Will and His Dog and the Boat

Will and His Dog and the Boat

Copyright 2020 Paul Cook

Cover Image by Paul Cook

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Will and His Dog and the Boat

It was late August and the summer holidays were coming to an end. It seemed so long ago to Will since he had been to school and played with his friends. He had spent much of his time during the holidays with his best friend Charlie, who lived opposite him, and this had helped him not feel lonely.

On the morning of the last Tuesday of August Will and Charlie had decided to have a picnic lunch in the woods near to their houses. They had both asked their mums if they could go for a picnic and Will's mum had called Charlie's mum to agree the rules that the boys should keep to – after all, they were only eight years old. Will thought that his mum was a worrying old fuss pot sometimes, but he knew that all mums worry about their kids – it's just what they do.

Will and Charlie set out at three minutes past ten and they had been told to be back no later than five o'clock that afternoon. Will's dog, Clive, walked beside them wagging his tail and ran on in front because he was excited – Clive was always excited.

Will had ham sandwiches with Willato ketchup and Charlie had cheese rolls with pickle. Will's mum had given them a bottle of water and a bag of crisps each. The boys knew that they would put the crisps into their sandwiches because that is what they always did when their mums weren't around.

They set off up the lane that led from the end of their street towards the woods that they weren't usually allowed to go into on their own. Will was a little nervous about going into the woods but he hid it from Charlie. Charlie was a little scared about going into the woods but he didn't tell Will. Clive wasn't nervous or scared about going into the woods and his eagerness to run amongst the trees gave the boys courage.

"Come on then," said Will cheerfully. "Let's go into the woods and find somewhere to eat our picnic."

"Let's go," Charlie replied, "I hope we don't get lost."

The boys and Clive walked through the woods and carried on for some time before coming to a small clearing amongst some trees. They agreed that the clearing would be a good place to sit and enjoy their picnics. The boys ate their sandwiches (with the added crisps crushed into them) and Clive enjoyed two sausages that Will's mum had put in a plastic box for him.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Charlie when they had finished eating their lunch.

"I'm not sure," replied Will. "I've never been this far into the woods before."

There were several paths which all led in different directions from the clearing and Clive had already started to make his way towards the one directly in front of them. It looked as if the path went further into the trees and followed a steep hill downwards.

"Come on," said Will, "let's follow Clive."

They followed the path for a few minutes and then Will suddenly stopped and raised his hand as if to signal that he had heard something.

"Do you hear that?" Will asked, "it sounds like the trickling water of a stream."

Charlie could hear it to and said, "come on then, let's go and find it."

Clive ran on and, after a short time, he disappeared as the path wound left and then right, but still sloped downwards. The sound of the water got louder the further they walked and they could hear Clive barking ahead of them.