Joe Miller - Tunnel Trouble

Zap nodded, feeling safer. He flew back to Gonzo’s Rock.

Once the rock was tidy, the Bug Buddies settled down for the night next to Algae Pond. Zap quickly fell asleep. He dreamt he was trying to fly, but his wings wouldn’t work and he fell into a deep hole. It was pitch black, apart from eight eyes staring at him from the darkness …

Zap woke with a start. Stop being silly, he told himself, it was just a dream. He looked up at the dark swaying trees. Was Spinner still out there somewhere?

Zap spent the morning flying around Spinner’s Wood, checking for webs. He didn’t find any, but he still had a twisty feeling in his tummy. His nerves faded when he remembered he had Beetle Ball practice today. Zap loved playing Beetle Ball – it was where he got to show off his super-speedy skills! And it was perfect for taking his mind off Spinner.

The Bug Buddies flew over to the practice field and landed next to Gonzo, who was their coach.

“OK, team,” said the grasshopper. “I’m going to teach you some new goal-scoring moves. Zap, you go first. Crunch will be goalkeeper.”

Gonzo began using his front legs to roll the grass seed ball to Zap.

He was about to knock it forward when he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He turned around to see a family of green tiger beetles enter the clearing. Each beetle was pushing a small egg in front of it, the same way Lurch pushed poo. Zap’s wings trembled – with their hard green bodies and dark eyes they looked really scary. And he knew they liked to eat weevils!

Zap stood up as tall as he could, determined not to look afraid.

The largest of the tiger beetles stood before Gonzo. “My name’s Snap,” he said. “I need to talk to you about—”

“What are you playing?” interrupted a young tiger beetle, nudging the grass seed ball with his nose. He looked at the Bug Buddies curiously.

“We were about to play Beetle Ball,” said Lurch.

“What’s Beetle Ball?” asked the young tiger beetle.

“It’s a game,” said Buzz, sounding surprised.

Lurched waved his wings. “Come on, we’ll show you,” he said.

Zap’s antennae drooped – he wasn’t sure about playing with tiger beetles. He might get eaten!

“That’s a great idea,” said Gonzo, looking straight at Zap. “It’ll help us all get to know each other.”

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