Read Online Myles and the Monster Outside by Philippa Dowding - Free Book Online Page A

there and help you push this enormous car into the dark night. There’s a monster out there, but it’s no problem.
    Myles pushed, and his running shoes squished against the wet highway.
    â€œMom, what time is it?” he heard a boy’s voice ask, his probably.
    â€œIt’s four thirty in the morning. The sun is going to come up soon,” she said, panting a little as she pushed. The car rolled ever … so … slowly … along.
    Myles closed his eyes and pushed, grimly determined. The bushes rustled. The trees swayed. The monster whispered in the wind. Myles almost didn’t care. A part of him cared, of course, very much. But a bigger part, an exhausted part, didn’t. He’d given up hope of the night ever ending.
    â€¦ I see you, Myles….
    The constant whisper was becoming … annoying. Almost as annoying as Norman when he sang “C! C! C!” again and again. Myles smiled darkly. If he could put up with Norman singing the same song over and over and over, for four days in the smelly car … he suddenly realized he could put up with the monster’s constant whisper.
    He thought his arms were going to break. He couldn’t push any more … he was going to drop to his knees and die right there … the monster was going to come and swoop down on them in a misty horror.
    â€¦ I see you, Myles….
    Myles pushed and gritted his teeth.
    â€œM … Mom?” Myles grunted after a few minutes.
    â€œY … yes?” she managed to say as she pushed.
    â€œDo … do you hear anything?” Myles asked. Sweat poured down his head and into his eyes.
    â€œWell … yes, actually, now you ask.”
    â€œYou do? What? What do you hear?”
    â€œWell, it’s strange, but I think maybe I keep hearing a dog barking, really far away. He must know that sunrise is coming soon.”
    A dog barking? Myles stopped pushing and was going to ask his mother what, exactly, she meant.
    But before he could … a miracle happened. An old abandoned truck stop appeared at the side of the road. The truck stop was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by empty black fields. But it had a single streetlamp, and a tiny shaft of light shone down on the broken, weedy cement below. Bea let out a little whoop of delight from inside the car. Myles and his mother pushed Victor to the island of light then leaned against the car, gasping.
    Myles listened to the wind, to the silence in the fields and forests. The monster was suddenly strangely silent … but maybe there was a dog barking out there, somewhere really far off. He strained to hear. Yes! He could hear it!
    â€œWhere are we?” Bea asked, getting out of the car. A sign that hung from broken hinges on a signpost said DAN’S TRUCK STOP . It creaked a little in the wind.
    Their mother sighed. “We’re nowhere, Bea. I guess I should call for help.” She got her purse from the car … then …
    â€œUh-oh,” she whispered.
    â€œWhat? What is it?” Myles asked. He didn’t need any uh-ohs. Not here. Not now.
    She looked at him in despair. “I forgot! The phone is almost dead. I hope I have enough battery left for one last call!” Her voice was determined, though. She marched away to a little hill, and a moment later Myles and Bea could hear her talking to someone.
    Myles almost couldn’t believe it. They finally had some good luck, or at least not terrible luck. His mother’s cellphone had actually worked. Apparently people still existed out there somewhere. Other humans who could answer the phone and talk to you. Offer advice. Send help.
    Help.
    That seemed so far away, Myles couldn’t even really believe it.
    His mother came back and dropped her cellphone into her pocket. “Well, the tow truck will be here in two hours. We might as well get some sleep.” They all climbed back into the car, and Bea and their mother both fell right to sleep,