Eddie and Little L

By Marjorie H Morgan

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

For Lewis and Gabz because they always loved stories

http://www.facebook.com/MarjorieHMorgan Marjorie H Morgan 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

Story 1.
Once upon a time There was a boy called Eddie. On this particular day he was at home having fun. Eddie was playing a game on his games console and he was getting to higher and higher levels. The more he played the better he became so Eddie wanted to play all the time and he was playing his favourite game on that day. As he sat in front of the television Eddie was talking to himself, well, not really to himself, he was so involved in the game he was talking to the game. Yes!. Gotcha! Cant get away fro m me... Ah! he exclaimed. Eddie was so involved in his game that when his mum was calling him from the other room he didnt hear her. The truth is that he did hear her really but he wanted to get to the next level so he ignored her. After all, Eddie knew that his mum was always calling him and she didnt really want him for anything useful at least thats what he thought. So he just played on. Level 34. Eddie rocked back on his heels with happiness as he reached the next level. It was then that he saw his mum standing in the open doorway. He immediately knew that he was in trouble, and then he saw the look on her face and he was doubly sure of something not good for him happening in the next five minutes. Eddie decided to act innocently. Whats for tea, Mum? he asked. Dont bother with those tactics, young man, his mum replied, now I know that you heard me and you know what that means dont you?

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan Eddie was still playing the game while looking out of the corner of his eye at his mum. Whadyu mean? he questioned. Ive been calling you for ages and you chose to ignore me A-G-A-I-N, his mum emphasised the word again so much that Eddie stopped playing the game and turned to look at her. She was scowling. Her eyebrows were all scrunched up and her jaw looked tight. Eddie read trouble ahead. I dont just call your name for something to do you know, Eddie. She paused and he didnt know whether it was wise to say anything or not. He had often done the wrong thing before when her eyebrows went all wavy and weird. He said nothing. She gave one of her deep sighs. Just like the ones he heard her doing when she was sitting in the garden; the kind of sigh that was followed by uncertain days. She had his full attention now. Just take the dog for a walk. I dont know why I have to tell you everyday to take your dog for a walk. You were the one who was crying to get him and now you ignore him. For a moment neither of them moved or said anything. Eddie then thought it was best to get up. As he moved he put the games console on the ground. Wrong move. And, his mum started, and you are not playing that game for a week. You need to learn to listen to me, Eddie. But Mum, he replied, thats not fair. EDDIE! she raised her voice and her eye brows went up and her eyeballs got bigger. He was quiet.

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan He was angry. However, Eddie knew there was no point in arguing so he stomped out of the room to get his dog. Just take him to the end of the road and come back. All he needs is a little exercise. Yes, mum. Eddie scowled at the floor and in frustration kicked his school bag on his way out of the room. That little pest, he muttered to himself, its all his fault. Stupid dog. When Lionel, otherwise known as Little L, saw Eddie coming towards him, he started to wag his tail. Little L was happy. He was a small Jack Russell with brown patches over his back and rear legs. Eddie had fallen in love with him when he had first seen him as a puppy and he had begged his mother to buy him with the promise that he would always look after him. That was three years ago. Wheres your lead? Eddie growled at Little L. Little L jumped up on Eddies leg and was kicked away. Eddie glanced over his shoulder to see if his mum had seen him knock the dog off his leg. Her back was still towards the back door so he got away with that one. Eddie grabbed the lead from the hook by the door and clipped it onto Little Ls collar. Dragging the dog to the door he shouted over his shoulder, Ill be back in 5 minutes. Little L started to pull on the lead and was soon dragging Eddie down the road. His tail was wagging all the time. As they reached the bottom of their road Jake, Eddies friend from number 42 called out to him. Alright? Not really, said Eddie, gotta take the stupid dog for a walk and I was onto level 34 on Fangtoon. Im gonna He suddenly stopped and decided that he wouldnt tell anyone about what he was going to do so that they would all think it was an accident.

