Oh hi, kids! You sure picked a bad day to visit — it's been pouring forever, and I've got the rainy day blues! I am SO bored! The first day it rained, I read a book. Then the next day, I colored a picture. The next day, Vito the mud dauber wasp came by and we put a jigsaw puzzle together.

There's NOTHING left to do! And I'm hungry! No tasty bugs are going to come out in all this rain! But here comes O'Donata…

"There you are, P.Ray! I've been flying all over looking for you — there are some bad bugs I've never seen before over in the lettuce patch! They're driving the Paper Garden Farmer crazy!"

I said, "Hot dog! Uh, hot bug! Uh…oh, the heck with it — just lead me to lunch, O'Donata!"

O'Donata and I went to the lettuce patch, where we saw that the lettuce at the edge of the patch was ruined! And covered with big globs of white stuff! I said, "Yow — are you sure that BUGS did this? There's nothing left — just this icky stuff…"

I bent down and touched some of the stuff, and I cried out, "Eeeeeeuuuuu! It's all sticky; I can't get it off!"

Then I heard a voice saying, "That'll teach you to mess around with The Sinister Slimy Slugs!"

I looked at the other side of the lettuce patch and saw that it was covered with slugs! The big one said, "We're having a blast! We can't stand sunlight, so normally we can only come out at night. But since it started raining so much, we've been out here eating 24 hours a day! Ha ha — this is great!"

O'Donata cried, "P.Ray, do something! Stop them before they eat the Paper Garden to the ground!"

I said, "Okay, I'll try…" and I tried my kung-fu on the slug. But I just got stuck to it! "Oh yuck! I'm stuck! O'Donata — a little help here, please?!"

Luckily, O'Donata flew down, grabbed me, and pulled me loose from the slug.

The big slug stood up on its tail and said, "Better not try that again, Pee Wee! You might not get loose the next time." Then the slugs all slithered away.

I was angry, so I yelled after them, "You better slither away if you know what's good for you — you, you, you slimeballs, you! And the name's P.Ray!

Later, O'Donata and I were hanging out under a big plant to get out of the rain. I said, "Oh, who am I kidding, O'Donata? I can't do a thing against those slugs. I'm so mad! If only it would stop raining!"

Then we both heard a voice come out of nowhere! "I like the rain, Mr. Mantis — it makes me happy."

"That does it, O'Donata — I'm cracking up! I've gone mad! A mad mantis!" I said.

O'Donata replied, "But P.Ray, I heard it too!"

"All right," I said, "I may be nuts, but O'Donata isn't! So, who's there?!"

But we didn't get any response at all!

I sighed, "Well, I've changed my mind — you're nuts too. Those nasty slugs must have driven us both out of our minds!"

Then that same mystery voice said, "Slugs?! I love to eat slugs! Where are they?"

I cried out, "Where are they? Where are YOU?!?"

Just then a tiny turtle popped its head up out of the mud and said, "Right here!"

"A turtle!" I said.

"A little turtle!" O'Donata added.

The turtle replied, "Harrumph! A bog turtle, if you please!"

I laughed, "Well, I was almost right — but instead of going 'buggy,' I'm going 'boggy'!"

O'Donata asked, "Can you really help us with the slugs, Mr. Turtle?"

The turtle replied, "I sure can! And call me Lenny; it comes from my scientific name, Clemmys muhlenbergi."

"I'm P.Ray, and I'll call you a hero if you get rid of those slugs for me!"

"Just show me where they are!" Lenny replied.

O'Donata, Lenny, and I headed off to the lettuce patch. The mud was so deep, it pulled off one of my rain boots! I yelled, "Darn this mud — it's sucking the boots right off me!"

Lenny said, "This is just the kind of mud I like the most, P.Ray, and I love mud!"

I couldn't believe it! "Rain…slugs…mud — is there anything nasty that you don't like, Lenny?"

Lenny answered, "Mud isn't nasty, P.Ray — in fact, without muddy places there wouldn't be any bog turtles!"

