Will and His Dog and the Horrid Girl Next Door 

Copyright 2020 Paul Cook 

Cover image by Paul Cook 

Smashwords Edition, License Notes 

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Will and His Dog and the Horrid Girl Next Door

A new family had recently moved in next door to the house that Will shared with his mum, his dad and his dog, Clive. The new family didn’t have any pets that Will could see but he wondered if maybe they kept a goldfish or a hamster inside the house. 

The mum and dad who had moved in next door were older than Will’s parents but they had all quickly become friends. Often on Friday evenings after work, Will’s dad and the dad next door, who Will had been told to call Mr Thompson, enjoyed drinking a couple of bottles of beer together at the bottom of the drive. 

Will’s mum and Mrs Thompson had also become friends and sometimes they went shopping together on Saturday mornings. They often came home without having bought anything and Will could never understand why they went in the first place if all they were going to do was traipse in and out of shops for no reason. 

The Thompson’s seemed like nice enough people but, unfortunately, they had a daughter and Will did not like her at all. Her name was Alex, which Will thought was a name for a boy but, according to his mum, it was short for Alexandra. She was eighteen years old, ten years older than Will, and had just finished school for the summer holidays. Alex was apparently going off to study something that Will had never heard of at a university in a city he had never been to.

Will had liked Alex at first but she had done several things that had really annoyed him. Whenever Will waved at Alex or tried to speak to her, she always ignored him which he thought was extremely rude. Alex owned a white mini and had nearly driven over Clive as she was reversing off her driveway. Will shouted at Clive to warn him but all Alex did was rev her engine loudly and blow the horn before driving off at a speed which he thought was too fast. 

The final straw for Will had been when Alex had refused to throw Clive’s ball back over the fence to him after it had bounced off the wall of his house and into the Thompson’s garden. Will had been very cross and marched down his drive, up the Thomson’s drive, around their house and into Alex’s back garden. She was sat on the grass with two of her friends. One of the friends saw Will walking across the lawn and said to Alex, “who is this?”

Alex replied, “it’s just the annoying boy from next door.”

Will asked, very politely, “please can I have my dog’s ball back?”

Alex laughed and said, “no you cannot because if I give it back to you, that ball will soon be back over here again. So, I’ve hidden your stupid ball - now get out of our garden.”

Will was so very cross, his face started to burn and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He knew that he was going to start to cry with anger. Will didn’t want to cry in front of Alex and her friends because he knew that they would just laugh at him and so he turned around and strode out of the Thompson’s garden and back to his house. 

When he returned to his house, Will told his mum all that had happened in the Thompson’s garden and how Alex had been mean to him. Will’s mum was very cross and wanted to go around there and get the ball back herself but she decided to wait until she saw Alex’s mum so that she could have a chat with her about it all. 

Later that night, at about ten o’clock, it was still just about light outside. Will should have been asleep as he had gone to bed at eight o’clock. He usually went to bed at seven o’clock on school nights but was allowed to stay up later in the holidays and on weekends. Like all children, Will found it hard to sleep when it was hot and still light outside. He was still very cross about his ball and decided that he was going to get the ball back from Alex somehow. He supposed that Alex had forgotten all about the ball because it wasn’t as important to her as it was to him. 

Will’s dad always let Clive out into the garden before he went to bed for a quick run about and Will decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to steal his ball back from next door. Clive had, like all dogs, a fantastic sense of smell and would be able to find the ball if he could get into Alex’s garden. Will told Clive to go and fetch the ball from the garden when he was let out later that evening – Clive seemed to understand. Even better, Will’s bedroom was at the rear of the house and so he would be able to watch it all as he had a clear view of the Thompson’s back garden. 

Will tried as hard as he could to stay awake but he fell asleep, as all boys do, and forgot about it all. At eleven o’clock Clive was let out as usual to have a pad about and do his business. He ran around the side of Will’s house and down their drive. He turned right and padded along the front of the Thompson’s house and ran through their front garden and around the side of their house. A security light flickered on but that did not bother Clive who had already picked up the scent of his ball. Alex had hidden the ball behind a large flower pot. Clive wagged his tail when he spotted the ball. He snatched the ball up from the ground with his mouth and ran back to Will’s house as fast as he could.

