Forest Secrets Read Free

me a bit about that before. What was it again?’
    Good, I thought, he’s talking a bit of sense. He might be coming good. Thinking it might help him a bit more, I told him about The Dreaming. A little bit, anyway. I said: ‘Today, when my people think of The Dreaming, they say it just is . But when it’s described more fully, we learn how the world was formed … from a nothing sort of place where there were no mountains or rivers or anything, not even a moon or a sun, and the earth was covered in darkness.’
    â€˜You mean there were no people on earth?’
    He’s interested. Good.
    â€˜Not really, but there were creators , a type of being that brought the nothingness to an end, who made the world what it is today.’
    I could see Snook was a little confused. Scrunching up his face, he asked, ‘What’s that got to do with what Stormy was on about – giant asteroids?’
    â€˜Lots of people believe that the asteroid led to the extinction of all the dinosaurs, but here’s the thing. I don’t think they died for nothing, ’cause in their own way they’d helped to make the world what it is today … like the creators did earlier, you know, like they did in The Dreaming. They sort of paved the way for all the other species – like man – to evolve or to be made. That’s why I think the extinction of the dinosaurs meant something.’
    â€˜Eh?’
    I didn’t answer. I’d seen something else. ‘Look, there’s Quenton Quigley on the other side of the road talking to your girlfriend.’ I couldn’t help adding, ‘I’d watch him if I were you.’
    Snook’s glare was enough to shatter glass, and for a moment I was worried that he might do something he’d regret later, but in the end, he said, ‘You’re right, that fink Quigley’s probably filling her head with all sorts of rubbish, but don’t worry, I’ll watch him all right – especially after what happened last night.’
    â€˜Last night?’ I grabbed Snook’s arm. ‘What happened last night? You didn’t say anything this morning.’
    â€˜I made a complete fool of myself, that’s what happened.’
    We came to our front gate. Pushing it open, we cut across the squelchy strip of couch grass which was our lawn – where you sank down to your ankles every time you walked across it – to the front door. ‘C’mon,’ I said, opening the door. ‘Let’s go inside. You can tell me all about last night.’

Chapter 4
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    W e dropped our school bags just inside the front door next to where we generally leave our shoes and other outdoor gear. Snook headed for the lounge room. After fetching a couple of cool drinks from the fridge for us, I joined him. Handing him a drink, I asked, ‘So, what happened last night? How come you made a fool of yourself?’ I settled back into one of the lounge chairs, took a sip of my drink and listened. Not wasting any time, he began to tell me what happened.
    â€˜I saw somethin’ that was real queer. When I woke up this mornin’, I thought I’d had a bad dream but now I know that it wasn’t a dream. It was somethin’ else. It was as real as you and me, I know that now. It was about nine o’clock when I saw it. I was tryin’ to say goodnight to Gloria – properly I mean. Not a kiss, if that’s what you’re thinkin’, just a plain old see ya type thing. I’m not inta kissin’. Gloria wouldn’t like me doin’ that.’
    I tried not to smile. Snook could be really naïve at times.
    â€˜So there I was,’ he went on, ‘I was just standin’ there, wonderin’ how to do that, say goodnight that is, when I saw somethin’ real peculiar.’
    â€˜How do you mean?’ I asked.
    â€˜I had a kinda vision. I saw a kid, who looked like a ghost. He was about ten or