The Black Dog

This is a portion of Chapter 1, from my new children's book... The Black Dog. Not out in stores yet; but will be soon in 2008!! This book is copyrighted and in the process of being published. Under contract at this time; and unable to be reproduced

THE BLACK DOG

By:  Lisa A. Jones

 

On the edge of town down a lonely road, lived a young boy. He was tall for his age with dark hair and blue eyes. His name was Will Hawkins. He lived in an old farmhouse with broken windows and sagging floors. His parents, Henry and Judy lived there, too. They were kind of poor. That kind of poor you didn’t like to talk about. Then there was his sister. Her name was Teddi. She was eight years old with blonde hair and blue eyes. Teddi was really a pain. Since the young boy was already eleven, he didn’t take kindly to being followed around by a little kid, especially a girl. But everywhere he went, Teddi had to go because his parents said so. “Can’t leave her out!” they said.
Will had a hard time at school. Everybody picked on him because he was different. By being different everybody meant to say that you were poor. Well, they were poor. He didn’t like people making fun of them, but they wouldn’t ever stop. He would always shrug his shoulders and grab Teddi’s hand after school and walk her down the path home. They couldn’t afford a car, so they had to walk home from school.
This particular day Teddi was lagging behind, so Will decided he was tired of waiting on her, so he left her. Well, as Will was walking down the path, he looked back to see if she was following and she wasn’t. “TEDDI!” he shouted. “Where are youuuuuu???” he yelled. No answer. Will was getting sort of mad. She was always messing up things.
He had plans to go fishing with old man Taylor down the road after his chores. He couldn’t have her messing up everything, so he ran on down the path that led straight to their house. He figured she would get scared and be on her way. Will walked around to the back of the house and grabbed the rickety old screen door with his free hand. He thought for a moment that he should go back for her and decided not to. He went on in thru the kitchen. There was a grand smell in there!! He knew his momma was making cookies. He was so hungry. Momma made those homemade things when Daddy got extra work. Extra work meant extra money. The factory didn’t pay too well, but sometimes he did odd jobs for people. Will loved times like those. “Hi, honey ..... got some cookies for you and your sister,” said Momma. “Hey mom .... yeh ... oh
um .... Teddi is comin’ ... she was sort of being slow today,” offered Will. Momma stopped putting the cookies onto the plate and turned to look at Will. She had this disapproving look on her face and slowly brushed a blonde strand of hair from her face. “WILL!!! You didn’t leave her, did you? Momma asked expecting a better answer than he was about to give her. “I. .... Momma, I didn’t mean to .... she wouldn’t hurry up and I got chores, and I am going fishing .. .I am sorry Momma,” said Will hoping she wouldn’t be too mad. “Well, you just turn yourself right around and go get her ... NOW!! Momma exclaimed. “Ok .... ok ..... sorry,” and with that Will was out the door.

 

“That kid is more trouble than she’s worth, thought Will, always getting me into trouble.” Will walked back along the path and called Teddi. She didn’t answer and he was really getting scared. He knew if he didn’t come back with his sister, his backside would feel the suffering from it. “I gotta find her,” thought Will. “TEDDI!” Will shouted. There was no sign of her. Just then, up the path he saw something. He walked closer so that he could investigate. It was Teddi’s books. As though she had tossed them aside in a great hurry, they were scattered near a large overgrown bush. Now Will was scared. He started to walk back up the path and then he stopped. Standing in his way was the biggest, blackest dog he had ever seen in his life. The dog stared at him and the boy stared back. Will tried to figure out how he was going to get past the big dog, and he had no ideas. Just then, the dog started to growl. Will decided he was not waiting around to see if the dog would bite him or not. He started running back up the path. He knew the dog was running behind him. He could almost feel his breath on his neck. He could hear the dogs paws as they hit the ground. Will turned to see if the dog was still behind him, and the dog leaped upon him. But as Will shut his eyes, he didn’t feel anything. By this time, Will had fallen to the ground. He opened his eyes and looked all around. No dog was anywhere in sight. Will got up. He was a little shaken up, but he figured he had better get home to let his parents know Teddi was missing. Someone had to start looking for her. Will wondered if the dog had anything to do with Teddi’s disappearance.
Will walked slowly back up the path towards his house. On the way, he picked up Teddi’s books finding himself staring down at them. Will starting thinking that the dog must have eaten Teddi or maybe it bit her and she ran away............

 

To see how the story ends; and the adventure that ensues,

purchase the THE BLACK DOG
in 2008, and finish reading this amazing children's mystery!!

Copyright 2007

By:  Lisa A. Jones

Reviews

[Michael X]

lisa, this is written with delightful fashion, as I read the first sentence I was taken
to another time and social place, thought with the compasionate understanding
of a classic sense, as depicting the environment with meaningful, soulful imagery,
for a depthfully charged childhood adventure, "The Big Dog" is colorful, vividly
bountiful in detail, and entwines a home felt subtle essence, flowing toward an
easing heartfelt suspence, inviting the main character into the captivating scene,
leading the reader to wonder with intrigue, in a light imaginitive way of creativity,
the sense of adventure embraces. and I look forward to reading your fun book, mike