Symby Read Online Free Page B

them walked out of the classroom, still holding hands. He couldn't believe he was holding hands with a girl. She was so cool! He couldn't wait to get home and log on.

Chapter 3
    Spud was rudely awakened by the loud popping noise outside. The effects of the bourbon hadn't quite worn off, so it took him a while to focus. He rubbed his eyes and rolled onto his side within the confines of the dirty sleeping bag. The air was cold, as it always was at night. His breath wafted into the air in small clouds and hovered three feet above him near the apex of the pup tent. As groggy as he was, he was still capable of recognizing a potential threat when he heard one. Grabbing the thick stick he routinely kept near him as he slept, he unzipped the sleeping bag and crawled towards the tent's triangular exit. He poked his head out of the tent and scanned his camp site. The place was a mess, there was no denying that. Tin cans, bottles, paper goods and plastic bags were strewn haphazardly around the site. Almost every day, Spud made plans to clean the place up, but his plans were never implemented after his first few swigs in the mornings.
    The biggest threat to Spud's continued existence came from people who enjoyed taunting and occasionally beating people who had come down a few notches in their fortunes, as Spud had. He had vowed never to take another beating. He tensed for a fight, gripping his makeshift club tightly. To his immense relief, he saw no one. Bears and other wild animals were also dangers to people in Spud's situation, threats to both his food supply and his life. Once again, his fears were allayed. As far as he could tell, nothing was moving. So what had caused the noise?
    Even with the remaining bourbon in his system, Spud knew that the darkness might be concealing a potential menace. Fighting the urge to crawl back into his sleeping bag, he steeled himself to examine his humble habitat more thoroughly. A few embers still flickered from the fire, casting a bit of light. This was fortunate, as Spud had no idea where he had put his flashlight, nor whether it had working batteries in it. Warily, he crawled out of the tent and got to his feet unsteadily. His attention was immediately drawn to his water pot, which hung from a metal rod suspended above the fire. The pot was glowing, emitting an eerie, greenish hue. As the embers reflected onto the pot, Spud could also see a large blister on the bottom of the pot.
    "What the hell?!" exclaimed Spud. "I just found that damned pot!"
    His annoyance at the damage to his pot overrode his sense of caution. He strode to the pot and peered into it. There was still some water in the pot and Spud calmed a bit when he realized that his pot was damaged, but still intact. The source of the greenish glow was obvious. Several tiny rock fragments rested at the bottom of the pot, each of them shining with swirls of green. Even in his slightly inebriated state, Spud could tell that the pieces would fit together to form a whole pebble. He was tempted to pick up the beautiful baubles, but quickly rejected the idea.
    "Not gonna be part of the blob," he thought. He remembered watching the old science fiction movie from the fifties with Steve McQueen. A meteorite landed on earth, and the old man who discovered it was absorbed and ingested by the gigantic, alien amoeba. Spud wanted no part of that nasty fate. To make a noise as loud as the one that had awakened him, he reasoned, the pebble must have been traveling really, really fast. To land squarely in his pot, the pebble must have come from the sky, perhaps even from outer space.
    "Yeah, right, outer space," Spud chortled. He gave himself a tough evaluation with his next thought. "You're a loon, a drunken fool. There ain't no such thing as alien monsters."
    Even so, Spud decided against touching the glowing shards. "Better to be safe than sorry," he thought. The sadness began to cast its pall over him as he considered whether saving his worthless life