The Boy Who Ate the World.

Once there lived a boy named Joe. He was an ordinary boy in most respects but for one thing that made him very different from most other people. That thing was this: Joe was always hungry!

You might be thinking to yourself that this wasn't so different from most other kids, as kids are always hungry, right? But Joe was hungry even straight after he had eaten a big meal. He would still be hungry even if he ate 50 hamburgers in one sitting. Even if he ate a 1000 hotdogs for lunch! Even if he ate a whole horse, metal shoes and all!

The food on the table was a small snack for Joe!

Joe was always eating! Even during school when he was supposed to be working on Maths, Joe would sneak off behind a chair and eat. His teachers and his parents were always saying things like, "Stop eating so much Joe, You'll get fat!"

To which Joe would reply, "But I'm hungry."

His desk and his bag was always full of food. He would pinch other kid's food when they were not looking. He would even eat any scraps thrown out in the bin. Joe was a true glutton!

I'm really hungry!

You would think that because Joe ate so much that he would be incredibly big and fat. Who wouldn't be after eating 10 whole chickens, 42 hot dogs, 55 hamburgers and 25 pepperoni pizzas every lunchtime.

But Joe was not big and fat. He was just a normal sized boy. No-one could ever explain it but as much as Joe would eat, he never put on any weight.

Doctors tried to explain it but nobody could ever work it out.

Joe ate and ate and ate until he had eaten everything in the house. He even drank the sauces from all the bottles in the pantry.

When he had finished all the food in the house he went out to the veggie garden in the back yard and ate all the veggies there. He ate the stems and the roots with all the dirt on them as well.

Having nothing else to eat at his house he started on the lawn. When he had eaten all the lawn, he started on the house itself. First he ate all the furniture.

Joe had finished eating all the furniture, including the carpet, the pictures on the walls, the fridge, the oven, the microwave, the television, the washing machine, all the beds and the kitchen sink.

But Joe was still hungry.

Joe started to eat the walls, roof and floor of his house.

When he had finished eating his whole house, (it didn't take him very long either because remember, he was a terrible glutton!) he started to eat the other houses in his street.

He finished eating all the houses in his street so he started on the rest of his neighbourhood. He ate the town hall, all the shops, the football ovals and the local swimming pool.

The mayor sent a squad of policemen to stop him, so he ate them as well including the police car.

But Joe was still hungry!

Nothing seemed to be able to stop him eating.

Joe kept eating until he had eaten the whole town. he even ate the roads, the street lights, the footpaths and all the drains in the town. Nothing escaped his voracious appetite!

The Premier of the state had a meeting with his staff to discuss what to do about Joe. They had to stop him before he ate the entire state.

They decided to send the whole state police force to stop him.

So Joe ate them all!

Then Joe looked around him for other things to eat.