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

So, you coming over later? Jake asked. Cant mate, Eddie carried on walking, I think Im grounded again. All cause of this stupid dog. Jake sat on his wall and watched Eddie walk by. He waited until they reached the end of the road then picked up his BMX bike and rode over to Petes house. Eddie was just about to turn back towards home when he decided to do one of three things. Pretend Little L had been run over by a car. Say the dog and been tossed and trampled by the farmers cows or tell his mum, that Little L had been in a dog fight and was bitten and hurt so much that he had to bury him straight away. Eddie smiled to himself and walked over to the gate leading to Farmer Jones field. Farmer Jones had a huge field that led from the back of Duston all the way to Althorpe. Farmer Jones had cows and bulls and sheep and pigs on his land. Farmer Jones did not like dogs running around in his fields bothering his animals. Eddie went through the gate and carefully closed it behind him. He did not want any sheep and cows wandering into Duston village. Eddie had a plan that would give him lots of free time after he had got rid of Little L. He loosened the lead from Little Ls collar and threw a stick as far as he could toward the cows in the hope that Lionel would run after it. But Lionel only wanted to play and jumped up and down on Eddies legs. Again, Eddie kicked at the dog but Lionel did not run away; he stayed and ran around Eddies ankles barking and darting back and forwards. Eddie threw another stick but Lionel stayed close by.

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan He started to get frustrated and remembered that Little L did not like the music from his mobile phone. With a wicked smirk he took his phone out of his pocket and went to the ring tones. He turned the volume up to the loudest level and played his tune. It worked! Little L stood still then started to bark and then started to run away towards the cows. Eddie stood there laughing until Little L was completely out of sight then he turned back to the gate and started to walk home. When he reached the end of his road he saw that Jake was no longer waiting for him. Eddie shrugged his shoulders and walked on. Suddenly he thought that maybe he should run back to the house so that he could make his mum believe that something terrible had happened to Little L and that he, Eddie, was really upset. He started to run when he was about half way down the road. As he burst in through the back gate he called out, Mum! Mum! Guess what? Something terrible has happened to Little L. His mother did not come rushing out to meet him as he had expected so he called again as he reached for the back door handle. Mum! Mum? Are you here? Turning the corner Eddie saw his mum with her back to him looking out the garden window. Ah, Eddie, she responded without turning around to see him, what could be the matter now? Little L ran off at the end of the road and was hit by a car as he got to the edge of Farmer Jones field, Eddie lied, then, then, he paused to catch his breath and decide what to say next, then the cows chased him and trampled him a bit before the farmers huge dog came rushing over and bit him in the neck, before dropping him as he was bleeding. It was really

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan bad, Mum. Really bad. Eddie put on a sad voice as he said the last bit of his version of the short walk. Eddie was beginning to enjoy the story he was making up. Oh dear, Eddie, his mum said sadly, oh dear. Yeah, and then I thought Id better just bury him because he was in such a mess I didnt want to bring him back home and upset you. Really, Eddie? his mum queries, really? Yeah, it was awful, commented Eddie, really awful. So, who is this? said his mother as she finally turned around to face him. Eddie was speechless. In her arms was his little dog, Lionel. For the second time that day Eddie knew that he was in serious trouble. Eddie, I dont know exactly what you did to Little L but I do know t hat you are grounded for three months and you will have no pocket money or play on your games console. Is that understood? Yes, yes, mum. Eddie stuttered as he looked up at his mum. All I know is that Little L came running into the garden about 5 minutes ago and hasnt stopped shaking since he got home. What did you do to him? I I Im not sure what happened to him but I His mother interrupted him, Dont bother to make up any more lies I dont want to hear it. She paused. The thinking time was worse that when she was talking. Eddie did not know what was going to happen to him next.

Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan Just go next door, unplug your games console and bring it in here. Yes, mum, said Eddie as he moved swiftly to pack up his games. He decided that he would never lie to his mother again or try to hurt his dog again because it didnt work and he was the one who ended up suffering. From that day on Eddie was a reasonably good boy, although he did get in to trouble sometimes. But that is another story

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

Story 2.

Once upon a time There was a boy called Eddie. On this particular day he was at school with his friends. Eddie liked his friends, but he didnt like school very much. He preferred to be at home playing his games, or at his friends houses, but he had to go to school. He had been going to school for years. School had been bad at first, then it was OK, now it was bad again. It was like a rotten sandwich in his life. But he had to keep going, well ... because he just had to. The main reason was because his mum made him go. His mum made him do lots of things that he didnt like doing. Like making his bed, and tidying his room, and taking the dog for a walk. It was his dog, and he loved the dog, but he didnt tell anyone else that. He pretended that it was a hassle to walk Lionel, the little Jack Russell. At his age it wasnt cool to like walking your dog, and he wanted to be seen as cool all the time. It was important to him. Lionel was important to him as well, but nobody could ever know that. His mum knew, but she didnt tell anyone else. She was cool like that, but he couldnt tell her she was cool because she was his mum and it wasnt cool to tell parents that they were cool. So Eddie and his mum both pretended that they didnt know how he felt about his dog Lionel. Lionel was 7 years old now, and Eddie had begged for him when he was a puppy. So his mum let him have the dog after several promises. For the first two years they were inseparable. Eddie liked that Lionel, also known as Little, followed him around all the time. He liked having his own dog. He was something special, just for him. Eddie secretly liked that Lionel was his even though sometimes he thought Little L could be annoying. At the end of the day though, Eddie knew that Little L was always going to be there for him unless he did something stupid like he did a few years before, but thats another story. His dog was the only thing in the world that never left him or got angry with him like his dad and mum sometimes did. Lionel was always

