A Bridge to the Stars Read Online Free Page A

two things at the same time, that's one thing too
many.
    He works it out in his head.
    Today is March 3rd. He won't be able to get a bike for
at least a month. But there will still be snow everywhere
and it would be impossible to ride it. That's good. That
means he wouldn't need to be the last boy in the school
with no bicycle. But he ought to have mentioned the
electric cooker much earlier. I must remember that in
future, he thinks. Never wait too long before asking for
something.
    But more important than both the cooker and the bike
is the dog.
    The night Joel asked his dad about the electric cooker,
he lies in bed unable to sleep. He can hear the radio that
Samuel is listening to through the wall. There's still
music playing. If he's still awake when the pips sound
before the news, he'll be very tired when he has to get
up for school tomorrow morning.
    He listens to the cold that is making the walls creak.
The rafters are groaning and sighing. Soon the days will
grow longer and lighter. The snowdrifts will melt away,
just as they always do. The first cowslips will eventually
appear, glowing yellow by the side of the road.
    Joel decides to go looking for the dog.
    If it hasn't yet reached a star, I shall find it, he thinks.
    He decides to go looking for the dog during the night.
Night after night when his dad has fallen asleep, he'll
get up, get dressed and sneak out into the darkness.
    Perhaps everything is different at night-time. Perhaps
the dog is only visible at night. Just think, there might be
Day People and Night People. People who are only
visible at night. Children who go to school at night.
Parents who chop down trees in the forest or go out
shopping. Night People and Night Schools, Night Cars
and Night Houses, Night Churches and a Night Sun. Not
the moon, but a real sun that is only visible to the people
who live during the night.
    He can hear that the late news has started on the radio.
Samuel has turned up the volume because he no doubt
thinks Joel will be asleep now. In fact Joel is wide awake,
lying in his bed and waiting for his dad to drop off to sleep
before getting up and going out into the night.
    This is how an adventure ought to start. An adventure
you create for yourself, that you are the only person
involved in . . .
    The news comes to an end and Joel hears his dad
switch off the radio and go out into the kitchen to get
washed.
    Joel knows exactly what his dad does. First he washes
his face, then he brushes his teeth, and then he gargles.
When he switches the light off in the kitchen he usually
clears his throat.
    Joel waits impatiently for everything to go quiet. But
before he realises what's happening he falls asleep, and
when he wakes up it's morning and his father has
already disappeared into the forest.
    Joel is tired and annoyed when he forces himself to
get out of bed. The cork floor tiles never feel as cold as
they do when he hasn't had enough sleep. Moreover his
buttonholes are too small and his socks too tight, and he
hits his head on the hood over the stove when he tries to
warm his hands.
    He has often wondered what actually happens when
he falls asleep. He's tried imagining a little creature
wandering about inside him, snuffing out a series of wax
candles, and when it's completely dark, he's asleep. It
will be one of those Night People, he thinks.
    They want to be left in peace during the night. They
want us to sleep.
    He doesn't really want to go to school today. He
would prefer to creep back into bed and go back to
sleep, so that he's properly rested when night comes. He
doesn't want to miss out on his newly thought-up
adventure yet again.
    But he puts on his rubber boots and clears the stairs in
four jumps. He's made up his mind that before his
twelfth birthday he will get to the bottom in three hops.
    When he turns off by the church he starts running so
as not to be late. Miss Nederström doesn't like her
pupils arriving late. If you do, you have to stand up and
explain why. And then