Ugly Pugly

Nobody liked Ugly Pugly because he was so ugly.

 

Everyone said that his ears were too big and that they stuck out just like an elephants and they said his nose was too long and looked just like the beak of a bird; they thought his eyes bulged out aswell, like a frogs eyes and that his teeth stuck out just like those of a beaver.

 

All through his childhood, children at school had teased him and bullied him. In fact it was they who had given him the cruel nickname of ugly pugly.

 

Even when he was out walking, people in the street would stare at him or point and snigger before saying, quite loudly, “Look! There goes Ugly Pugly, isn’t he hideous”.

 

And worst of all, Ugly Pugly’s parents didn’t even like him.

 

Infact, when he turned 16, his mother and father threw him out of the house, saying,

“You’re old enough to take care of yourself now Ugly Pugly, so don’t come back”, before slamming the door in his face.

 

Poor Ugly Pugly. He didn’t know what to do.

 

But then, as he was walking down the street away from his house; with his big flapping ears, he heard voices coming from inside an old warehouse.

 

“Oh, please let me go”, said one voice, sounding frightened and distressed.

 

“Not until your family has paid the ransom money we asked for”, said another that was cruel and hard.

 

“Gosh!”, thought Ugly Pugly, “Someone is being held hostage in that warehouse”.

 

And, peering through one of the warehouse windows, he saw a woman who was tied to a chair and round about her were gangsters who were all dressed in grey suits and dark glasses except for one, a very flamboyantly dressed man who seemed to be admiring himself in a hand mirror and fixing his hair.

 

“And when I get my hands on that money”, said the man with mirror, “I’ll not only be devilishly handsome and a criminal genius but also filthy rich”.

 

“He must be the leader of the gang”, thought Ugly Pugly and then, with his long nose like the beak of a bird he caught a whiff of the vain gangsters very strong cologne.

 

“Phee-ew!”, he said, holding his nose, “What a stench”.

 

But, just then he saw the man put away his mirror and he and his henchmen get into a black sedan and drive out of the warehouse and off down the street leaving behind only one particularly large and burly gangster to watch over the hostage.

 

“Now you just do as your told”, growled the gorilla sized gangster to the woman who was tied up, “And there won’t be any trouble”.

 

“I’ve got to save that poor woman”, thought Ugly Pugly.

 

Suddenly, out of the corner of one of his bulbous, frog like eyes, Ugly Pugly saw an empty rubbish bin and he had an idea.

 

Grabbing hold of the rubbish bin; Ugly Pugly flapped his ears that stuck out just like a pair of wings and then, flying up into the air, he swooped down with all the swiftness and gracefulness of an eagle

upon the burly henchmen before dropping the upturned, empty rubbish bin over his head.

 

“What!”, exclaimed the gangster, “What happened? Who turned out the lights?”.

 

And then, while the Gangster was struggling to get the bin off of his head, Ugly Pugly flew down behind the young woman who was tied up and, with his teeth that stuck out just like a beavers, bit straight through her ropes, freeing her.

 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you”, said the woman standing up and, although shocked by Ugly Pugly’s appearance, still smiling with gratitude.

 

But just then the burly crook managed to free himself from the rubbish bin and, seeing Ugly Pugly and the untied hostage, yelled at them angrily.

 

“Oi, you!”, he shouted, “What do you think you’re doing”.

 

Then he ran towards them, waving his fists in the air.

 

Thankfully, just at that moment, Ugly Pugly grabbed hold of the hostage and, flapping his ears again, soared upwards and out of the warehouse.

 

“Where are you taking me?”, asked the woman as they flew high over the city, a little afraid.

 

“To the nearest police station”, said Ugly Pugly, “So you can tell them about those crooks who kidnapped you”.

 

And, just as he had said, a moment later they landed outside a police station and the woman told the police Sargent behind the desk what had happened to her.

 

It turned out that she was the Princess of a foreign country called Moritania and her father and mother were the king and queen and the criminals who had kidnapped her had asked for millions of pounds for her return.

 

“If only we knew where the criminals were now”, said the Sargent, “Unfortunately, if they know  that you escaped they’ll have gone into hiding. They might even be on their way to an airport, trying to leave the country”.

 

But just then, Ugly Pugly thought he smelled something; something he had smelled before; the scent of the cologne warn by the leader of the gangsters that he had seen in the warehouse.

 

“I think I can find them for you, Sargent”, said Ugly Pugly, sniffing at the air with his enormous nose, “In fact, I think they’re very close by”.

 

Using his nose just as a police sniffer dog does, Ugly Pugly followed the scent of the cologne out of the police station and down the street, the Sargent; the Princess and two other police officers following closely behind.

It lead him to a public phone box in which the leader of the crooks was making a phone call to the princess’s father and mother with further threatening ransom demands and Ugly Pugly recognized the black sedan that was parked nearby and the gang leaders henchmen who were sitting in it.

 

“That’s them, Sargent!”, he told the police sargent.

 

“And that’s their leader”, said the Princess, pointing to the man who was coming out of the phonebox, “I’ll never forget his horrible face”.

 

“Right lads!”, said the Sargent calling to his men, “Arrest that man”.

 

All at once the two police officers who had been following Ugly Pugly grabbed hold of the gang leader and pinning his arms behind his back snapped a pair of handcuffs round his wrists.

 

“Your nicked”, said one of the police officers.

 

“But I’m too handsome to go to jail”, protested the gang leader.

 

Of course, seeing their leader arrested, his cowardly gang members thought it the best time to make their get away and, the driver of the sedan putting his foot down on the accelerator, the car sped away down the road.

 

“Never mind”, said the police Sargent, “We’ve got the leader and so we’ll get the rest”.

 

Now, free and safe from the criminals, the Princess went back to her apartments at the Royal Embassy of Moritania and, when she told her father about how Ugly Pugly had saved her and helped track down the criminals, her father insisted upon giving him a reward of six million pounds.

 

“And I can also recommend a very good plastic surgeon”, said the King.

 

“Oh, I don’t mind the way he looks, father”, said the Princess, kissing Ugly Pugly on the cheek, “He may not be the handsomest of men but he’ll always be a hero to me”.