and Laura and slapped them both in the face!
“And you expect me to believe this?” snorted Mr. Tweak, the head teacher who was now standing over them tutting loudly and getting very tired, very quickly of their story, “There is nothing wrong with our catering staff. They may be new to the job, but Mrs. No Left Turn and Miss No Overtaking and Mr Hidden Bend are very, very good cooks!” He tutted and gestured them to leave. They left.
That night Pradeep was straight on TwitFace texting Laura.
- It was the worst food ever
- Everyone else hated theirs, too
- I’ve got a plan
- I like your plans
- Meet me outside the school at midnight!
Laura’s fingers hung over the buttons. Midnight? This was Dullsville everyone was in bed by nine. What would her parents say if they found out she was outside at midnight? She replied.
- Okay!
The dark night sky, once again, hung over Dullsville and two shadowy figures were scuttling up the road to school. One had a phone-torch and the beam swung back and forth as they walked.
“Keep it straight!” hissed Laura.
“I am!” whispered Pradeep, “But I’m looking for clues. Those dinner staff are weird and we need to found out what is going on!”
He pointed his torch at a street sign.
“Hidden Bend?” said Pradeep, “Didn’t Mr. Tweak says that was the name of one of the dinner staff?”
They walked a little further and his torch played on another sign.
“No Overtaking!” said Laura, as loud as she dared.
And they kept walking to the next sign and, they both looked up and said in shock, “No Left Turn!” Pradeep turned the torch to his face and stared at Laura, “Whoever they are they’ve stolen their names from the street signs!”
“Should we tell a grown up?” asked Laura.
“Not until we have more evidence!” said Pradeep, flicked his phone to camera mode and slipped through the hole in the fence everyone knew about but no one was allowed to use.
Unbelievably the lights were on in the kitchen. Laura and Pradeep peeked through and saw all three dinner staff at work! Why so late? This was getting weirder and weirder and Pradeep and Laura were getting curiouser and curiouser.
And what was even weirder (and even curiouser) was all their tongues were hanging out and they were using them like arms! Mrs. No Left Turn’s tongue was holding a cucumber while her right arm chopped it and her left arm stirred something bubbling in a pot. Miss No Overtaking was cracking eggs with hers while buttering bread with her arms and Mr. Hidden Bend was using his to sprinkle sprinkles on some doughnuts leaving his arms free to beat some eggs.
Laura nudged Pradeep who said, “Huh?” He was lost for words. Laura pointed at his phone. Of course! He had to record them. He pointed the camera pressed the button and a huge flash of light flooded the kitchen.
“Eeeeeeek!!! Eeeeeeek!!!” The dinner staff squeaked like startled mice and tried covering their faces and hiding their tongues. But it was too late and they knew it.
Pradeep and Laura were rooted to the spot with fear as the kitchen window was thrown open and Pradeep and Laura found themselves face to face with Mrs. No Left Turn.
Her red glowing eyes glowed even more. Her tongue sneaked out and slithered around their heads like a snake and finally grabbed them both by their hair and dragged them inside.
Who are these strange creatures? Where do they come from? What do they want? What will happen next? Only you know the answers to “Them! Zombie Dinner Staff from Outer Space.”