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan pleased to see him. Every single morning when he woke up and every day when he came back home from school, there he was just wagging his whole body not just his tail in excitement. He was the smallest puppy Eddie had ever seen, but he had a big bark so Eddie wanted to name him after something big: he chose Lion-el because he thought the puppys bark sounded like a lion who had just inhaled a helium balloon. When Eddie was feeling OK he did things in the house that he was supposed to do. He put away the dishes and sometimes even swept the floors without being asked that was very rare though. But this particular day was one of those rare days. When he got up before school he had cleaned up in the bathroom after himself. It was more than he usually did. He sprayed the shower down and didnt leave his towel on the floor so he felt good. You see, although he didnt normally like doing things that other people made him do, Eddie had been doing all the things that his mum wanted him to do lately. This was because he wanted something special and his mum was an important part of his plan. He wanted to upgrade to the new games console that was due out in the next couple of months. His mum didnt know that it was coming out, but Eddie did and he was trying to get her in a good mood. She seemed to be in a good mood a lot of the time, but he was doing his best to make sure that it stayed. He didnt know why she was in a good mood, but he liked it. Thats why he was at school on this particular day instead of bunking off with his best friends Jake and Pete at the park which was what he really wanted to do. They always had a lot of fun when they were together. Sometimes they just hung around together, not doing anything much, just being ... friends. Other times they played games together which is what they liked doing best. Video games were their thing. They had been doing that for years now. Several times a week they met at one or other of their houses or sometimes they played each other online: even when they were supposed to be doing their homework. This was when they all agreed to pretend that they hadnt known that they had homework due when they went into school the next day because they were playing the latest version of Fangtoon: The Rise of the Fang.

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan Fangtoon was a game that none of them were supposed to play because it was over their age range, but somehow, all three of them had a copy for their own Playstations. Eddies dad had bought his copy for him before he went away. They started the adventure together. Thats why he still played it, he was sure that his dad was also playing it ... somewhere else. It was their special game. He missed his dad sometimes. But he didnt talk about it to anyone except Lionel. Not even to his two best friends. The three of them were nearly always together. Jake, Eddie and Pete: they had first become friends when school had been good for a short while. That was way back in Primary School. After the first year nobody really liked anyone else for more than a week, but in the second year these three boys had stayed friends for weeks on end, so they decided to always be best friends. And they were. They even made up a name for themselves JEP. Before too long, even the teachers were referring to one or all of them by the name because they were always together from the start of school until the last bell. If they did something wrong which was often, or if they did something good, then they heard the phrase, It was one of the JEP boys. Depending on whether it was praise or blame, they would grin and saunter around or hide until nobody remembered what had happened. Then later they would laugh about it on their own. At first the three boys told everybody that JEP was their initials, but when they got to senior school they changed it to mean: Just Epic People. It made them laugh when the other boys believed them. It was a cool name and they felt cool when they thought it up.

It was only the second lesson on Tuesday and Eddie was already bored of sitting in the classroom surrounded by books and pens scratching across page after page of paper. Looking down at the book in front of him, he saw his own handwriting on the paper. He scowled as he re-read what he saw. He must have written those words. But it didnt make any sense to him. Something about clouds and daffodils. This is stupid, he thought. Why would anyone All he wanted to do was to turn his console on and escape to the island world in his game. Nobody bothered you for real there. Anything that happened could be

