The Foxling

By Byron Wallace Luby

Eight-year-old Charlie Strong, like many of us, has fears. He has let his fears of the dark and of the woods creeping behind his home control him and dominate him, keeping him from enjoying the things he used to. Then Dreamer, a magical creature called a Foxling, arrives in his backyard telling him t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foxling Studios
• Release date: Nov 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986843827

Book preview

Rain clouds had passed over Charlie Strong’s house on that summer afternoon. The rains had come and gone, their pitter patter playing a tune for all the world to hear. They left behind puddles on the sidewalks and muddy earth beneath the drenched grass. Now the sun was out, shining on puddles both clear and muddy. They shimmered blurred mirrors of colors and chocolaty brown, inviting wild little boys to come play.

Charlie answered the call. He was eight years old, brown eyed with even darker, thick hair. The boy had brought a battalion of tin soldiers to accompany him and stationed them in different places in the mud. Broken twigs, piled leaves and pebbles made up the obstacles of the battlefield. The Battle of Mudswamp. That’s what he would call it.

A bright car zipped by, humming and whining over the slick roads. Charlie watched it disappear and then returned to his game. He had resumed setting the toys up for only a little before an extremely important question popped into his mind.

I wonder what Mom’s making for lunch?

That question quickly gave way to another as Charlie looked down at the soldiers to see for the third time that the cavalry was missing. He glanced back at his house and sighed.

What’s taking Luke so long to find them?

He rose, his feet making a weird squishing sound beneath him.

I guess I should help him look, he said.

He took two steps to the house and stopped. A faint noise was swaying into the air behind him; it was pleasant. Charlie looked over his shoulder. The sound was coming out of the woods that surrounded his house.

Charlie’s heart quickened. Nothing good ever came out of the forest. The darkness, the eerie sounds, the fangs; all of those terrifying memories he wanted to forget fleeted through his mind. Charlie took a step back. The noise grew louder.

But it sounds nice, he thought.

Was it possible that something good could come out of the woods? He decided to wait and see.

Charlie cocked his head to the side, Is that music?

Indeed it was and the song went a little something like this:

Oh! The rain goes drippity drop

And so, I go hoppity hop

In the big blue puddle wuddles

How I love them so…

Then he heard a