The next morning Will was pleased to find the ball back in his garden beside the shed and he gave Clive a long cuddle. Will hid the ball behind the wheelbarrow in case Alex tried to steal it back from him.

Later the next day, Will was walking Clive along the road and, as he passed the Thompson’s house, Alex was reversing down the drive in her car. She rolled down her window and said “I see you got your stupid ball back then.”

Will replied, “I didn’t, but my dog Clive got it for me.”

Alex said, “if I see that stupid dog in our garden again I will throw a bucket of cold water all over it.” And, with that, she drove off laughing with music blaring from the car stereo.

Will shrugged his shoulders and patted Clive on his head. Will and Clive spent the rest of their afternoon lazing in the sun in their back garden and Will’s mum gave him an ice lolly that tasted of lemonade. It was the best day ever and when Will’s dad came home from work the family ate their tea outside on a picnic mat in the garden. Will couldn’t remember ever being as happy as he was that evening. When he went to bed that night, Will had forgotten all about Alex and the ball. Clive lay down on the floor next to Will’s bed and started snoring like an old drain. Will lay in bed listening to him and chuckled to himself. 

As the summer wore on, Alex’s behaviour began to annoy Will’s mum and dad. Alex would usually spend Saturday mornings washing and vacuuming her car on the Thompson’s drive. She would leave all the car doors open as she cleaned the car and played loud music on the radio. Often, on weekends, Alex would come home very late at night and would have noisy friends with her who would always wake up Will’s mum and dad. Will always slept through it all.

Will’s mum spoke to Alex’s mum about the noise and Mrs Thompson had said that she was sorry and that things would change for the better. Things didn’t change and Will’s mum and dad were looking forward to Alex going off to university in the autumn to study the subject that Will had never heard of in a town to which he had never been so that things might be quiet and calm again. 

Mr and Mrs Thompson went on holiday to Spain in the last week of the summer holidays. Alex didn’t want to go with them and so she stayed at home alone. On the evening of the final Saturday in August, Alex invited several of her friends around to her house for a party. Her friends were dancing in the back garden to very loud music and they were laughing and shouting even when it was past midnight. 

Will’s dad was very cross and went around to the Thompson’s house and banged on the front door. A young man, who Will’s dad didn’t know, opened the door, laughed and then shut it again. Will’s dad banged on the front door again. A young woman, who he didn’t know, opened the door, giggled and then shut it again. 

Will’s dad was furious and went back to Will’s house. He wanted to phone the police but Will’s mum didn’t want to cause a fuss and said that she would ring Mrs Thompson in the morning to tell her what Alex had been up to while they had been away on holiday.

All of the goings on had woken up Will. He looked out of his bedroom window and watched Alex’s party. Will couldn’t understand why Alex and her friends would want to make so much noise in the middle of the night when every other normal person was in bed asleep. 

After a short while, Will’s dad went back to the Thompson’s house and, instead of banging on the front door, he went around the side of the house and into the back garden. He found Alex and told her that if all of her friends weren’t gone from there in five minutes he would call the police. He also threatened to ring Alex’s dad and tell him what she had been up to while he had been away on holiday. 

Alex knew that she would be in big trouble if Will’s dad rang her dad because it was the middle of the night and he was on holiday. Alex’s dad would be very cross at her for having a loud party late into the night and upsetting the neighbours. 

Five minutes later the cars that had been parked on the street in front of Will’s house and the Thompson’s house were gone, the music had stopped and there was peace and quiet. Will’s dad went back to bed and Clive yawned, lay on his mat in Will’s bedroom and fell asleep. 

Will couldn’t sleep and he knew that he was going to be tired in the morning. He tried and tried to get to sleep but his mind was thinking about this and that and how horrible Alex was and how selfish her behaviour had been. 

