Beast by Ally Kennen

Author:Ally Kennen [Kennen, Ally]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published: 2012-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

F o u r t e e n

I’m not the sort of person who hides behind the cushion in the scary bits. I have to see what’s happening. You’re never going to escape the aliens if you’ve got your eyes closed.

So I watch as the wobbly bar finally gives way and my dad falls heavily, his body straddling the open hatch. There is the sound of water crashing. I see a dark shape propel out of the water and my stomach turns inside out. I see the silhouette of massive jaws opening. The water boils and I am soaked as the creature smashes back down into the foam.

Then, to my amazement, there is a thud as my dad lands in the brambles next to the cage. How did he manage that? Sneaky bugger.

I’m so relieved I can’t speak.

Dad looks like he is winded, he’s clutching his stomach. He’ll be all right.

I take a small step towards the cage. The Beast is thrashing around in there. I bet he’s angry he missed. I fall back. He looks bigger than ever. The loose bar is now bent down into the cage, close to the surface of the water. There’s a big gap in the roof of the cage. I look at the animal inside. Could he get out?

My dad crawls right past me and flops against a tree trunk and sits there gasping. Even through all the facial hair I can see he’s gone pale. I think he’s having some kind of panic attack. There’s a dribble of white stuff leaking from the corner of his mouth and a cut on his forehead. But what I’m worried about is how I’m going to fix the cage. Could I borrow Eric’s welder for a night? Would he notice? Not that I know how to work the thing yet. I will soon though.

Dad grabs a bottle from his pocket and swigs it down. I wonder if he is having a heart attack. It wouldn’t surprise me. He hasn’t exactly had a healthy lifestyle. Does booze rot your arteries?

I have this mad urge to look right inside the cage and see what he is doing. He’s gone so quiet I’m worried he is up to something. I creep over, prepared to leg it if I have to.

He is floating on the surface; his massive head is turned towards me. We eyeball each other. A pair of white ridges run down the centre of his snout between his eyes. A couple of grey feathers stick out from his jaws.

“Sorry, boy,” I whisper. His eyes are black with a grey slit. He is not moving but his eyes are watching me as I move round the cage.

I look up at the broken bar and the open hatch.

This is it, I think to myself.

Have you ever had a nightmare, when you wake up, and it doesn’t sink in that it isn’t real for at least a few minutes? And even after you realize you are lying in your

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.