The Hungry Slug Who Ate Too Much Cabbage

The hungry slug's belly rumbled till it ached and sounded like a thunderstorm. He hadn't eaten for weeks ... so he decided to go for a picnic in the vegetable patch. It took him all morning to crawl along the garden path ... he wriggled and wormed up the spade - looking for a left over fly caught up in an old spider's web or a tasty morsel left by the birds. But the snails had eaten all the bluebottle flies and the frost had destroyed most of the cabbage patch. The buckets stacked in the garden shed were just as empty and the flower pots, too, were bare. No worms, not even a breadcrumb left by the sparrows on the bird table. So the hungry slug made his way across the lawn until he reached the rosebush. There weren't any greenfly there, either. The vegetable patch looked much more appetising ... though the rabbits had eaten all the carrots. The slug liked the look of the cabbage, best. It made his mouth water and his belly rumbled even more as the hungry slug crawled towards the greenhouse door. "YUM ! YUM !", he thought to himself, as he made his way along the wooden shelf. He passed the lawnmower, the fertiliser, too, and very soon, he found a cabbage or two. The hungry slug opened his mouth quite wide - showing his teeth glistening white inside. He took a big gulp ... delicious. Better than lettuce, though not quite as squishy as tomato and much tastier than cress. The cabbage leaves crunched as the hungry slug munched, eating cabbage soup for breakfast, cabbage cake for tea, and cabbage juice for lunch. And very soon he had eaten not only one leaf but a few ... the hungry caterpillar joined in too. The hungry slug then ate some more, his belly grew till it reached the floor, and the slug could hardly fit through the greenhouse door. The hungry slug then chomped and chomped. Before long, he had gobbled up the spade - the rake and the trowel and every little bit of cabbage that the gardener displayed. He had eaten so much he thought he would burst - it seemed that nothing could quench his cabbage hunger or indeed his cabbage thirst. There was cabbage for appetiser, (served on a bed of cabbage leaves). The main course, was cabbage stew, too, (with cabbage gravy) even cabbage for dessert - it didn't seem to matter to the slug, whether or not it made his belly hurt. With ice - cream cabbage and cabbage sauce and even a cabbage flake - his belly started rumbling so much, it made the garden shake. The hungry slug then drank a nice tasty, big glass of cabbage juice. He started munching stalks at dusk and carried on eating leaves through till noon - it didn't even seem to matter much that he had no knife, fork or spoon ! This was the best vegetable patch, he had ever seen ! The hungry slug ate so much cabbage, he thought he would turn green, and then among the cabbage leaves, no - one could see where he had been.

Put the "Ug" In The Slug Game

The thunderstorm was so bad that it downpoured on these words and washed away some of the letters. He broke his leg playing r _ _by He gave her teddy bear a h _ _. Another name for a slug is a b_ _ . He shr _ _ged his shoulders. T_ _ of war game. The sl _ _ was sat on a cabbage leaf. She poured water from a j _ _. The train ch _ _ged into the station. He made her a m _ _ of coffee.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Answers : rugby ; hug ; bug ; shrugged his shoulders; slug ; jug ; chugged ; mug