man sitting in the hut looked weird. His skin was brown, but not brown like heâd just come back from holiday. It was a deeper kind of colour, dirtier. His hair was a mixture of black and grey. It was long and greasy.
He had a beard, too, which was growing at different lengths and glistened in places as if a snail had crawled across it.
Lying on the floor next to the man was a panting dog. Its grey and black coat was the same colour as the manâs beard. It seemed more like a wolf than a dog. There was something really strange about its eyes too. One of them was brown but the other was a bright shade of blue. It looked as if it had a glass eye.
The man had his legs up on the bench and a bottle sticking out from his worn jacket. His hands were covered in mud and grime.
Both he and the dog were glaring at Jamie. Were they angry that Jamie had been using the hut to practise with? If so, why hadnât the man said something?
The ball had come to rest by the side of the hut but Jamie didnât want to get it. He stood there motionless, feeling the manâs stare fixed on him. Jamie was scared.
Then the man made a loud snorting noise like a pig and suddenly produced a big load of phlegm that he spat out of his mouth.
Its gloopy green mass landed on the ground right next to Jamie.
He didnât know whether or not the man had meant it; he only knew it was one of the roughest things heâd ever seen.
Like the manâs spitting was a starterâs gun, the dog immediately got up and ran over to Jamieâs ball. It sniffed the ball a few times and bit it. Then it rolled the ball back towards Jamie with its nose.
The ball was covered with the dogâs spit but Jamie picked it up anyway. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He didnât want to run away because that would show he was scared, but he walked as quickly as he could until he was out of the park and into the street. Only then did he turn to look behind him.
But by that time, both the man and the dog had gone.
After that day, Jamie never saw them in the park again. For some reason though, he couldnât shake the image of the man from his mind.
And the strangest thing of all was that even though he couldnât explain it, Jamie had this feeling that, someday, they would meet again.
Â
Â
Â
Looking at the clock above the whiteboard, Jamie couldnât believe that it was only 10.20 a.m.
He already felt like heâd been at school for ages, and there were still three hours to go until kick-off. He didnât care any more that he was playing for the Bâs. He could have been playing for the Fâs. He just wanted to get out there.
For long periods of this double maths lesson, Jamie had found himself staring out of the window towards the football pitches.
He tried to concentrate on the equations but the only thing in the classroom that was really capturing Jamieâs attention was Ollie.
Ollie always went for Mr Barnwell and today he was really going for it â making up for all the lost time over the holidays.
âRight, carry on with your exercises,â said Barnwell, sitting at his desk. âRaise your hand if you have a question.â
After a couple of minutes of quiet, Ollie looked at Jamie and Tesh. He winked and nodded his head. He clearly had something up his sleeve. Then they realized what it was. Heâd just done the most disgusting fart. It was seriously potent.
Then Ollie raised his hand.
âYes, what is it, Walsh?â
âSir, could you please come over here for a second? Iâm not sure I understand,â he said, keeping a completely straight face.
âVery well,â said Barnwell, pleasantly surprised at Ollie showing such interest. He got up and practically skipped over to Ollieâs desk.
As he stood next to Ollie, his big nose started to twitch as it picked up the scent. Then his eyebrows curled, questioningly.
Heâd picked up the
He had a beard, too, which was growing at different lengths and glistened in places as if a snail had crawled across it.
Lying on the floor next to the man was a panting dog. Its grey and black coat was the same colour as the manâs beard. It seemed more like a wolf than a dog. There was something really strange about its eyes too. One of them was brown but the other was a bright shade of blue. It looked as if it had a glass eye.
The man had his legs up on the bench and a bottle sticking out from his worn jacket. His hands were covered in mud and grime.
Both he and the dog were glaring at Jamie. Were they angry that Jamie had been using the hut to practise with? If so, why hadnât the man said something?
The ball had come to rest by the side of the hut but Jamie didnât want to get it. He stood there motionless, feeling the manâs stare fixed on him. Jamie was scared.
Then the man made a loud snorting noise like a pig and suddenly produced a big load of phlegm that he spat out of his mouth.
Its gloopy green mass landed on the ground right next to Jamie.
He didnât know whether or not the man had meant it; he only knew it was one of the roughest things heâd ever seen.
Like the manâs spitting was a starterâs gun, the dog immediately got up and ran over to Jamieâs ball. It sniffed the ball a few times and bit it. Then it rolled the ball back towards Jamie with its nose.
The ball was covered with the dogâs spit but Jamie picked it up anyway. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He didnât want to run away because that would show he was scared, but he walked as quickly as he could until he was out of the park and into the street. Only then did he turn to look behind him.
But by that time, both the man and the dog had gone.
After that day, Jamie never saw them in the park again. For some reason though, he couldnât shake the image of the man from his mind.
And the strangest thing of all was that even though he couldnât explain it, Jamie had this feeling that, someday, they would meet again.
Â
Â
Â
Looking at the clock above the whiteboard, Jamie couldnât believe that it was only 10.20 a.m.
He already felt like heâd been at school for ages, and there were still three hours to go until kick-off. He didnât care any more that he was playing for the Bâs. He could have been playing for the Fâs. He just wanted to get out there.
For long periods of this double maths lesson, Jamie had found himself staring out of the window towards the football pitches.
He tried to concentrate on the equations but the only thing in the classroom that was really capturing Jamieâs attention was Ollie.
Ollie always went for Mr Barnwell and today he was really going for it â making up for all the lost time over the holidays.
âRight, carry on with your exercises,â said Barnwell, sitting at his desk. âRaise your hand if you have a question.â
After a couple of minutes of quiet, Ollie looked at Jamie and Tesh. He winked and nodded his head. He clearly had something up his sleeve. Then they realized what it was. Heâd just done the most disgusting fart. It was seriously potent.
Then Ollie raised his hand.
âYes, what is it, Walsh?â
âSir, could you please come over here for a second? Iâm not sure I understand,â he said, keeping a completely straight face.
âVery well,â said Barnwell, pleasantly surprised at Ollie showing such interest. He got up and practically skipped over to Ollieâs desk.
As he stood next to Ollie, his big nose started to twitch as it picked up the scent. Then his eyebrows curled, questioningly.
Heâd picked up the
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