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Charlie
was on his way to the swimming pool. The
day was chilly and gloomy and Charlie’s
teeth were chattering.
He
heard a sound.
“Chug”.
“Chug,
chug” and then silence.
“Wh…wh…what
was that?”
He
turned round. All he could see was
the Chip Shop back down the street, with two girls chatting outside.
He
carried on.
Then,
“Chug….chug…chugger….chug” getting louder and louder.
The
street seemed to get darker.
Charlie
turned this way and that, his hands chopping the air.
Then
suddenly he saw him - a chubby boy creeping along the street towards him,
chucking chewing gum in the air.
“Chug”,
the chubby boy whispered.
The
chubby boy’s chin was shaking.
“Chug…chug….”
Charlie
stopped and stared. The boy came
closer. Behind him trailed a chain,
clanking along the street. Through
the darkness Charlie could see something – a chilling shape, chasing along
behind the boy, something so horrible he could not look.
He
got as close to the houses on the edge of the street as he could and pressed
hard against them. The two figures
slithered past him. The chubby boy
turned and looked at him.
“Chug…chug….”.
His eyes were wide open and tears chased each other down his face.
Charlie
turned away. As soon as the two had
passed him he ran as fast as he could to the end of the street and the Swimming
Pool was there, warm and friendly. He
rushed in and fell onto a chair.
His
friend Chuck came in and asked him why he was late. Charlie couldn’t speak at first but then was able to tell
Chuck what he had seen.
Chuck
‘s face went as yellow as a chick’s feathers.
“So
you didn’t look at what was at the end of the chain then?
Say you didn’t Charlie, please say you didn’t”
“No,
I looked at the chubby boy but he was crying and I turned away…why do you say
that?”
“Oh,
thank goodness, you know who it was don’t you?
It was Chugger Jones, that chap and
his chimp, that’s who it was”.
“Well,
I’ve heard of Chugger Jones but he died ages ago, choking on a lump of chewing
gum, didn’t he? I remember my
Grandad talking about him”
“Yes,
but he still roams the streets when they get dark and chilly, with his chimp on
a chain, looking for someone to frighten to death. If you look at the chimp something horrible will happen to
you in the next few days.”
The
boys went off for their swim, Chuck was feeling pleased that Charlie was safe,
but Charlie, now he had a chilling idea at the back of his mind.
He didn’t think he had looked at the chimp, in fact he was
almost sure he hadn’t, but he would have to wait for the next few days to be
absolutely certain……………..
