Peculiar Pete Platt
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Pete Platt looked at the tattered sausage in his hands and felt stressed.
He walked over to the window and reflected on his backward surroundings. He had always loved urban London with its knowledgeable, knobbly kettles. It was a place that encouraged his tendency to feel stressed.
Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of Gary Greenway. Gary was a lovable dolphin with fluffy fingernails and beautiful toenails.
Pete gulped. He glanced at his own reflection. He was a peculiar, thoughtless, wine drinker with blonde fingernails and skinny toenails. His friends saw him as a homely, hard hero. Once, he had even helped a yellowish deaf person cross the road. People called Pete an idiot-friendly townie.
“What am I doing?” he blurted out loud. Then Pete turned back towards Gary’s outline. The sun shone through a thin glass door and outlined what must be one hundred feet of straw fluffiness and floppy fins. “I’ve got to stop,” whispered Pete.
It was almost embarrassing how much time he spent thinking about other people when there were so many things for himself to worry about: the stress of trying to grow into a giant; being compared unfavorably by all sorts of puddings; constantly battling against a violent, foul-tasting chocolatey pudding thing that liked to blow holes in every single pastry it came across…
It was all too easy to get lost in these thoughts – but here was the old, familiar Gary, getting closer all the time.
Pete couldn’t lose this opportunity. Something strange would happen soon enough without him having to ask forgiveness from anyone. In fact, everything he did lately made everyone else anxious! He stood still and focused. “Gary!” shouted Pete. There was no answer.
For the first time since Pete had known him (which was never), Gary seemed confused, worried, and perhaps frightened. Was it because he hadn’t heard Pete? No. This wasn’t anything like as easy as that.
But if Gary had come to talk to him, then some sort of mutual respect should exist between them. “Hello.” Again he waited for a response from Gary, but there was none. Instead, Gary swam away with something of a panic in his eyes. Pete found his breath growing tight and started to choke.
A great cloud appeared before Pete and covered most of the room. Steam billowed up around him. He wondered why they kept talking about him behind his back. As steam and clouds began to emerge, Pete realized that everything around him could easily catch fire. Peter Fudge cleared his throat and yelled Gary’s name again.
But this time he didn’t hear the words properly until someone spoke right next to his ear. “What?” said the voice, which Pete recognized instantly as Richard’s.
“Ah – hello!”
The steam lifted off him slightly and let Pete breathe. His face slowly shrank back down. Peter rubbed his neck and quickly peered towards where Gary now sat in front of Richard’s house. Suddenly everything went black and smoke poured over him once more.
And yet it was not dark air that engulfed Pete…it was smog. Pete stumbled forward and clung to a tree. He tried to shake it free of snowflakes, only to have the entire tree collapse underneath his hand.
Someone held onto Pete’s shoulder. Then another arm grabbed hold of his ankle, followed by his waist. Pete desperately looked round at all the faces above him as he was pulled backward and placed flat on his back on the ground. What had just happened? He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could do anything someone spoke over his head.
“How many times is he gonna try that trick?” asked Jane.
Pete ignored her and continued looking upwards. Whoever or whatever was holding his body kept turning his face toward those below. Finally, Pete saw who it was. He squinted in surprise and yelped loudly. On top of the woman who’d fallen straight beside him was a man with big hairy ears and bright white teeth.
Pete had to swallow three times. How was this possible? It was Tom. Everything was becoming very clear now. All of Tom’s terrifying stories in school suddenly made perfect sense.
Why did he bring that razor blade and wire to school? Who had put all their rubbish in the pond for him to find? Tom, of course. In fact, why hadn’t it struck Pete sooner? How dumb can you possibly be, Pete? Bloody Tom. Always looking out for ya. Nice work, pal.
If ever you need a job done in your house, or anywhere really, go ahead and ask me first. It’ll save both of us the trouble. And don’t forget our deal. You might end up paying more than expected though. As long as it’s still worth doing after the bill comes.
Ah – okay, look, that wasn’t fair. I didn’t know that was you last week when I told the police everything. Really sorry. Some big snowstorm blew me away – nothing personal, mate, honest. So yeah, thanks for saving my life back there, Tom. I owe you big. And here we are, your new best friend.
Me and you, bro, no one else will ever understand a word of this story. Not even Mum and Dad – except maybe John and Maggie. They’re kinda like a married couple when they stand together and shout stuff at each other.
Don’t make eye contact too much unless they’re arguing about food, then all bets are off. Just close the curtains. Anyway, how’re tricks anyway? Pretty good I suppose. Lovely day for a picnic.”
Richard ran through the trees into Gary’s garden. Peter was safe and sound; having finally been caught. There were broken branches under his bare feet and pine cones crushed everywhere. But where the hell was everyone? The woods weren’t usually so quiet without people making a lot of noise.
“Gary! We’ve found Richard and Pete!” shouted Gary. “We gotta help them!”
Maggie rushed around the corner and nearly bowled them all over.
“Quick, get inside,” she ordered.
They scrambled across to the door and stopped in mid-stride. Gary pointed behind them. A deep crack split the wall near their heads.
“What is it?” he cried.
