A Life Beyond by Mark Church (e book reader txt) 📖

as they both turned to where the smell seemed to be coming from, it seems all that running and chasing in the woods had caused Bucksy to get a little over excited, he was sitting upon his front paws wagging his tail which caused the smell to waft from his direction.

'It's your dog!!!...He’s let rip!!!', shouted Harvey as he grabbed a clothes peg from the shelf beside him and put it on his nose hoping to block out the smell,

'That's so nasty, what did he eat earlier??, I think I'm going to pass out!',

Daniel was holding his nose with his fingers as there was nothing to use to block out the foul smell,

'I think my eyes are melting..' Daniel moaned as Bucksy just sat and kept wagging his tail as if to say ‘I can't smell anything, but here have some more’.

'Quick we need to get the windows open!!, I'm struggling to breathe here', The boy's scrambled around with the locks on the windows until they all creaked open,

'That's better…' Daniel said as they had opened all the windows downstairs and left the front door open to get rid of the smell,

Daniel looked at Harvey who was looking a little off colour now and had started to gag at the stench the dog had left behind as the peg he was using had broken in half,

'Seriously get that dog out of my house!!,' Harvey cried as Bucksy just tilted his head to the side and looked at him as if to say ‘just try and move me’,

'Alright, I'll take him outside, the smell has gone now though' Daniel replied as he put his hand behind Bucksy’s head and gently pushed it forwards as if to move him from his sitting position,

'Come on boy, let's put you out in the garden before you do it again then we will really be in trouble'.

Harvey had walked through the kitchen and pushed the back door open wide so Daniel could let his dog out in the fresh air, as Bucksy walked past Harvey threw the dog a look that showed complete disgust for what he had done and said,

'Yeah that's it, get outside you rotten dog!!, Next time you do that you'll be left out on the porch, you're evil!!'.

'Daniel ushered the dog out and as he shut the door behind them he shouted, 'Stay, Bucks. There's a good boy. That was a good one though, hahaha',

'Right mate , now that Sir Trump-a-lot is outside let's eat!!', A hungry sounding Harvey said as he whipped open the cupboard doors to reveal a shelf full of biscuits, sandwich spreads, tins containing all sorts of food and fruits,

'Right Daniel, let's prepare a feast fit for a King, what shall we have??' as they both surveyed the contents of the fridge too where they spotted a box full with cut up chicken,

'Mmm, I'm having that!!' said Harvey as he pulled out the box and placed it on the kitchen side then dove back into the fridge to see what other delights were hidden inside,

'Harv….look!!!!!' exclaimed Daniel as he pulled out the biggest chocolate cake they had ever seen and seemed to both be drooling at the sight of it,

'I'm having a bit of that I think!!', Daniel declared as Harvey's eyes widened at the thought of cutting off a big slice of it and stuffing his face full of chocolate,

'It looks amazing, Let's eat!!' he said as the boy's made the kitchen look like a site of devastation as there was bread and crisp crumbs everywhere over the sides followed by chunks of chocolate cake that had fallen off and been squished into the kitchen side,

'Let's eat outside in the treehouse mate, just don't drop any in there' Harvey warned his friend as they both struggled under the weight of their oversized portions on such small plates and made their way across the grass, followed by a hungry looking Labrador, to the treehouse which was sitting proudly in the corner of the garden overlooking the most beautiful fields filled with dazzling coloured flowers and hedgerows which stretched as far as the eye could see which was in stark contrast to Daniel's house which sat on the edge of the overbearing forest filled with the tallest trees and constant noisy chatter of the animals that dwelled within it, maybe that's why Daniel like it so much as it gave him the freedom to be with his thoughts , it was somewhere Harvey spent a lot of time as he liked to just stare out across the open fields and dream about his fantasies,

So the boy's sat down in the treehouse and began tucking into the ‘feast’ they had prepared when Daniel asked Harvey a kind of deep question which was not normal for him to ask,

'So now we are out mate, what should we do, I don't really want to go back to that place anymore, I feel there's something else we should be doing'

'Like what?' Harvey said as he stuffed piece of chicken into his mouth and chewed it like it was the only bit of food he'd eaten all week

'I don't know mate, I just wish something exciting would happen, like us having some sort of adventure or something, see all these things that have been going on lately with my dreams and stuff I've seen have really made me think about stuff and what I want to do and I can't have school getting in the way!!',

'Like what stuff' Harvey bluntly replied again as he shoved a bit of cake into his mouth, So Daniel went on to explain about the recurring dreams he had been having and what he had seen and heard in them and how he was struggling to understand what they meant when Harvey piped up rather excitedly,

'OH MY GOSH…. That's the weirdest thing ever!!!!, I've been having the weirdest dream too, kind of like that but all I keep seeing is a castle sitting above a town and then a load of bells hanging in this big cave type place then this odd looking guy dressed in what looks like big pyjamas keeps reaching out to me telling me to 'protect the bells Protect what is needing protection’, Or something like that, I thought I was having a nightmare, woke up sweating buckets and everything'', Harvey grew more excited with every passing second.