Later on, when Will was almost asleep, he thought he heard a faint sound outside. He listened but there was nothing. 

Then it happened again. This time Clive heard it too. He pricked up his ears and sat upright on his mat alert and listening for another noise. Will leapt out of his bed and narrowly opened his curtains to see what could be making the noise. To his horror he saw a man trying to open the gate at the bottom of the Thompson’s back garden. The gate was locked and the man couldn’t open it. The man looked around and then began to climb over the fence into the garden. Will was terrified and he ran into his mum and dad’s bedroom. Will’s dad was fast asleep and Will had to shake him and shout loudly to wake him up. 

Will shouted, “dad, dad, there’s a man in Alex’s back garden. He has just climbed over the fence!” 

Will’s dad sprang out of bed and ran into Will’s bedroom. He opened the curtains a little bit and gasped as he saw a man standing in the garden looking at the Thompson’s house. He told Will’s mum to ring the police immediately.

Will’s dad said, “I’m going around there with Clive because Alex is alone in the house. Follow me downstairs Will and lock the back door behind me. Only unlock it when I come back.” Will’s mum was shouting and telling his dad not to go and put himself in danger. 

Before Will was born, his dad had been a policeman and Will knew that his dad wasn’t frightened of anything or anyone and that he always did what was right.

Will’s heart was racing and he could feel his pulse thundering in his head. He was so scared and hoped that his dad, Clive and Alex would be safe. 

Will’s dad walked around the side of the Thompson’s house and shone a torch so that he could see where he was going. Clive had already reached the garden and was growling at the man. Will was watching from his bedroom window with his mum and he started shouting when the man tried to kick Clive. 

As soon as the man realised that Will’s dad was there he turned away from the house and ran back down the garden. Will’s dad ran after him. The man reached the fence and, just as he tried to climb it, Will’s dad reached him, grabbed his legs and pulled him to the ground. The man tried to punch Will’s dad but he was met with a clunk on his head from the torch. The man fell backwards and Will’s dad pinned him to the ground. 

Lights in the Thompson’s house suddenly switched on and Alex opened the back door and ran out into the garden. Will’s dad told her to go inside and lock the door. The man tried to struggle free from Will’s dad but he wasn’t strong enough.  

Five minutes later, two policemen arrived at the Thompson’s house and arrested the man. They knew Will’s dad and praised him for his bravery. The man was bundled into the back of the police van in handcuffs and driven away to the station. 

Alex was very shaken up by the whole experience and thanked Will’s dad for helping her. Will’s dad went back to the house and had a big cuddle with Will’s mum. Will cuddled Clive because he had been brave too. Will’s mum poured Will a glass of milk and his dad a glass of beer. They all slept soundly and in the morning they all had a lie in and then went to the local supermarket restaurant for a late breakfast.

The next evening Alex had another party but this time the only people invited were Will, his mum and dad and his dog. Alex had cooked four different pizzas and everyone agreed that they were all very tasty. Alex apologised to Will’s mum and dad for the upset that her party had caused. 

After the pizzas, Alex played catch with Will and Clive and his soggy old ball. Will really enjoyed playing with Alex and when she finally left to go to university he waved her off and cried when she had gone because he knew that he was going to miss her.

The man who had trespassed into Alex’s garden was sent to prison because he had apparently burgled several houses in the area over the summer months. 

Will looked forward to Alex coming home from university at Christmas. When she finally returned, Will’s mum and dad went out to a party and left Alex as a babysitter for Will. Alex and Will stayed up late and watched a film together and ate lots of popcorn. 

Will thought that Alex was a lovely girl and he had forgotten about the nasty incident with the ball in the summer.  

The end.

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my story. I wrote this story for my eight year old son to read during the COVID-19 lockdown. He enjoyed reading the story and so I thought I would share it on the internet. This is not Will and Clive’s only adventure and so, if you enjoyed this story, why not read about the other books? 