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Leaves were ripped from their
branches by the ferocious winds and then hurled through the air in a
spiral before being dropped to the ground. "Listen to that wind," Cockles
said, curling himself up into a tighter ball.
"It sounds like a gale. I’m just
thankful that we’re inside and not out in it. It’s a night to be warm and
cozy," Mussels agreed. He got up and jumped onto a box and looked out the
window. "The rain is coming down in sheets and there’s hardly a leaf left
on a tree. We get some violent storms here on the island of Barra, don’t
we?" Mussels wiped the window with his paw. "What’s that?" he said, seeing
something moving outside. "There’s something out there, Cockles."
Cockles climbed up and stood next to
Mussels. He peered through the rain-spattered, glass panes. Just then
something white flew past the window. "Yikes! What is that? It almost
looked like a ghost."
The two dogs looked at each other.
"A ghost?" Mussels asked. "What would a ghost be doing out in a gale?"
"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was
just a piece of paper or some other rubbish," Cockles said, looking
through the window. It flew by again. "It is a ghost. Did you see it,
Mussels? It just flew past." Cockles was terrified. He jumped down off the
box and ran over to his doggie bed, pulled the blanket over him, and
cowered.
Mussels stayed at the window.
"Ghosts make howling noises. It isn’t a ghost. Don’t be such a scaredy
cat, Cockles." Just then the dogs heard a high pitched howling sound.
"That sounded like howling to me,"
Cockles said, lifting the corner of his blanket just a little.
Mussels looked once more. The ghost
flew past again and at the same time, another loud howl screeched from its
mouth. "It’s a ghost!" Mussels yelped and jumped down from the box. He
soon was lying next to Cockles, cowering with him. "What shall we do?" he
whispered.
"It’s outside, flying around. At
least it’s not in the house," Cockles said. The door began to rattle. "Och
no. It’s trying to get in." He shivered with fear.
Mussels went to the door and started
to sniff at the crack beneath the door. HOWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! The ghost
howled again. "Quick, Cockles. Help me. We’ve got to stuff some rags or
newspaper into this crack so it can’t get in," Mussels shouted. Cockles
got up and grabbed the newspapers that were piled in the corner. He
started to smash them up and stuff them under the door.
HOWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL! The ghost howled again. "Quickly," Mussels urged.
The crack was filled with paper and
the wind wasn’t blowing in. The room felt warmer. "That’ll keep the ghost
out," Cockles said, feeling better about it. Suddenly the door rattled and
rattled and the newspaper started to blow out of the crack and into the
room. "Och no! It’s coming in," Cockles said, running to his doggie bed
and pulling the blanket over himself.
Mussels stood bravely and watched as
the doorknob turned. "Here it comes," he whispered. The door opened just a
crack. Cold air mixed with rain came gushing into the room.
HOWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! That was all Mussels could take. He hid under the
blanket with Cockles and they awaited their doom.
They could hear the door creaking as
it opened wider and colder air blowing in. They had to hold tightly to the
blanket to stop it from blowing away. The door slammed shut. The dogs
could feel a presence in the room. "What are you lads doing?" Tom, their
owner, asked.
Cockles and Mussels lifted the
blanket. It was only Tom, not a ghost. Still, the ghost might be out
there. Mussels then nudged Cockles. They looked at Tom. In his arm he held
a white sheet. "The wind blew my wash off the line. You should have seen
me trying to catch this sheet. It was blowing all around the back garden.
It’s quite a storm we’re having lads. The wind is howling like a ghost. Be
glad you’re in side." Cockles and Mussels let out a sigh of relief. It
hadn’t been a ghost. It had just been a sheet. "Why don’t you lads come
into the house and I’ll fix you a bowl of left over meat loaf. It’s much
warmer by the fire," Tom said.
The dogs jumped up and started to
wag their tails. "Did you hear that?" Cockles whispered. "Meat loaf! My
favorite," he drooled.
They followed Tom into the house and
found a place to lie down near the fire. They gobbled down their meat loaf
and fell asleep as the wind howled outside. |
