Myles and the Monster Outside

by Philippa Dowding

  The monster’s voice carried on the wind. The hair on Myles’s neck stood up. His heart beat too fast but he shut his eyes and pushed the car. What choice did he have?

  Myles was almost numb. When his mother told him he’d have to get out and help her push the car, he moved like he was in someone else’s body.

  Sure, Mom, he heard himself saying, I’ll go out there and help you push this enormous car into the dark night. There’s a monster out there, but it’s no problem.

  Myles pushed, and his running shoes squished against the wet highway.

  “Mom, what time is it?” he heard a boy’s voice ask, his probably.

  “It’s four thirty in the morning. The sun is going to come up soon,” she said, panting a little as she pushed. The car rolled ever … so … slowly … along.

  Myles closed his eyes and pushed, grimly determined. The bushes rustled. The trees swayed. The monster whispered in the wind. Myles almost didn’t care. A part of him cared, of course, very much. But a bigger part, an exhausted part, didn’t. He’d given up hope of the night ever ending.

  … I see you, Myles….

  The constant whisper was becoming … annoying. Almost as annoying as Norman when he sang “C! C! C!” again and again. Myles smiled darkly. If he could put up with Norman singing the same song over and over and over, for four days in the smelly car … he suddenly realized he could put up with the monster’s constant whisper.

  He thought his arms were going to break. He couldn’t push any more … he was going to drop to his knees and die right there … the monster was going to come and swoop down on them in a misty horror.

  … I see you, Myles….

  Myles pushed and gritted his teeth.

  “M … Mom?” Myles grunted after a few minutes.

  “Y … yes?” she managed to say as she pushed.

  “Do … do you hear anything?” Myles asked. Sweat poured down his head and into his eyes.

  “Well … yes, actually, now you ask.”

  “You do? What? What do you hear?”

  “Well, it’s strange, but I think maybe I keep hearing a dog barking, really far away. He must know that sunrise is coming soon.”

  A dog barking? Myles stopped pushing and was going to ask his mother what, exactly, she meant.

  But before he could … a miracle happened. An old abandoned truck stop appeared at the side of the road. The truck stop was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by empty black fields. But it had a single streetlamp, and a tiny shaft of light shone down on the broken, weedy cement below. Bea let out a little whoop of delight from inside the car. Myles and his mother pushed Victor to the island of light then leaned against the car, gasping.

  Myles listened to the wind, to the silence in the fields and forests. The monster was suddenly strangely silent … but maybe there was a dog barking out there, somewhere really far off. He strained to hear. Yes! He could hear it!

  “Where are we?” Bea asked, getting out of the car. A sign that hung from broken hinges on a signpost said DAN’S TRUCK STOP. It creaked a little in the wind.

  Their mother sighed. “We’re nowhere, Bea. I guess I should call for help.” She got her purse from the car … then …

  “Uh-oh,” she whispered.

  “What? What is it?” Myles asked. He didn’t need any uh-ohs. Not here. Not now.

  She looked at him in despair. “I forgot! The phone is almost dead. I hope I have enough battery left for one last call!” Her voice was determined, though. She marched away to a little hill, and a moment later Myles and Bea could hear her talking to someone.

  Myles almost couldn’t believe it. They finally had some good luck, or at least not terrible luck. His mother’s cellphone had actually worked. Apparently people still existed out there somewhere. Other humans who could answer the phone and talk to you. Offer advice. Send help.

  Help.

  That seemed so far away, Myles couldn’t even really believe it.

  His mother came back and dropped her cellphone into her pocket. “Well, the tow truck will be here in two hours. We might as well get some sleep.” They all climbed back into the car, and Bea and their mother both fell right to sleep, like Norman.

  Not Myles, though. He sat with his eyes open, listening. It was suddenly eerily quiet outside. Too quiet. Not a bird, not a breeze, not a whisper.

  But maybe … just maybe … a dog’s bark carried on the wind.

  CHAPTER 14

  I’M HERE NOW, MYLES.…

  ScratchS. Scratch.

  Myles woke with a snort and sat up straight.

