Veronica the Venus Flytrap

by Nikita Koppe,
Illustrated by Caroline Cameron
Surrey Downs Primary School, South Australia

"Oh, Look!"
"Where? Where?"
"Over there! It's a 'Father Christmas Beard'! Lets make a wish!"

Hay, I'm Veronica the Venus Flytrap and I am here to tell you about my life.
I spend all day slaving away in the garden eating those annoying insects that buzz around my head (mmm... blowflies), and how do my owners repay me? By transplanting me to the shady side of the garden, that's what. Thanks a lot!
Hey! I know what my owners are trying to do, they're trying to kill me. They can't do that, it's plant slaughter! Come to think of it, I am feeling kinda drowsy...

That was my attitude last year, but now things have changed a bit. Anyway, they didn't try to kill me. They only temporarily moved me while they were building a new hothouse! So this is where I am telling this story from.
We were happy in the hothouse for a while. My newly made friends Connie Conifer and Dean Doodad were enjoying our lives. I met Connie outside for the first time just before we were both moved here, and Dean moved in last week. He got his name from a miscellaneous store, as he is a bit of everything. We all lived next to each other in a nice flowerbox and led happy lives, until our nasty arch-enemies, the Evil Aphid Gang came...

Oh dear, my poorly self-protecting friends around me started to slowly die. First is was the China Doll Fern, then Johnny English Box, and before I knew it... "Ouchy!" came my cry. I found one of the sneaky little Evil Aphids attached to my butt. "We've been attacked!" I yelled to my nearby friends. "Save the children, hide the elderly and prepare for battle." Though we couldn't run, I knew that all was not lost - some of the plants in this hothouse could protect themselves and their friends.
While all of this was going on, the Evil Aphid connected to me was getting on my nerves. I swallowed him whole. "Yum!" I exclaimed. "This is beginning to become one of the tastiest days of my life," I thought after a few more of the succulent little morsels.

"Never fear, my friends!" I cried and came to their rescue with my "jaws of death," (get it?). Many of my friends were sprawled all over the place, literally. Some of them had been dismembered, so it was pretty gory. But I attempted to save those who were still alive. Snap! I ate a nice little snack off Connie. Nip! One off Dean. Chomp! another from Queen Pansy, and finally I got King Evil Aphid, who tried to finish me off while I was devouring one of his allies. The fight was intense, and the after taste wasn't terribly fantastic. If I hadn't been able to defend myself, or the other plants, our hothouse would have been a goner. "I think that's all." I said. Hah, I spoke too soon. One Evil Aphid was still standing. I couldn't see it, but I could feel its eerie presence. It was kind of like a horror movie, all it needed was Godzilla and some freaky music. "Bring it on, bug." I said in a smug kind of voice. Out of nowhere, the last Evil Aphid pounced, and landed on my stem. The aphid was Mexican. "You are going to die now, my non-amigo." And bit me with its shiny little teeth. "Ahhhh!" I yelled. I turned on him, and with all of my might bit his head off with my jaws. The last Evil Aphid was dead.

So, what do you think? Bugs anyone? That is the story of my so far life. I don't find it very exciting, because everyone keeps asking me to say it over and over. It was just my natural instinct, any other Venus Flytrap or self-defensive plant would do the same.