There was a beautiful villa in a small town nearby. This is a house that is bigger than the others and usually several families live in it. Two boys lived in this villa with their parents. Owie and Billy. They were best friends. Billy lived on the first floor and Owie on the ground floor. Every time Billy went somewhere, he’d slide down the banister and land right in front of Owie’s door. They went everywhere together. They played games together and together they came up with ideas. There was a beautiful garden around their villa. The lawn was completely soft and they had a lot of space for their games. They loved to play in the garden.
One summer evening, they didn’t want to go home at all. They kept persuading their parents to let them stay outside and play. Finally, Billy had an idea. “Owie, why don’t we sleep outside? We’ll put up a tent and spend the night here.” Owie’s eyes lit up. There couldn’t have been a better idea. They immediately went to ask their parents, and when they were allowed to do so, they started making preparations. They set up the tent. They put on mattresses, pillows and sleeping bags. And a small flashlight so they could see each other. They excitedly got into their sleeping bags and talked for a while. Like true boys, they told each other incredible, adventurous but also a little scary stories. Soon their eyes were closing and they decided to go to sleep.
They were about to fall asleep when something disturbed them. It was as if someone was walking past their tent. Something was rustling outside. They had nothing to worry about. They were in their garden and their parents were sleeping in the villa just down the road. But they were scared. “Do you hear that, Billy? What could it be?” Owie whispered. Billy just shook his head that he heard it and shrugged his shoulders that he didn’t know what it was. Both boys took a long time to gather their courage, but they had to do something. They slowly unzipped the tent. They quietly stuck their heads out and tried to look around. When all of a sudden something licked their faces. They were so startled that they jumped, banged each other’s heads and fell on top of each other.
They discovered that what was outside watching them was not a ghost, but a neighbor’s dog. He knew the boys and when he saw they were in a tent and alone, he came to watch them. Owie and Billy were very happy to have him there. And although the boys were certainly not afraid, the thought of a dog guarding them made them sleep much easier.