  When did I fall asleep?

  He rubbed his eyes. The clock said five thirty. It was still dark. He’d been asleep for one stupid hour. His mother was fast asleep beside him, her breath fogging the window next to her cheek.

  Myles looked into the back seat.

  BEA AND NORMAN WERE GONE! Myles sat bolt upright and looked outside.

  WHERE WERE THEY?

  “Mom! MOM!” He shook his mother gently, then …

  Scratch. Scratch.

  Something was scratching just outside Myles’s door. He gulped.

  Scratch. Scratch.

  Scratch.

  Myles sat up straighter.

  “Mom? Uh … Mom?” He shook her again, a little harder this time. But his mother didn’t hear him. He shook her arm. “Mom!” he said, a little louder.

  “Not now, dear, I have to finish folding the laundry,” his mother mumbled pleasantly.

  She wasn’t going to wake up. Who could blame her? She hadn’t slept properly in a long time.

  Scratch. Scratch.

  Scratch.

  Whine.

  Myles clenched his fists and counted to ten. He was shaking, his arms trembled, his knees were weak … but he peeked out the car window.

  And saw a nose. A DOG’S nose.

  Myles gasped.

  Courage! The ghostly dog seemed very real in the half-light. Courage wagged his tail then trotted across the parking lot, looking back at Myles a few times. Courage stopped at the edge of the dark woods.

  Myles gulped. He really, really didn’t want to go outside the car. There were lots of good reasons NOT to.…

  First of all, Courage was a ghost.

  Second, the monster was out there.

  And third, who in their right mind would follow a ghost dog, in the dark of night, in the middle of nowhere, with a monster out there?

  But … his brother and sister were out there, too.

  And Courage wanted him to follow. Myles really didn’t know what to do. He should probably try harder to wake up his mother, but she looked so calm and peaceful. She hadn’t slept much in four days.

  “If I’m ever going to be brave, I should start now,” Myles said out loud. He bit his lip. He looked at the huge crack across Victor’s front window. He thought about the weird night.

  He was scared, yes, and exhausted. But he suddenly also felt … a tiny bit angry. Why did the monster get to kill their faithful old car? Why did it get to scare him half to death? Why did it get to whisper spooky things again and again?

  He had pushed the car through the dark night. Help was coming. He took another peek at his mother, who was snoring gently.

  He knew what he had to do.

  Myles carefully opened the car door.

  “Okay, Courage. I’m coming,” he whispered into the darkness.

  Across the parking lot, Courage pricked up his ears and wagged his tail. The dog padded a little way into the forest.

  It was spooky outside. And cold. Myles could see a faint pinkness in the sky to the east. The sun was coming. Not up. But soon. The wind was gentle, the sky was clear, the air was fresh and clean. Bright stars peeked out of high, thin clouds racing toward the pink dawn.

  “Courage?” Myles whispered. The dog peeked out of the woods, surrounded by a gentle golden glow.

  Ghosts glow, just so you know.

  Myles followed, step by step, further and further away from t
he car, from safety. His stomach clenched, his breathing was short and ragged. He looked back at Victor-the-Volvo parked in the little halo of light.

  How he wanted to run back to the car! But he didn’t. He kept going.

  Courage disappeared into the dark forest. Myles hesitated. He didn’t want to go in there. After this weird, long, scary night, he just couldn’t.

  “What am I doing? This is SO stupid!” Myles shivered at the edge of the trees. “Why am I out here?” He was just about to turn back to the car to try once again to wake his mother when very faintly, he heard the deep whisper....

  … I see them, Myles….

  Myles bolted.

  He didn’t stop to think. He ran into the forest. He had to save his brother and sister! He ran and stumbled past trees and logs. “Bea! Norman!” he called.

  What if the monster got them? He tripped and tore the knee of his jeans, but he jumped up and kept running. Branches snagged at his shirt and hair, leaves whipped at his face and hands … he’d never find them … they’d vanish and it would be all his fault …

  … then there they were.