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan reversed by pressing the back-up or restore button. It was so much better than real life. Did you hear what Mr Walker said? asked Pete. He nudged Eddie who was staring into space. Pete was the quietest of them all, but he was also one of the quickest to get in and out of trouble because he had a habit that he would refuse to talk and nobody could make him say a word for hours. He just sat there. Staring at them. Silently. Not doing a thing. The teachers often got frustrated and let him go with a warning. His parents just looked at him, sighed and turned away. The only time he didnt need prompting to talk was when he was with Eddie and Jake. They sometimes had to tell him to shut up because he talked so much. Im not listening to him anymore, replied Eddie in a loud whisper, he bores me. Hes an idiot. And his books are all stupid. Mr Walker taught English and none of the boys in that class liked him. All he seemed interested in was poetry and putting words into weird sentences. It didnt mean anything to any of them. I know, right? Jake leaned across the desk and spoke to the other two. Im never going to use any of that stuff when I leave school anyway so whats the point of learning it? added Jake. Whatdya need poetry for when youre a soldier! He laughed at his own joke. Pete and Eddie joined in. I know. Right? Eddie gave Jake a playful punch on the arm. They were always hitting and fighting with each other, but not in a mean way. They often re-enacted the scenes in Fangtoon after hours of on-screen game play. The best thing about them all playing the game is that they didnt have to take a long time to explain the setting before they fell into their screen roles. Lets do Dragon Island escape, one o f them would say. And the other two would assume roles with ease. It was the second lesson of the day, immediately after the morning break. They had just got back into their seats and were still talking about the conversation they had started when they were outside the classroom. They had been talking about the scenario when Mr Walker had interrupted them in class and asked a question about some dead bloke called Words-something who must have been really boring and lonely because he wrote silly poems. Anyway, when Mr Walkers voice floated into Eddies ear he had forgotten that he

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan was on a mission to keep in his mums good books because he answered rudely. He actually said what he had been thinking. He didnt think first. He just spoke straight away. He said Words-something must have been a miserable, sad old man like Mr Walker because he thought clouds walked about on their own looking at fields of silly flowers. Word-something was just a waste-man! Sir ... The rest of the class went quiet. Immediately Mr Walker had told Eddie to leave the classroom and go to the head of years office to explain himself. As he left the classroom, Eddie turned around and said, Its you who should be explaining yourself, Sir. All you do is talk out of your a... The rest of the boys in the classroom exploded in laughter and Eddie smirked. He knew that he was in trouble already so he didnt care anymore. He smiled conspiratorially over his shoulder at Jake and Pete and slammed the door as he left. Then he opened it again, and said, Oops! Sorry, Sir. Its a bit windy in here ... With that he turned around and he walked slowly down the corridor leaving the door open. He knew where he was going, he had been there several times before, although not in the past couple of months. Being familiar with the routine Eddie knew he would have to sit and wait for more trouble (this time in the shape of Mrs Howard) to come and get him. Even though outwardly he was smiling as he walked away from the English lesson he was feeling really sad, but he would never tell anyone else that. He was sad because his mum was going to be mad at him again. But most of all he was sad because he knew there was no way he could think of fixing the damage that would happen once his mum found out what he had done. Nothing could be done before the games console was released. He knew that he had just lost what he had been dreaming about for months. Jake and Pete were both getting their upgrades because they had not broken their promises to their parents hed be the odd one out for the first time in ages. If Eddie wasnt at school he may have cried. But he would never dream of crying anywhere apart from in the shower, or under his covers late at night. Those were the only places that he knew were safe for the tears to fall undetected. He only cried when nobody else could hear or see him His tears were his own private thing. Not even Pete or Jake knew about

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan his crying time, and they were his best friends. Little L, his dog, was the only one who knew that he cried at night. Luckily he couldnt speak, thought Eddie. All Lionel did was to just lick his tears and snuggle up closer to him. Suddenly Eddie wanted to be at home with his dog. Lionel always greeted him with a wagging tail, and happy bark and a movement that looked like a dance shuffle. He needed the warm connection right then. Thinking that made him even sadder even though inside he was smiling at the thought of Little L. At that moment Eddie was the saddest hed been since he saw the flier announcing the consoles release four months earlier. He had just worked so hard for the past two months to get his mum to stay in that happy place, and now, just because of a lapse of concentration, he realises that hes blown it all. Focus, he says to himself. He knows he has a problem staying focused on anything apart from his games recently. There are so many things to remember and do that Eddie finds it easier to forget them all. Trying to forget that he is in trouble he starts to think about what had caused the problem: he remembered. He was planning the escape from Dragon Island in Fangtoon with Pete and Jake. Immediately he decides he might as well plan a real escape, an escape from the school. He starts to think about it whilst hes sat outside Mrs Howards office. He realises that he knows all the corridors and exits, so it makes sense to try to find a way out without being detected. He manages to find something to smile about again as he starts to plot his exit strategy. This is something that hes good at. This is something that his dad had taught him: always be one step ahead: know where youre going. He kept trying to do that, but it didnt always work. Especially not in school - to Eddie, being in school was like being in prison. He was an unwilling captive just like being on Dragon Island. He sinks heavily onto the chair up against the wall outside of Mrs Howards office. She is the worst teacher in the world, he thinks. Even worse than Mr Walker, and hes really bad! Mrs Howard was a Maths teacher who seemed to walk into school shouting. Every day was a bad day for her. She seemed to hate everybody, except one class who were maths geeks. That wasnt Eddies class. Eddie wasnt in the top class for any subjects except music and DT. Despite not being in her maths class

