The Enchanted Forest of Mangga ✔️

11. Into a den of pitcher plants...

Sez was not only curious but also very well distracted that he managed to stealthily slip away from his older siblings. A sweet humming was calling for him, enchanted him. It sounded like honey, but in actuality, outside of his trance, the humming he thought was sweet sounded more like a hissing. An evil and hungry one. Hissing in glee that it had lured a tiny human into its den while a group of giant blooming rafflesias welcomed the guest with giggles.

Oh my gulay! Thought the eight foot tall pitcher plant hidden in the dark of its cavern home. His round mouth, the peristome, smacked its salivating lips while its pitcher lid flapped excitedly. Who would've thought a lost boy would be my lunch for today! The acidic fluid inside his stomach bubbled and growled. It waved its leaf at the tranced boy. Come here, child. Closer. You're almost there...

From the pitcher plant's perspective, the boy appeared to drag his footsteps very slowly while he grinned at the blooming rafflesias enchanting spell. Sez laughed at the ticklish sound.

Waiting patiently for his lunch to climb into his stomach, the pitcher plant on how he could gobble up the tiny human. Should it savor the child's flavor and slowly drag its small body inch by inch or should it just swallow him up in one gulp. The pitcher plant thought deeply.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" A scream interrupted the pitcher plant's devious lunch plan. "Sez, get away from there!"

It was a frog, leaping hurriedly toward the tranced child.

Eh! Eeuuyuckk! The pitcher plant expressed his disgust. It was done with frogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was determined to not have any frogs to eat in his lifetime ever again! Watching the frog in front of its sight, reminded him of unsatisfactory and bitter memories. I vow to never look or eat another frog! The pitcher plant yelled his thoughts. Although no one could ever hear what the plant is saying. Then the pitcher plant noticed what had followed behind the frog. His salivating lips started to drool more when he had found another human girl and a boy. Siblings! My, oh my! Today is a joyous feast for me!

Kaloy raced as fast as he could to reach Sez and tried to stop him with his tongue. His tongue latched around Sez's ankle.

"Shaz, shop! Pweash, shop! Ish a shrap!" Kaloy shouted incoherently to the boy, but the amphibian too, was pulled away. "OOP!" Kaloy slammed right into Sez's stubby knee, but Sez didn't flinch. There was a crown of flies floating around Kaloy's head as he shook off his dizziness.

Mwahahaha! The pitcher plant guffawed mockingly as its fluid-belly jiggled. The human cannot hear you! He is mine! It pulled out its tendril and slithered to grab Sez around the waist.

"No, Sez, don't go in there!" Ali ran as he threw rocks at it, but everytime he did, the pitcher plant dodged easily.

"Sez! Wake up! It's a trap!" Bea yelled. Sweat trickled down her face. Danaya watched in horror as she knelt on top of Bea's head. She gazed around and detected that the giant rafflesias were still enchanting its luring spell onto Sez. Quickly, Danaya pulled a bunch of Bea's hair strands that made Bea yelped in pain.

"There, Bea!" Danaya pointed at the giant rafflesias. "They've casted a spell on Sez! You can't see it with your human eyes, but there are sparkles surrounding them in a melody. You have to stop them!"

"How?"

"The soil!"

Looking around, Bea hastily scooped up a big amount of dirt soil in her hands and tossed them right on top of the giant rafflesias. The giant rafflesias wheezed in agony.

"They don't like having dirt on their petals," Danaya explained. "We need more soil to bury them so that they can stop enchanting Sez!"

"B-but they're so many of them!"

Danaya turned to Kaloy who was stuck around Sez's legs. "Kaloy! You better do a better job! Don't let it get Sez!"

"Aam shrying!!!" squealed Kaloy.

But then, a tendril shot out below Sez and wrapped itself around Sez's waist, dragging the human child and the frog to the ground.

"Oh no!" Ali shouted. He reached the plant's tendril and pulled and bit and punched it away, but to no avail. The plant's tendril swung and hit Ali to the side.

I'll get you after, thought the pitcher plant. Wait for your turn.

In seconds, the pitcher plant pulled Sez and Kaloy closer to his salivating mouth, eagerly swallowing up his lunch of the day, plus a frog on the side. As the eight foot tall pitcher plant picked up the boy, his family of smaller pitcher plants cheered around them.

Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! The smaller pitcher plants chanted in unison and vibrated in excitement.

However, the giant pitcher plant paused Sez in mid-air. The boy squinted and blinked a couple of times. Bea had succeeded in covering most of the giant rafflesias with dirt as they shrunk in sadness.

"Wh-Where am I?" Sez said as he rubbed his eyes. "I feel tired. And dizzy..."

Sez's eyes widened when he was face to face with a plant's giant mouth that about to swallow him up. Instead of crying, his eyes twinkled.

"Coooooool!!!"

"Shis ish nosh sha shime shoo be eshishted!!!" complained Kaloy.

"Oh? Huh?" Sez gazed at Kaloy confused why the frog's tongue was wrapped around his leg. "What are you doing there?"

"Gesh away Shez! Ruuuun! Itsh going shoo eatch shooo!!!"

"I'm here, Sez! I'm going to punch it!" Ali shouted as he tried to protect his younger brother. "Take this! And that! Take this again!" Ali's fist drove into the pitcher's plant's petal-body but the more he struck the pitcher plant, the plant snickered. Ali realized his punches weren't harming the pitcher plant. The pitcher plant boinged back. So Ali leapt in the air to catch Sez's legs hanging in the air, hoping to drag his brother's body down to the ground. With two hands, his hands finally caught hold of Sez's foot.

"Ate!" Ali called out for his sister. "Help me!" Ali felt that his body was lifted inches from the ground, but Bea came on time by pulling back Ali.

"Keep pulling!" Bea shouted, clasping tightly around Ali. "Don't let go!"

"I'm not letting go!" Ali replied back with his eyes closed.

"Aaaaaaaackkk!!!" Kaloy wailed and then lost consciousness.

Danaya dropped down from Bea's head and rushed along the children's arms to reach Sez's body as she tried to free Sez.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Bea, Ali, Kaloy, and Danaya roared. Bea dug her heels into the soil. However, she couldn't see Sez's head. Half of his body was slowly entering the mouth of the pitcher plant!

1120 words

9545 words total

May 2, 2021