"Why, you must live in that area that gets all swampy right behind the Paper Garden Pond!" O'Donata exclaimed.

Lenny replied, "That's right. My family and I have lived in that little bog since 1980."

"That's a long time!" O'Donata said.

"Not really — we bog turtles can live for 40 or 50 years," replied Lenny.

I was surprised. "Wow! So why haven't we seen any of you before?"

"We don't normally travel much outside of our bogs. But when I saw how muddy the whole garden was, I thought I could do some exploring and find some new food without being seen." Lenny explained.

O'Donata asked, "Are you shy?"

"We HAVE to be! If we didn't hide in the mud, people would try to take us away from our homes to live as pets in theirs! And with people draining swamps and bogs to build highways and houses, it's getting harder and harder to find safe places to live and hide. In fact, I overheard some humans say that we bog turtles are an 'officially threatened species'!"

I said, "Whoa — that means there aren't a lot of you left in the wild! That's not good at all…hey — we're here!"

I couldn't believe what we saw — the slugs were throwing a big party, with streamers flying over a table full of plates of lettuce! They even had a big sign that said "Who's afraid of the big bad mantis?"!

I said to Lenny, "Lenny, do me a favor and 'dive.' I want to surprise these guys." Lenny disappeared down into the mud.

Just then the big slug saw me and said to his slimy friends, "Hey, guys, look who's back! It's Pee Wee! Want some more slime, Pee Wee?" They all laughed.

I said, "I want every one of you slithering slimeballs out of the Paper Garden by midnight tonight!"

The big slug replied sarcastically, "Oh, I'm sooooo scared! My slime is shaking! Go away, little mantis — you can't eat us!"

Then we heard Lenny's voice from deep in the mud, "No, but I can!" Lenny popped his head up out of the mud, right next to the slugs' party table!

The big slug yelled, "EEEK! Turtle!!! Quick! Slither away!!!"

The next day, the sun was finally shining and I was soaking up the rays while laying out on a leaf. O'Donata flew by and said, "Hi, P.Ray. You look happier today!"

I replied, "What's not to be happy about, O'Donata? The rain has stopped, the sun is out, I've got a belly full of fresh gnats, and there isn't a single slug left in the lettuce patch! I only wish I had a chance to thank Lenny for his help."

Just then, Lenny walked in! "Oh, you're more than welcome; I had a great time!"

I jumped up off my blanked and exclaimed, "Lenny! You're out of the mud! Is that okay for you?"

"Oh yes, P.Ray, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, but we bog turtles love to get a little sun now and then!"

I asked Lenny, "So, is it back to the bog for you, now?"

"Yes, the days are getting shorter and soon I'll burrow deep down into the mud for the winter. And I'll do much better now that I've got a belly full of slugs to get me through the cold weather."

I said, "Well, I'm glad you got something out of the deal, because you really, really helped us out. Isn't there anything else we can do for you in return?"

Lenny replied, "Just call me anytime you've got a slug problem! Snails too; I love 'em both." Then he turned to leave. But he looked back after just a step or two…

"Oh, there is one thing…"

I said, "Just name it, pal!"

Lenny said, "Please take really good care of the Paper Garden. If the crops don't do well, they might close it down and build houses here instead. Then my bog would dry up and my family and I would have nowhere to live." And with that he walked off, heading toward his bog.

I took off my sunglasses and got ready to leave. O'Donata said, "P.Ray, I thought you were going to relax today! Where are you going?"

"To eat every bad bug I can find, O'Donata! This garden is going to be so successful, nobody's even going to THINK about building houses here!"

O'Donata and I heard a splash come from the direction of the Paper Pond. I called out, "Bye, Lenny! Thanks again! And don't worry, pal — your bog is safe, because P.Ray Mantis is on the case!"

THE END

GLOSSARY WORD:

Bog: An area of soft, spongy, wet land that is usually overgrown with grasses. Also called a marsh.

Text, Mike "Mud Bug" McGrath
Illustrations, Yasushi Fujimoto
Animation, Glenn Hughes