Webster Read Free Page A

fresh air. In fact, he liked it so much that even when it started raining, he stayed outside.
    Later, when Monica brought his dinner in, he quickly gulped down half of it, so that everyone would stop hovering over him already. Then, he went back outside and curled up on the wet cement.
    The next time he woke up, it was dark. The rain was still coming down, and he was completely soaked. Would he get in trouble if he came inside and got the kennel all wet? Maybe. So, it was probably safer to stay outdoors and let the rain keep falling on him.
    On the other hand, it was very quiet, and maybe all of the people and other animals had gone to bed. So, it might be okay to go inside and lie down on the floor. In fact, if no one was looking, he might even finally try out that tempting-looking fleece bed.
    So, the dog hauled himself up from the cement andshook off as much water as he could. Then, he ducked through the swinging door and went inside. Yes! The lights were out everywhere, and he was by himself! Excellent.
    The dog immediately flopped down on the bed, and was delighted to find out how comfortable it was. Wow, he had wasted a lot of time out there on the soggy cement, when he could have been resting in here, instead. When the people got up in the morning and started looking at him, he could always go back outside, if he felt like it.
    With everyone keeping such a close eye on him, he hadn’t seen anything resembling an opportunity to run away. So, he would just have to be patient, and bide his time. Then, when the moment arrived— whoosh! Off he would go, never to return.
    And since he wasn’t sticking around, he couldn’t think of any good reasons to try and be cooperative and fit in. He was a bad dog, right? That was the rumor, anyway. And bad dogs totally were not team players.
    So, okay. He could make his own rules, and be a proud, noble dog that everyone would admire, but never quite understand. He would never depend on anyone again, and no one would ever have a chance to be meanto him. He could picture himself strutting down the street, while people watched eagerly and wished that he would to choose to live with them —not the other way around.
    Yep, that was his plan. He would be a loner. A rebel. A canine icon . They would write inspiring songs and poems in his honor, he would trend all over the Internet, and Hollywood would film unforgettable action movies about him, that did huge box office during their opening weekends.
    Oh, yeah, that would be awesome.
    But, he was going to need a much better name than Webster . It would be hard to be an icon, if he didn’t have a really impressive name. Something memorable, and dashing. A name to create fear and awe in the hearts of all who were lucky enough to pass his way.
    He drifted off to sleep, dreaming about what the journey towards being a canine celebrity would be like. Then, right in the middle of an entertaining part about him being the supreme commander of a pack of admiring and respectful dogs, his eyes flew open.
    What was that ?
    Somewhere, out in the corridor, he could hear astrange, scary sound. Was it—stomping? No, it was more like something stumping along. Stumping, and skittering, and—he had never heard anything like it.
    And whatever it was, it sounded like it was headed straight towards him!

CHAPTER TWO
    T he dog scrabbled into the back of his kennel, hoping that the monster wouldn’t notice him in the dark. Luckily, he hadn’t once been named Shadow—by the crummy owners he had had before the mean family—because he was easy to see. He was too big and tough to be afraid of anything, but—well—monsters were different. Monsters were scary.
    Stump, stump, skitter, skitter, stump.
    What was it? Only something extremely dangerous would make eerie noises like that. Okay, it was maybe a small monster, but he knew for sure that it was a monster.
    Then, he heard an even worse noise— something was