Selby Shattered Read Online Free Page A

Centre.’
    ‘I didn’t expect the Centre to be hired by people in dog suits,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘I thought it would be for people selling tractors or for sheep-shearing demonstrations. What exactly does SSS stand for, anyway?’
    ‘It’s the Search for Selby Society.’
    ‘Gulp,’ Selby gulped.
    ‘Who is this SelbyDr Trifle asked.
    ‘You know, the dog in those children’s books. The SSS is looking for him.’
    ‘Double gulp,’ Selby gulped again. ‘They’re after me!’
    ‘But Selby is just a made-up character,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Surely they don’t think he’s real.’
    ‘Yes, they do. These people used to be in a group that searched for alien life forms in other parts of the universe, but they gave up.’
    ‘Why did they give up?’
    ‘Because they didn’t find any. Then one of them said, “Why are we looking for alien life forms off in space when there might be some right here on earth?"’
    ‘Good point …I guess,’ Dr Trifle said.
    ‘Then someone read one of the Selby books and thought that maybe they’re true. Maybe an alien has taken over a dog’s body right here in Australia and that Selby is him.’
    ‘Now, hold the show!’ Selby thought. ‘I’m not an alien life form. I’m a normal dog who just happens to know how to talk.’
    ‘But why do they wear dog suits?’ Dr Trifle asked. ‘They certainly seem like a bunch of odd bods.’
    ‘No, I think they’re quite normal people but they might be embarrassed to let their friends know about their hobby of looking for aliens. Some of them might actually be famous people. Anyway, when they go to meetings, they put on dog suits and use made-up dog names.’
    ‘Why did they choose Bogusvillefor their meeting?’
    ‘Apparently Bogusville is a lot like the town in the Selby books,’ Mrs Trifle explained. ‘And, by the way, I’ve invited some of them around for afternoon tea.’
    ‘They’re coming here?’
    ‘Just a few of them,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘When I told them we have a dog, they seemed very excited to meet him.’
    ‘I’ll bet they were,’ Selby silently moaned.
    ‘How old is he?’ Candy asked when the group from SSS arrived.
    ‘He’s ten,’ Mrs Trifle said, passing around a plate of biscuits.
    ‘Why, that’s the same age as Selby in the books!’
    Bambino struggled to drink her tea through the mouth of her dog suit and then said, ‘He’s a very clean dog.’
    ‘Have you ever wondered,’ BeoWoof asked, ‘if he might be inhabited by an alien?’
    ‘Oh, puleeeez,’ Selby thought.
    ‘No, not really,’ Dr Trifle said, ‘but strange things sometimes happen when Selby’s around.’
    BeoWoof, Sausage, Tofu, Candy, Bambino and Fang put down their teacups.
    ‘What sort of strange things?’ asked Fang.
    ‘Yes, what sort of strange things?’ Selby thought.
    ‘Oh, just little things, like the times we’ve come home and found the lights and TV on when we thought we’d turned them off.’
    ‘You call those
little
things?’ asked Tofu.
    ‘Well, yes,’ Mrs Trifle answered, ‘because we know that we must have left them on. It obviously can’t have been Selby who turned them on while we were out.’
    ‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Bambino said. ‘When the TV was on, was Selby anywhere near it?’
    ‘Yes, but then he does spend a lot of time in the loungeroom, don’t you, Selby?’
    ‘Why did you ask him a question?’ Candy asked. ‘Do you expect him to answer you?’
    ‘Of course not,’ Mrs Trifle laughed. ‘We often ask him questions. He never answers. It’s just a silly thing we do.’
    ‘It might not be that silly,’ Sausage said. ‘We think that people sense when their pets are inhabited by alien life forms.’
    ‘I’m not an alien life form!’ Selby thought. ‘When are these people going to leave me alone?’
    ‘Could you explain that?’ asked Mrs Trifle.
    ‘People are very sensitive,’ Sausage said. ‘We sense when aliens are near. I think you must sense that Selby can