The Blob, The Frog, The Dog, and The Girl

Chapter One

“This is our jetty!” a voice said behind her. The girl looked round. She was being confronted by two boys with fishing lines and a bait pail and the biggest, blackest, drooliest dog she had ever seen. The bigger of the boys, who looked to be a bit older than her, was tubby, extremely tubby. The smaller, who looked to be a bit younger than her, was skinny and scowling. They were both dressed only in board shorts and suntan and were brown as biscuits. The dog came up to her where she was sitting with her legs dangling, gave her a good sniffing and slobbered all over her ear, which made her very wet indeed. He plonked down beside her and began to gaze intently into the water where a school of yellowtail was darting in and out of the piles.

“This is our jetty,” the smaller boy repeated.

“It is not,” the girl said. “It’s a public jetty. It says so.” She pointed at the sign which read, Carol’s Wharf. Nearby was a council notice that proclaimed it a public jetty and sternly prohibited everything you could think of including fishing, swimming, diving, jumping, running, bike riding, skate boarding and dogs. It would have been a lot simpler, the girl thought, if it had just said: no fun, by order, ever.

“But it is our fishing spot,” the smaller boy said.
“Who says?” the girl demanded, starting to get angry herself.
“I do,” the bigger boy said. “Move!”
“Or what?”
“Or he’ll sit on your head and fart,” the smaller boy said.
“Gross!” the girl said, scrambling to her feet. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Of course he would. He does it to me all the time,” the smaller boy said.
“So nick off,” the bigger boy said.
“No!” the girl said. “And don’t you dare touch me…”
She was too late. The bigger boy gave her a shove and a twist and the next second

she was down on the rough planking of the jetty. A second after that a heavy weight was pressing her head into the boards.

“I warned you,” the smaller boy said with satisfaction. His voice was distant, muffled. “Now you’re for it.”

There was a thunderous noise and a terrible stink. The girl gasped for breath and retched.

“Do it again,” the smaller boy said. “Make sure she never comes back.”
“If she tells we’ll be grounded longer,” the bigger boy said.
“If she tells we’re grounded longer anyway…”
There was another thunderous noise and a second wave of miasma engulfed her. The girl tried to kick and punch but she couldn’t reach anything to hit.