Read Online Selby Screams by Duncan Ball - Free Book Online

the wet road."Owwwwww!”
    “M-m-maybe if I really th-think hard,” Selby thought as he hobbled away, just ahead of the slimy figure, “I’ll come up with the l-logical explanation for this.”
    “Owwwwwwwwwwwww!” the creature howled again.
    “Crumbs! And d-double crumbs!” Selby mumbled as he sped up only to find the figure so close behind that each swish of his tail touched its knees. “I w-wish I could get my leg w-working properly.”
    A light rain began to fall as the figure lurched along, each step bringing it closer to the panting Selby.
    “I’m
(pant
) thinking
(pant
) as logically as I can,” Selby thought as he struggled along Bunya-Bunya Crescent and then turned into the Trifles’ driveway, “but the only
(pant)
thing I can think of is that this
(pant)
slimy beast is after the blood of its next victim —
(gulp)
my blood! Oh, no! Someone’s closed the door!
(pant)
How am I going to
(pant)
get away from him! I can feel his breath on my back! I’ve got to get in the house!”

    Selby took a running leap, throwing himself against the door, and he bounced off straight into a pair of slimy hands that clutched him tight around the middle.
    “This is it! I’m a done dog!” Selby thought. “I’ve got to call the Trifles! My secret doesn’t matter now!”
    Suddenly the front door flew open and the horrified Trifles stood stock still staring at the dark figure.
    “Help! Save me from the slimy beast!” were the words on the tip of Selby’s tongue when all at once a smile spread across Mrs Trifle’s face.
    “Postie!” she cried as she watched the mud streak down his soggy clothing. “It’s you! What happened?”
    “I’m afraid I took longer to clean the mud out of that drain than I expected,” he said with a gasp. “And then I fell right into it and hurt my leg. Owwwwww!”

    “Let’s have a look at it,” Dr Trifle, who knew nothing about hurt legs, said.
    “It’ll be okay. It’s just a bit painful. You’d better have a look at Selby here. I think he
does
have a hurt leg,” Postie said, handing Selby to Dr Trifle. “I’d better go home and get cleaned up.”
    “Didn’t I tell you there’s a logical explanation for everything?” Dr Trifle saidwhen the postman had gone. “I’m sure we’d all be better off if we thought logically.”
    “I’m sure we would, dear,” Mrs Trifle said, looking at Selby’s leg and finding nothing wrong with it.
    “Logical, schmogical,” Selby thought as he heard the music that ended Tim Trembly’s
Tales of Terror.
“One more second and you’d have heard a dog screaming for help in plain English. I’d like to see you explain that one logically.”

THE AWFUL TRUTH
    “I wish people would be more helpful,” Mrs Trifle said with a sigh. “I asked the people of Bogusville for ideas on how to keep the town’s expenses down and no one gave any. No one cares. What’s worse, there’s been a rash of stealing.”
    “What’s gone missing?” Dr Trifle asked, as he poured some liquid into a bottle.
    “Light globes,” Mrs Trifle said. “They’re being taken from streetlights and even from the council chambers.”
    “This could be the answer,” Dr Trifle said, swirling the funny-smelling chemical around. “It’s a new invention of mine called
Blabbo.
“
    “If Blabbo is the answer,” Mrs Trifle said. “What is the question?”
    “You don’t understand. My Blabbo is really the not-very-well-known chemical, di-ethyl-tri-beryl-poly-wanna-kraka.”
    “All that in a little jar?”
    “It’s a new kind of truth serum.”
    “Truth serum?” thought Selby, who was nibbling a Dry-Mouth Dog Biscuit. “Dr Trifle’s gone bonkers this time.”
    “You mean people drink that and they have to tell the truth?”
    “Exactly. When the police catch a suspect, all they have to do is give him — or her,” the doctor added to be polite, “one sip and he — or she — won’t be able to lie to save their lives. It lasts for about an hour and then