The Random Reader
Page 5
Baldy stopped and listened. ZOOOM! He tore down the path again. SPROING! He slid into the wire front gate again.
“Woof! Woof!” barked Baldy. “A message from Duchess. A MIGHTY GREAT RAT IS DRIVING A TRUCK DOWN TO EAT! Oh no, he’s going to eat US! Hide, everyone. Pass it on! Hide!”
WHIZZ! Baldy the Beagle rushed away and hid under the porch at Number 7.
ZIPP! Raja the Rottweiler bounded away and hid inside the garage at Number 9.
WHOOSH! Garbage Guts the Mongrel raced away and hid behind the trash can at Number 11.
SPLOSSH! Buttercup the Bulldog hurtled away and tried to hide inside her water bowl at Number 13.
FLASHH! Fang the Poodle scampered away and hid under the cushions at Number 12.
KERTHUMMPP! Duchess the Doberman galloped away and tried to hide behind her owner at Number 8.
Everything was quiet and still again on Ridge Street. The dogs didn’t move. Nothing else moved.
At last, Baldy the Beagle poked his head out from under the porch of Number 7. He looked around. He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t see anything.
Baldy crawled carefully out and lay down on the front porch again. He sighed a deep sigh.
Suddenly his eyes blinked open once more. There it was, down on the footpath. A tiny grey cat was trying to duck BACK UP the street.
‘Pass It On’ was first published by Random House New Zealand in Claws & Jaws: 30 New Zealand Animal Stories in October 2004.
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First published 2011
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ISBN 978 1 86979 940 3
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