There was a door at the other end of the tunnel．I went through and…

I was dreaming！I saw big things that grew out of the ground．They were much taller than me with long brown arms covered with green leaves．

I was very frightened as I remembered something in the Book of Remembering：'In those days there were trees…'

Trees！

I never thought a living thing could be so big．I covered my eyes with my hands．I was afraid to look…but I was afraid not to look．

After a time I took my hands away from my eyes．The trees were still there．They weren't moving．

I suddenly understood that the trees couldn't move．They were plants，like potatoes or rice．I was safe standing² under them．

But I didn't feel safe．

The computer inside my spacesuit was checking the air for me．After a few seconds the red lights on my suit turned to green．The air here was safe for humans．So I took off my spacesuit．

Now I could touch and smell things．There was a soft wind．It was cool．I smelt…strange new smells．I smelt³ living things．Was I smelling the trees…or something else？

I heard a sound of crying．Then I thought I heard something moving in the trees—just behind one big tree．

Was something hiding behind the tree？I was frightened but I wanted to see，so I walked slowly towards the tree．

There was light in this place but there were shadows⁴ in the trees．I looked round the tree…

I was frightened almost out of my mind．I fell down and my body started shaking．

A grey thing came out from behind the tree and came towards me． It was big but it wasn't tall because it walked on four feet．It had no hands．

But the thing had teeth．Yes，it had a mouth full of teeth，yellow， shiny⁵ teeth． It had yellow eyes and grey hair all over its body．I could smell it…

Its mouth came towards my face．I closed my eyes and waited to die．

There was hot air on my face．I wanted to scream⁶ and scream but I was too frightened．I couldn't scream．

My mind exploded．I went crazy．I suddenly hit the grey thing and it fell back against the tree．I hit it again，as hard as I could．

I wanted to destroy the grey thing and I was screaming．Suddenly it was gone．

Then I saw another monster．This one was very small with grey fur¹⁰ all over its body． It was holding on to the tree but I pulled it off．I could destroy this one！

I pulled its short legs hard．The small monster⁹ bit me．Its teeth went right into my finger．The pain was terrible．

But my mind was exploding．I wanted to destroy it and I didn't care about the pain．I just wanted to kill it．

Then the big grey monster ran back through the trees，jumped at me and knocked me down．As I fell，I dropped the little monster and it escaped．

My head banged¹³ on a rock and everything went black．