  Bea and Norman stood in a clearing at the edge of the woods, holding hands. The sun was about to rise over the hill and the fields were pink and orange. Myles almost caught up with them, but not before a whispery voice said:

  … I’m here now, Myles….

  The monster was fast. It drifted across the field. The huge shape floated and stopped behind Bea, who was intently watching the sunrise. Myles watched in horror as the monster grew and grew behind her, until it was taller than the trees. Smoky arms reached out, red eyes gleamed. The monster of mist, of fog, and of fear slowly curled its wispy arms out toward Bea. The red eyes stared right at Myles.…

  ... I have them, Myles.…

  “No! NO! GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER AND SISTER!” Myles screamed.

  He leapt into the clearing. The monster’s whispery laugh chilled Myles’s heart. It drew its arms closer, closer to Bea, almost stroking her hair. It whispered …

  … She’s mine now, Myles.…

  But Myles didn’t care. Not this time. He ran forward with a howl. He pushed his sister out of the way and screamed, “I SEE YOU, TOO!”

  Furious tears burned in Myles’s eyes, but he ran at the monster. He pushed, he flailed, his arms flew at … the air.

  At the misty morning.

  At the dew and fog and light. At the … sunshine.

  “Leave them alone! Leave ME alone! LEAVE US ALONE!” In answer, Myles heard the low, deep voice laughing in the breeze. Then … a bird chirped.

  A gentle ray of sun shone into the trees above the clearing and a harmless mist rose into the sky, disappearing with the gloom.

  Then Bea’s voice rang out. “Take it easy, little brother! It’s okay! Wow, you’re really upset! More upset than usual!” Bea put her arm over his shoulder to calm him down. Myles looked around.

  Bea was right. Sunlight filled the clearing, the fields, the woods. Birds chirped, a squirrel ran right past them to start a busy day. Norman slipped his hand into Myles’s.

  “Ith okay, Myles. Look! The thun!” Norman pointed at the light. Myles nodded.

  Sunlight broke over the hills. At the very edge of the woods, the faint outline of a beautiful dog formed in the mist one last time. Myles strained to hear a faraway bark on the wind.

  Then the mist vanished as the early morning sunlight burned away the last wisps of night.

  CHAPTER 15

  PRINTS AND PAWS

  Norman held Myles’s hand all the way back to the parking lot. There was a perfectly nice path that Myles hadn’t seen in the dark.

  The world hadn’t changed.

  Except it had. The sun was up. The sky was bright and clear.

  And the terrible night was over. Myles was exhausted. He felt empty. He had no idea being brave would be so tiring. Birds were singing in the forest. There wasn’t a cloud in the pink early morning sky.

  “Are you okay, Myles?” Bea asked as they walked.

  “I … I don’t know.” Here in the early morning light, in the quiet beautiful forest, he wasn’t sure. Maybe. Maybe he was okay. He suddenly wanted to tell her everything, about the monster, about Courage, about his fears about their new house, and about being so mad at their dad for making them move. But he couldn’t, not right now. One day maybe, but right now he was too tired.

  “Why were you out of the car?” Myles asked after a few more steps.

  “Norman woke me up.”

  “I hadz to pee again,” Norman nodded.

  “You and Mom looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you. I took Norman outside, then we went to see the sunrise. You know, the back seat really stinks. How did you manage to sit back there for so long?” Bea’s voice was so normal, so … Bea.

  She was amazing. Wasn’t she afraid of anything? Who else would get out of a car in the dark to wander through a pitch black forest to help Norman? And look at the sunrise?

  Then Myles realized with a start that there was someone else. Him. He would. He did.

  He didn’t get to think about that for too long, though. Suddenly, a loud horn beeped as a tow truck pulled into the parking lot. A tall man in overalls got out and knocked on the car window.

  Their mother burst out of her side of the car, sleepy and mussed up.

  “Thank you for coming,” she said, straightening her hair. “You’ve caught me sleeping. My kids and I had a long, long night last night.” Myles and his brother and sister walked over to join them.

