What is normally done by a creature

The monster put the leash on his creature and took him for a walk. As they walked along they came upon a man walking toward them on the sidewalk. The creature grabbed the man in his jaws and swallowed him.

"No, no! Bad creature! Spit the man out! Spit the man out, right now!" the monster commanded.

"That's okay," the man said from inside the creature's belly. "He's doing what is normally done by a creature."

The monster and his creature continued their walk. They came upon a woman digging a hole in her garden. The creature grabbed the woman in his jaws and swallowed her.

"Spit the woman out! Spit the woman out, now!"

"Don't be angry with your creature," the woman shouted from inside the creature's belly. "He's doing what is normally done by a creature."

The monster and his creature went back to walking. This time they came on a boy bouncing a ball on the ground. The creature grabbed and swallowed both the boy and his ball.

"That's enough! You've eaten enough people! Spit the boy and his ball out! Right now!"

"Don't yell at your creature, mister monster," cried the boy from inside the creature's belly. " He's doing what is normally done by a creature."

The next person the monster and his creature came upon during their walk was a girl playing jump rope. The creature swallowed the girl and her jumping rope.

"Help! Help!" the girl screamed. "Get me out of this creature's belly!"

"Calm down," the monster reassured the girl. "The creature's doing what is normally done by a creature."

© 2007 Jim Wittenberg