'What do you think it means??...' he continued as his excitement level grew with every passing second,

'I dunno mate, sounds weird though doesn't it' Daniel replied in a calm manner as if he was trying to make sense of what his friend was telling him, Harvey was practically bouncing on the spot hoping that Daniel might have the answer.

'I reckon it means something good is going to happen!!!, Bet it involves wizards, knights and castles!!!, oooo maybe we are going to be the heroes and save the land or even become great warriors!!!'

'Or it might be nothing Harv, stop getting over excited and sit still, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that we had the same kind of dream' said Daniel as he tried to make sense of it all.

'Sounds cool though mate doesn't it!!!!' Harvey said clapping his hands together and smiling the biggest smile from ear to ear at the prospect of this being real, he continued

'I mean imagine if it was real, how cool would it be, us being brave warriors and stuff, bet I get the best animal to ride on and I have the biggest sword ever!!'

'Whatever Harv..' Laughed Daniel as his mind was now going into overdrive at the thought of what might be, he sat, legs dangling over the edge of the treehouse, looking out towards the fields and wondering if it could be a sign something was going to happen or if it was just their overactive imaginations looking for a bit of fun, Harvey was still rattling on behind Daniel about slaying dragons and witches, slicing through the air with his pretend sword when something caught Daniel's eye out by the woods. It looked like the shadowy figure he had seen at school that day, it seemed to be standing still and looking towards where the boys were sitting.

'Harv…..look!!' said Daniel as he grabbed his dragon slaying friend and pulled him towards the edge of the treehouse,

'There's that shadow thing I saw earlier!!!, It's just out there by the edge of the woods, I think it's looking at us'.

Harvey dragged his arm away from Daniel who had a good grip on it and strained his eyes trying to see what Daniel was talking about,

'I can't see anything Dan...Where am I looking again??'.

But Daniel was preoccupied by the woods and what happened earlier, he seemed to be staring deep into the woods, almost hypnotised by the windy rush swirling round between the trees like a dancing ballerina, the leaves twisting and turning almost rhythmic in their flow, Daniel had blocked out all around him as he could see something in the far end of the woods which had caught his eye, then he seemed to break the trance like state he was in so Daniel this time grabbed Harvey by the head and held him in the direction he could see the mysterious shadowy figure and sharply said,

'Look again!!!!...it's right there by the edge of the trees it's just standing there'.

Harvey squinted his eyes and leant further forward to get a better look then all of a sudden he lost his balance and fell forwards.

'WOAHH' Harvey screamed as he fell forwards and went straight over the edge of the treehouse edge and landed with a thud on the floor below,

Daniel had taken his eyes off the shadow in the distance and couldn't help but laugh as he saw Harvey sitting up against the tree rubbing his bruised backside moaning away,

'That blooming hurt!!!, That's your fault again Dan...Why is it whenever we’re together I always get hurt or injured or stung or attacked!!!'

Harvey stood up and moaning loudly about how much pain he was in decided that he was going to stay down on the ground so he didn't get injured again,

'So can you still see whatever it is you're seeing or has it gone now?' said Harvey as he climbed up the fence slightly so he could see into the woods,

Daniel looked back and as he did he saw it moving off again deeper into the woods this time,

'It's moving mate!!!, going into the woods now, can you see it??',

Harvey strained every bit of his neck to try and focus on whatever it was his friend was seeing but he couldn't see anything.

'Nope can't see a thing mate, are you sure there's something there??.....No wait I think I see something…' Harvey said as he saw something approaching the edge of the woods, he could just make out what looked like figures approaching,

'That's not what I saw' Daniel replied as all of a sudden a small group of people started walking along the path towards the back of Harvey's house, turns out they were a group of ‘ramblers’ who were always out walking the woods and around the countryside,

As they walked past they clocked the boy's on the other side of the fence and all said ‘Hello’ as they made their way past the fence where the boys were hanging over, Daniel piped up as they walked by,

'Excuse me sir..' He started, 'You haven't seen anyone else out by the woods just then have you??',

'Hello young man, no we've been walking round for hours, haven't come across a soul since we've been out, are you looking for someone?', The rather oddly dressed man replied.

'Kind of...Thought I saw something there a minute ago and then it just vanished. Not sure what it was, just curious to find out what it was I guess', Daniel replied as he huffed and his shoulders dropped.

'I reckon it was something to do with wizards and witches!!!' Harvey piped up with a large smile across his