Venusaur
by Jessica Taurins

Hello, my name is Venusaur and I am going to tell you about myself.

My name is Venusaur. (As you already know.)

I am 10 years old.

I am a female.

I feed on animals that kill humans unnecessarily.

I have come from Venus.

I am a very friendly monster.

I have no family because they were killed in a big fight between Venus and Uranus but I am positive that there is more of my kind somewhere on other planets. We all had to flee when the war began. My mother wasn't fast enough, so she was caught and killed. She hid me in a bush when she saw them coming up behind her. I really miss her.

I have three friends: Plulo, Fawkes and Jessica (Jessica is telling this story).

My body is made of very thin skin and feathers.

I look like an Earth deer. I think?

Well, I think that's all you need to know about me, so I'll hurry up and get to the story, shall I?

One beautiful sunny day I woke up at 6 AM and started doing my chores. I had just started the washing machine when I heard gurgling coming out of it. I stopped it and had a look.

'Aaargh!' I screamed 'It's a monster!' Instead of trying to kill me it jumped out and tried to comfort me.

'It's alright Jessica,' it said.

'H-how did you k-know my name?' I sniffled.

'I can read your mind,' he said.

'What is your name,' I asked feeling less scared.

'Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you. My name is Venusaur. I just so happen to know that you had started your chores�'

'No, you can't help me. I get paid 50c for doing the washing and making my mother's breakfast. If you help, she'll be able to tell.'

'How?' Venusaur asked.

'I don't know how. I just know that she'll be able to tell.'

'OK then, I won't.'

So when I had finished doing my chores I asked Venusaur, 'Where did you come from and what did you come here for?'

'To answer the first part of your question: I came from Venus. And to answer the second part: I came from Venus because there was a war between Venus and Uranus that my Dad had to go and fight in, so I suppose he was killed because I haven't heard from him since. My mother was killed trying to save me.'

'Would you like to go outside and play?' I asked. I was feeling very sorry for my new friend.

'Yes alright,' Venusaur said cheerfully.

When we got outside, Venusaur immediately dropped to the ground.

'Take me back inside!' he wheezed.

When we were inside he said, 'I forgot to tell you that fresh air from any other planet but Venus is very dangerous to me and the rest of my kind. That's why I transported myself into your washing machine because I would be safe from fresh air in there.'

'Oh. I didn't know. I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can get you so that you don't get sick in fresh air?' I asked.

'Yeah, there is, but you have to go to the Simpson Desert and get a rare gold flower which gives me special breathing powers for the rest of my life.'

'I'll get it for you!' I said without hesitation. 'I'll just have to go and pack and then I'll be ready to go!'

While I was gone, he made a small bird-like call and two other monsters came up.

'I'm done!' I called. 'Whoah! Who are these two?'

'These are my friends, Plulo and Fawkes,' he said proudly. 'They will aid you on your journey.'

'Your flying car madam,' Plulo said.

'What?' I stammered. I couldn't believe my eyes. My mum's car had grown a pair of wings and was hovering a foot above the ground.

'I was sleeping Venusaur,' Fawkes grumbled.

'See you Jessica,' Venusaur yelled when I was in the car.

'Bye Venusaur! I'll get you that flower!' I shouted 'Promise!'

Soon we were flying high over the city. Soon, I could see the orangey red desert in the distance.

'We should be there soon,' Plulo said 'Oh, wake up Fawkes.'

'OK, OK. I'm up. Uh, Plulo?'

'Yes,' Plulo said dreamily.

'I hate to tell you this but we're out of fuel and we're falling!'

I screamed. The wind swept by us as we fell to the ground.

PLONK!! The car landed heavily on the hard packed sand. We bounced for a couple of feet before coming to a stop. I couldn't believe we'd made it.

Plulo and Fawkes got out of the car and started across the desert floor. I followed them.

'I'm tired,' moaned Fawkes, dragging his feet.

'Well go back to the car if you're so tired, Fawkes,' Plulo said.

'I can't.'

'Why?'

'Because, uh, we've walked too far away from the car and I can't be bothered to walk back.'

'OK then. We're nearly there anyway. But we need to climb this mountain,' Plulo said. 'Hurry up!'

'How do you know where the golden flower grows?' I asked. Neither Plulo or Fawkes had a map to follow.

'The golden flower has a lovely fragrance that only we can smell,' said Plulo, sniffing the air.

We were halfway up the mountain when Fawkes dozed off. His hands slipped and he began to fall.

'Oh, no!' I cried as Fawkes tumbled past me. I stopped on a rocky ledge. Plulo was desperate to catch his friend. He reached out but missed his friend's hand by a few inches.

'Alto Softo!!' Plulo yelled suddenly.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Fawkes bounced back up like a ball and landed on the rocky ledge next to me.

Fawkes smiled at me sleepily. Plulo reached the ledge, prodded Fawkes awake, and it wasn't long before we reached the top of the mountain.

I pulled myself over the edge and saw a gold flower!

'I've found it,' I shouted happily.

But Plulo was sniffing the air and shaking his head. 'This flower may be gold but it is not the flower we need.'

'Oh,' I said sadly.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew across the desert. Grit got into my eyes. When I could see again, I noticed a tiny piece of gold through the red of the sand. I scraped the sand away and uncovered two flowers. Both of them were gold!

Plulo sniffed. 'I can smell the flower,' he said in a confused way. 'But I don't know which one it is.'

'Then we'd better take them both,' I said. I wrapped them in my handkerchief.

'The Alto Softo should still be in play,' Plulo said. 'So we can jump off the mountain. When we get to the bottom' I'll reverse the magic so we don't bounce back up again.'

'Geronimo!!!' we yelled and jumped. Plulo dragged the sleeping Fawkes behind him.

The wind whistled in my ears and blew around my clothes. My eyes started to water so I used my handerkerchief to wipe them and, on no, the flowers. I'd dropped the flowers!

We had reached the bottom and I couldn't look Plulo in the eyes. I was so ashamed. Then, I looked up and I saw the flowers! They were still falling but while I watched a lizard suddenly appeared from one of the ledges. Its giant blue tongue came out and it swallowed one of the gold flowers! The other flower landed at my feet.

Plulo sniffed it, but he couldn't tell if it was the right one. 'I think it has been in the desert too long,' he said. 'I can't pick up its fragrance.'

Sadly we walked back to the car.

'How will we get back?' I asked. 'The car has run out of fuel.'

'Don't worry,' said Plulo, jabbing Fawkes in the stomach. 'Fawkes will help us.'

Fawkes opened his sleepy eyes, blinked twice, said 'fuelo' twice and went back to sleep.

The car started, and we flew home.

Soon we landed in my backyard. I could see Venusaur through the window. She was sitting on my bed. She looked very weak. I didn't know how I was going to tell her that we might have lost the gold flower.

'Let me see it.' Venusaur said sadly, after we told her all about our adventures in the desert. Venusaur sniffed the air. 'This is the right flower,' she said happily. 'That lizard saved my life. I owe him one'

'What! Do you know him?' I asked.

'Yes. As a matter of fact, I do,' said Venusaur, smiling. 'He's my stepbrother. He was trying to help you get the right flower so he ate the wrong one.'

'Amazing,' I said.

'Yes, the wrong flower would have killed me.' said Venasaur.

She sniffed the flower again then stuffed the whole lot in her mouth. Pretty soon she turned a lovely shade of pink.

'I feel great,' she said happily. 'Thank you, my friends, for all you have done. Now, let's go out and play.'

So we did!