  “Sorry I took so long to get here, I had to tow a wrecked chicken truck to the junkyard this morning. The darnedest thing —”

  “Yes! Thank you, we know about the chicken truck,” Myles’s mother said, stopping him. Clearly, she didn’t want to hear any more about Mr. Chicken Truck Man.

  The tow truck driver walked around the car, then he stopped and whistled. He pointed at the crack in the windshield.

  “Whoa, what a huge crack!”

  “Yes, a big rock hit us hard, right before the car died,” their mother answered.

  Monster, Mom. Not a rock.

  The man nodded then pointed at the mud and gravel beside the car.

  “And look! Huge footprints. See? They’re all around the car.” The man walked around Victor, pointing at the ground. Then he pointed toward the woods.

  “The footprints go off in that direction.” Everyone walked to the edge of the trees, Bea holding Norman’s hand.

  Very slowly, Myles joined them.

  The man pointed at the mud between the woods and the parking lot. Then Myles saw them: gigantic, swirling footprints in the mud.

  “I — I’ve seen those prints before,” the man said slowly.

  “What is it?” Myles’s mother asked, but the man didn’t answer.

  “There’s another track beside it,” he went on. “A pawprint, see the four pads? It looks like a big dog.”

  “Well, what happened?” Myles’s mother asked, bewildered.

  The tow truck driver shook his head a little. “I’m not really sure, ma’am. It looks like something big, something REALLY big, was sniffing beside your car. Then over here, you can see the dog pawprints are all mixed up with the huge footprints. If I had to guess, I’d say a dog chased whatever was sniffing at your car off into the woods.”

  The man narrowed his eyes a little, looking right at Myles. “You’re SURE you didn’t see anything or hear anything last night? There was something sniffing at your car door and fighting with a big dog, right here.”

  “No, no honestly. We didn’t hear anything, did we? Myles? Bea? We all just fell right to sleep. It’s a mystery,” their mother said.

  It’s not a mystery! A deep chill started at Myles’s toes and moved up to his chest, then to the top of his head.

  The man put his oily mechanic hands on his hips. Then he cleared his throat, like he didn’t want to say what was coming next.

  “There’s something else you should know. Tho
se huge strange footprints … I saw them all around the wrecked chicken truck last night. They were just like these.”

  “Well, what are they?” Myles’s mother asked again, but the man just shrugged.

  “I have no idea, ma’am.”

  I do. I know exactly what put those footprints there! Myles wanted to scream.

  Bea’s reasonable voice broke the silence.

  “Well, there’s something we should tell you. We saw Pete Fournette last night,” she said matter-of-factly. “And although I don’t happen to think any of that ‘ghost walks the highway’ story is real, my brother thinks he saw Pete’s dog. What was his name again, Myles?”

  “Courage,” Myles said, quietly. The man stood up and raised his eyebrows. He whistled and nodded softly.

  “We-lll … isn’t THAT interesting! I haven’t heard anyone mention Pete Fournette in a LONG time. Years. And I’ve NEVER heard anyone talk about seeing his dog. Courage, did you say? That’s a first.”

  Everyone looked at Myles. He got the uncomfortable feeling, once again, that no one really believed him about Courage. Pawprints were one thing, seeing a ghost dog was another. Suddenly he didn’t care. So what if no one else could see Courage?

  Myles knew he was out there. Somewhere. He might be the only person who could see the monster, but he was the only person who could see the ghost dog, too. Maybe seeing things wasn’t all bad.

  The tow truck driver broke the silence. “Well, something big was chased off into the woods by a dog, no doubt about it. And whatever it was, the same thing ran the chicken truck off the road a few hours earlier.” The man put his hands on his hips and looked at the footprints at their feet.

  Myles’s mother and Bea stared at him like they didn’t understand. Or at this point in the long, long night, maybe they just didn’t want to.

  But Myles understood. Perfectly.

  The monster chased us all night.

  But Courage chased it away, every time it came near.

  It couldn’t wreck us, so the monster wrecked the chicken truck instead.

  They all fell silent, too tired to talk as the driver hooked Victor up to the back of his tow truck. A few times Myles peeked over at the woods, but nothing moved except birds and squirrels.