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan Eddie still saw her too regularly: neither of them liked each other and they both showed it. Remembering just how much he disliked Mrs Howard he decides to get up and go home. And so he did. On the way out of school he is stopped by two other teachers but on both occasions he doesnt stay where they tell him to stand while they go to check his story. He waits until their backs are turned and then walks on until he passed the receptionists desk and is just ready to leave. Note, please. Her voice rises from behind the computer screen as he tries to walk right past her. I must have dropped the note, he says quickly as he carries on walking towards the main doors without giving in an absence permission slip. The receptionist moves her chair back and looks around the screen as she repeats the request. Please can I have your note? Look in your bag just in case. I can always ring down to student services to get a copy for you. Sorry, Miss, I cant stop. You see, I have a ... dentists appointment and my mum is coming to pick me up now. He looks at his wrist, where a watch would have been if he didnt keep losing and breaking them. Shes on her way. From work. Ive got to meet her outside. Ive gotta go. Now. He edges towards the main doors as he is speaking to her. The lies come so easily to him. He is proud of himself. He actually starts to believe that he really has a dentist appointment. I need your slip from the teacher before you can go, came the cool steady response, you know the routine. Youve been here for years now. I cant find it. I told you. Wait here, she instructs him. She expects him to do as he is told. OK. He says at first as he turns back, then he changes his mind. No, sorry. I cant. My mum said I had to be waiting for her outside as we cant miss this appointment as well. Ive gotta go Miss.

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

Then he leaves. He doesnt start running until hes halfway down the school drive. Then he knows theres no turning back so he gets faster and faster until his lungs are hurting him. By the time he reaches home he is sweating more than he does when they have PE lessons at school. Later that afternoon his mum finds him in bed with Lionel sleeping in the crook of his arm. The games console is not on. As a punishment it is not turned back on for three weeks. Eddie didnt ask again after the first week of begging. That first night - the anniversary of the day that his dad left, and for weeks afterwards, Lionel keeps licking his face when he cries, and his mum keeps pretending that she didnt hear him crying at night. She also pretends that she didnt know that his dog was sleeping on his bed again. She wanted him to have the games console when it came out, but she couldnt give it to him because hed gotten into trouble again. So it sat in the bottom of her wardrobe as the days of his punishment slowly ticked past. She didnt like telling him off, but there was no one else to do it since his dad had gone away. Now Ill have to give it to him at Christmas, she thinks a week later after they are both less sad than they were on that particular day. But Eddie never knew any of this. For the next couple of months he just keeps going to school, then home, then bed. But he never forgets the Tuesday morning when he stormed out of the English lesson at school, and then escaped from the school grounds. It makes him smile even though he couldnt tell anyone about how he feel ... except Pete and Jake. Oh, and Lionel. But Lionel knew everything about Eddie. So he didnt count. He really wanted to tell his dad about it, but he didnt know where he was. He thought he was on a mission thats what his dad had told him when he was leaving. Eddie believed him even though he knew it was a lie. It was a warm lie, one he could feel comfortable with when he went to sleep.

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Eddie and Little L By Marjorie H Morgan

Eddie felt sad that his dad wasnt there, he felt sadder that his mum was mad with him that Tuesday, but he made the events of the day into a scene that became part of the Fangtoon game that he was not allowed to play for a while. He even made his dad a character, this time on the oppositions team. Then, as he started to fall asleep, with Little L lying on his bed, he felt better as he planned to execute his next adventure. From that day on Eddie was a reasonably good boy, although he did get into trouble sometimes. But that is another story

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