Once upon a time, there was an old dark forest, which was home to a whole host of scary monsters.

And in the deepest part of the old dark forest lived a powerful Wizard: the old, old Man in the Moon.

The Man in the Moon had retired to a gloomy castle that stood decaying in the heart of this ancient forest.

And all over the walls of the decaying castle there grew a evil ivy that was very much alive. When any intruders came near, the vines would entrap them.

Now the old Moon Lord was very ugly. Of course, you’ll understand that already, if you’ve ever looked up at the moon in a telescope, with all its cracks and craters and wrinkles! And he knew that anyone who saw him would straight away take fright.

So that, you see, is why the bitter old Wizard would only ever come out of his castle at night, wearing a strange evil mask, so that even the scary monsters of the forest would not see what he looked like.

One night, the monsters of the forest decided to hold a contest to see who was the scariest monster of them all, and to find out who was willing to challenge the Moon Lord. Boastful Count Dracula, of course, was quite certain it would be HIM.

One after another they journeyed to the castle, and tried to scare the Man in the Moon. But even the biggest and most scary of the monsters went running away, wailing and crying, when they came face to face with the powerful old Wizard.

The Jack-O-Lantern’s light blew out when he encountered the Wizard; and the poor Zombie returned a little later, shuffling along the leafy floor of the forest. ‘I was so frightened,’ he said mournfully, ‘my legs fell off and I had to crawl away!’

The Vampire was the next to come forward. He flew disguised as a bat to the castle battlements, and tried to sneak up on the Wizard to take a bite out of his neck; but instead, he was attacked by the pack of Demon Wolves that roamed the castle grounds.

‘Ouch! Fangs for the memory!’ cried Count Dracula, and he shut himself away in his coffin, refusing to come out.

The monsters gathered together once more, and wondered what to do next. But as all this was happening - with no warning at all - a super-loud scream came, way up high, from the tall tower of the castle.

The old Man in the Moon had called for reinforcements - and the young Man in the Moon (his son) had sent a shooting star. And inside the shooting star, there was an entire legion of Space Spiders!

Hundreds of red-eyed Space Spiders came down on the monsters, and started biting them all with their big blood-covered fangs. The battle was fierce - for the monsters knew now they were fighting for the very survival of their forest!

The monsters retreated, and they realised that they would need help if they were to defeat the vicious old Man in the Moon. Reluctantly, they realised they needed the aid of a SUPERHERO!

The monsters decided to send three of their number in search of the Superhero, but the Zombie refused to go without his legs (which were being slowly pulled apart by the evil ivy), and the Count was still hiding in his coffin. So the first to volunteer was the Dragon.

The Dragon had always been brave and was willing to go on this mission. He flew up into the skies, his wings making a noise like a rushing wind. Soon after, the bellowing bad-tempered Ogre became the second monster to set off on the Superhero hunt.

But for a long time, no other monster was willing to come forward. At long last, Ghoulie the somewhat timid Ghost decided he would join the Superhero quest too.

‘W-w-well, I’ll t-t-try my b-b-best,’ he stammered.

Meanwhile, the Moon Lord looked out from the castle. The Wizard could see hundreds of fearsome red and yellow eyes shining in the darkness. Would the Space Spiders listen to him, and do his bidding? Even he started to feel fear in his black heart.

The old Wizard felt tired. How he wished he had been left alone in his crumbling castle! Standing on the battlements, he shivered as he saw more and more giant spider-webs, glistening with moonbeams, spreading amongst the trees of the forest.

The old Man in the Moon raised his arms to cast one last mighty spell. Another loud scream came from the castle tower. The monsters looked up, and saw an army of Flying Monkeys pouring out of the window at the very top of the tower.

Some of the Monkeys were entangled in the tightening moonbeam webs, but others jumped onto the backs of the Spiders. Trees came crashing down, and streams ran black with spider-blood. The monsters were very worried indeed...

But the Flying Monkeys were outside the castle for the first time, and so the Moon Lord’s spell on them started to wear off. Angry with their former master, one by one they flew down to where the monsters of the forest were gathered, led now by Spooky the Skull.

The remaining Space Spiders had fled. Monsters and Monkeys together encircled the castle. The Zombie had found some new legs, and even the Count had emerged from his box again. Then Spooky pointed to the skies: ‘Look! THREE Superheroes - come to our aid!’

The Man in the Moon looked at the army surrounding his castle, and he knew in his heart that he could never win. Even with his remaining evil powers, he knew that that with the coming of the Superheroes he was sure to be defeated.

‘I surrender!’ he cried. ‘I’ll leave in peace, if you let me go!’ The monsters quickly agreed, and the Moon Lord promised to go back to the moon (to make sure his son was behaving). With his last magic, he turned the Demon Wolves into lovable puppy dogs.

The evil ivy was torn down from the castle walls, the last of the spider webs burnt, and even the meanest of the monsters promised the Superheros they would try to be good.

‘We promise - no more fighting Wizards!’ they said.

The castle was rebuilt by the Flying Monkeys, the Dragon and the Ogre, and made to look splendid again (though the Count insisted on his coffin being put in the basement). But how did the Wizard get back to the moon, without his magic?

Simple.

By rocket.

THE END

The Father - I woke up, fed my son as fast as I could, and was thrilled as I saw him heading for the bus, thinking of the wonderful, peaceful seven hours I would get before he get back home.

The Bus Driver - I woke up and downed a bowl of Tito’s and Cheerios, the whole time thinking of the headache he would have from being locked in a bus with twenty screaming brats for forty-five minutes.

The Teacher - I woke up from a dreadful dream filled with math and science problems, drank three cups of coffee, and came into school for what THEY think is hell on earth, thinking: ‘God, I can’t get away from them fast enough!’

The Kid - I woke up to a great bowl of cereal; looked over my shoulder as Dad waved goodbye to me from the door (‘he is going to miss me sooo much’); got off from the bus smiling (‘the bus driver was super-amused by my yelling and jokes today’); and after I finished the last class of the day (‘she had even more fun than us today, she is going to be so bored until tomorrow’), I got home, saw Dad at the door (‘he has been waiting all day for me, his best friend’) and thought to myself… WE GET TO DO THIS ALL OVER TOMORROW :)