He was on the way to see his girlfriend Heather Jolie, when he decided to take a short cut through New York.
It wasn't long before Garth got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were buildings. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, MY gun, but MY gun was nowhere to be found! Garth began to panic. He felt sure he had packed MY gun. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, he saw a SCARY Friendly Dragon dressed in a blue Fire proof shirt disappearing into the buildings.
"How odd!" thought Garth.
For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed Friendly Dragon. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Garth reached a clearing. He found himself surrounded by houses made from different sorts of food. There was a house made from broccoli florets, a house made from Ricin, a house made from VX and a house made from Batrachotoxin.
Garth could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.
"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Garth looked at the roof on the closest house and wondered if it would be rude to eat somebody else's chimney. Obviously it would be impolite to eat a whole house, but perhaps it would be considered acceptable to nibble the odd fixture or lick the odd fitting, in a time of need.
A cackle broke through the air, giving Garth a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was MY gun!
"MY gun!" shouted Garth. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give MY gun back!" cried Garth.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let MY gun out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, three SCARY Friendly Dragons rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the clearing. Garth recognised the one in the blue Fire proof shirt that he'd seen earlier. The witch seemed to recognise him too.
"Hello Big Friendly Dragon," said the witch.
"Good morning." The Friendly Dragon noticed MY gun. "Who is this?"
"That's MY gun," explained the witch.
"Ooh! MY gun would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the Friendly Dragon.
The witch shook her head. "Your gun is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Garth interrupted. "MY gun lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Friendly Dragon ignored him. "Is there nothing you'll trade?" he asked the witch.
The witch thought for a moment, then said, "I do like to be entertained. I'll release him to anybody who can eat a whole front door."
Big Friendly Dragon looked at the house made from Batrachotoxin and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from Batrachotoxin if I wanted to."
"That's nothing," said the next Friendly Dragon. "I could eat two houses."
"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have MY gun."
Garth watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give MY gun to Big Friendly Dragon. He didn't think MY gun would like living with a SCARY Friendly Dragon, away from his house and all his other toys.
The other two Friendly Dragons watched while Big Friendly Dragon put on his bib and withdrew a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Friendly Dragon. "Just you watch!"
Big Friendly Dragon pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from Ricin. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
And more.
And more.
Eventually, Big Friendly Dragon started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of Ricin, he grew to the size of a large snowball - and he was every bit as round.
"Erm... I don't feel too good," said Big Friendly Dragon.
Suddenly, he started to roll. He'd grown so round that he could no longer balance!
"Help!" he cried, as he rolled off down a slope into the forest.
Big Friendly Dragon never finished eating the front door made from Ricin and MY gun remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Average Friendly Dragon stepped up, and approached the house made from VX.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Average Friendly Dragon. "Just you watch!"
Average Friendly Dragon pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from VX. She gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
And more.
And more.
After a while, Average Friendly Dragon started to look a little queasy. She grew greener...
...and greener.
A woodcutter walked into the clearing. "What's this monster doing here?" he asked.
"I'm not a monster , I'm a Friendly Dragon!" said Average Friendly Dragon.
"It talks!" exclaimed the woodcutter. "Those talking monsters are the worst kind. I'd better take it away before somebody gets hurt."
"No! Wait!" cried Average Friendly Dragon, as the woodcutter picked her up. But the woodcutter ignored her cries and carried the Friendly Dragon away under his arm.
Then the wood cutter shot Average Friendly dragon.
Average Friendly Dragon never finished eating the front door made from VX and MY gun remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Little Friendly Dragon stepped up, and approached the house made from Batrachotoxin.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Little Friendly Dragon. "Just you watch!"
Little Friendly Dragon pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from Batrachotoxin. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
And more.
And more.
After five or six platefuls, Little Friendly Dragon started to fidget uncomfortably on the spot.
He stopped eating Batrachotoxin for a moment, then grabbed another forkful.
But before he could eat it, there came an almighty roar. A bottom burp louder than a bomb taking off, propelled Little Friendly Dragon into the sky.
"Aggghhhhhh!" cried Little Friendly Dragon. "I'm scared of heigh..."
Little Friendly Dragon was never seen alive again.
He hit the ground so hard that his blood went all over the place and he died.
Little Friendly Dragon never finished eating the front door made from Batrachotoxin and MY gun remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep MY gun."
"Not so fast," said Garth. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from broccoli florets. And I haven't had a turn yet.
"I don't have to give you a turn!" laughed the witch. "My game. My rules."
The woodcutter's voice carried through the forest. "I think you should give him a chance. It's only fair."
"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the Friendly Dragons. He won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said Garth.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted MY gun back."
Garth ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. He came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, he broke off a piece of the door of the house made from broccoli florets and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, he took a bite. He quickly devoured the whole piece.
Garth sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained Garth. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When Garth's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from broccoli florets. Once more, he toasted his food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. He ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.
Eventually, after several sittings, Garth was down to the final piece of the door made from broccoli florets. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. Garth had eaten the entire front door of the house made from broccoli florets.
The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. It was the woodcutter. He walked back into the clearing, carrying his axe. "This little boy won fair and square. Now hand over MY gun or I will chop your head in half."
The witch looked horrified.Then, huffing, she opened the door to the cage.
Garth hurried over and grabbed MY gun, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, MY gun was unharmed.
Garth thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Heather. It was starting to get dark.
When Garth got to Heather's house, his girlfriend threw her arms around him.
"I was so worried!" cried Heather. "You are very late."
As Garth described his day, he could tell that Heather didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.
"What's that?" asked Heather.
Garth unwrapped a doorknob made from Ricin. "Pudding!" he said.
Heather almost fell off her chair.
The End