Gulp!

Gulp!

Roxy gulped. “ Terrell, are you okay?” Terrell cleared his throat. “ I’m fine, but I’m trapped inside the plant. We were looking at it when one of the bulbs opened. It looked like a big mouth. It ate Jack. Another mouth ate Mara. Before I could run away, the plant got me. ” “ Don’t worry, Terrell! ” Roxy said. “ I’ll be there right away! ”

“ Come quickly, ” Terrell said. “ I’m beginning to feel . . . ” He yawned. “ Sleepy. ” Roxy closed her watch. “ Listen, Detective, I need to—” Smash! A vine shattered the window and grabbed the detective. “ Grr! ” Detective Smith tried to wriggle free. “ Rocket Girl! Help—”

Gulp! The plant swallowed the detective. “ Ahh! ” Roxy screamed. Then another vine reached into the office. Roxy escaped down the hallway. She flew out through a window. “ Oh no! ” Roxy cried. Giant plants were everywhere. Vines whipped back and forth.

Mouths snapped at people. Below each mouth hung several pods. Many of the pods wiggled. “ Whoa, ” Roxy said. “ There are people in those pods! ” “ The plants are eating people! ” an old woman shouted. “ Run for your lives! ” a man cried.

“ Don’t let the plants—” Gulp! A giant mouth grabbed him. Whiz-hoo! Roxy’s eye laser beams blasted the plant’s mouth, and the man jumped out. “ Thanks, Rocket Girl! ” He ran down the street. But then—gulp! Another plant got him. “ Ugh! ” Roxy made a fist. “ How can I stop all these plants from eating people?”