There came the crash and scrape of falling wood, followed by two thumps and a muffled scream from upstairs. More cracks appeared throughout the walls, making some huge ones appear right next to Maggie’s head and shoulders. Dust flew every which way while chunks of the ceiling fell towards Gary, breaking with a loud screech as the light faded.
With trembling arms, they helped the parents climb out of the gaping hole in the side of the house.
Jane ducked against the fence.
“It has got us beat, Gary!” shouted William. “Is the village doomed?!”
Sparks shot out of the wall in front of Maggie. She screamed as Gary grabbed her tightly. All her hair stood on end as she covered her eyes with shaky hands. The family huddled together to shield themselves from any danger that may come through.
Behind the foursome, Gary broke into a sprint across the street. By the time he reached Jane, she was running already too fast to catch up. For several minutes they managed to escape out into the fields beyond town and walked along the old road.
Though it would seem quite remote at night, during daylight hours it was not an easy place to travel. Many sharp rocks were hidden among the short grasses and bushes. And any little ditch could hide a dog nipping out after rabbits. And if anything, Gary looked even fitter tonight than he did on a usual Sunday morning run around the streets.
A rumbling thud and crunching were heard directly above them. Then a wet splat sounded like raindrops hitting the rock-hard ground. To their left, a large lump slid down the bank and tumbled through the bush before stopping upside down with its tongue hanging out.
The house behind them shook violently and small things clattered off the roof tiles. The earth beneath them trembled, threatening to break open.
At once, Gary stopped walking, dropped heavily onto the flat ground, and kicked furiously at the pebbles underfoot. It only took a few moments until a fat ball of fur landed firmly between his legs, wagging excitedly with a tail pointing backward like someone had tied it to the post instead of forwards.
“Good girl, Maxi!” shouted Jane in amazement. “She used to be useless but you’re clearly doing a great job!”
Maxie seemed more happy about finding something interesting than being praised for what she’d done. After her first bark of excitement, she looked up at Gary and then continued sniffing around, leaving his foot alone.
Peter crept up beside Maggie and Gary. He pulled himself up quickly in case they thought him odd. What he really wanted was to know how they’d known what kind of creature was waiting for them there. They both hadn’t mentioned anything about the noises coming from their house or the one upstairs.
He nodded at Jane and said quietly: “Didn’t need to tell me though.”
She smiled, put an arm around each of the boys’ shoulders, and looked over at Gary. The moonlight reflected on his face when he spoke again – just loudly enough so that Maggie and William couldn’t hear, despite keeping close behind.
“Come on kids…” growled Gary with a grin. “This can wait till we reach our sanctuary. Let’s hope nothing else comes through those holes now!”
But with no further warning, the earth began shaking in earnest as another roar from the house rent the silence. At first, there was some cracking, then smaller pieces of stone came raining down amongst the scattered rocks and bushes.
Only the three adults could see these due to the lack of lightning above. Small bits of moss and twigs lay crushed beside larger rocks. Every inch of the small path ahead was now covered in a layer of dust, dirt, and grit.
Then out from underneath, a big boulder stepped a gigantic beast. From where Gary, Peter, and the others crouched together at the bottom of the hill, this terrifying-looking creature resembled a giant hedgehog.
The monster swiveled its hips with sudden twists and turns, allowing more cracks to show on the cracked ground. As soon as it caught sight of them, its snout opened wide revealing rows upon rows of white teeth, and its long claws clicked continuously as though ready to pounce at any moment.
In that exact second, the older woman felt a flicker of pain shoot across her ankle. One of the bolts that supported the wire mesh fence had snapped with a sickening snap. When the guard dogs all saw the new arrival, they suddenly raised their heads high on top of their furry bodies and gave low barks while pawing impatiently at the ground.
Their eyes were fixed straight at the huge beast looming ever closer. A few short steps brought the animal alongside Gary who was leaning forward, trying to find a way past that prickly front plait. There was nowhere for him to go now anyway.
Before the monstrous creature could charge toward them, Gary jumped backward frantically. But even from his safe distance, he knew the beast wasn’t going to stop pursuing them. That wasn’t what scared him most – and why this terrifying thing wouldn’t back down.
Instead, he found himself trembling uncontrollably because he didn’t want to be eaten alive by that dangerous-looking muzzle! His heart raced far faster than his feet. Then the next moment…
“Faster!” cried Gary, whipping around fast to bring both hands out before his family to shield everyone from falling stones. Several smaller ones rolled across the ground, causing more grass to collapse beneath the heavyweight.
More light illuminated the dark space between two boulders when an even bigger mass of shale toppled aside and revealed itself. The noise made the mother worry for the children.
From inside the hollow rock, they could see the silhouette of a tall man standing at attention against the back wall of the tunnel mouth. Next to him stood two other men wearing hooded jackets. Behind them, many more of them waited outside to watch over everything. All their faces remained hidden and they kept silent.
Even though the voices belonged to strangers to the family, Gary stayed calm. If anyone here could help they would have to step forward and do so immediately. He remembered Mrs. Clements telling him what happened after the little boy vanished and, although he couldn’t begin to imagine living without Tom as well; they simply couldn’t give up hope.