Mutt looked out of the doorway. A drop of rain dripped onto her nose. "Yuck!", she said "I’m not going out there – I’ll get soaking wet!" She turned around and headed back into the house. As she walked into the bedroom, she spied a large lump shivering under the duvet. "I wonder what that is?" She growled gently under her voice and headed slowly towards the lump. "Come out and face me!" she growled, hoping that whatever it was wouldn’t be too big or ferocious. There was a high squeak from under the cloth. "I know you’re in there!" she gruffed again. There was no reply. She sank low to the ground and crept up to the edge of the duvet. She snuffled her nose under the edge and growled again.

"Aaaaahhhhh!!" shouted the lump

"Aaaaaaahhhh!!" shouted Mutt jumping back from the bed. The duvet flew high in the air and the lump flew over her head and landed in a heap behind her. She recognised the lump straight away.

"What were you doing under the duvet, Max?" she asked the lump.

"Hiding!" said the lump.

"Why were you hiding?"

"Because, " said the lump "of the monster!"

"What monster? What are talking about Max?" said Mutt somewhat confused.

"The monster that comes with the rain." Said the lump.

Mutt thought for a bit. What was Max talking about? How could the big black Alsatian be afraid of something and yet here was she, little black and tan Daschund, not even aware of the monster.

"What does this monster look like?" she asked the other dog.

"I don’t know, I always hide before it arrives to eat me!"

"Well, I don’t see any monster here at the moment Max, so you can come down off the wardrobe."

The big dog agreed and jumped in one huge bound back onto the ground. He had a shake and a scratch and settled back down on the bed. Mutt wandered up and sat down next to Max.

"So what does this monster do then?" Mutt inquired.

"Oh, it’s horrible!" Max stammered "It shouts and screams and stamps it feet and if it catches you then it will eat you!" He started to shake again. "It makes a terrible noise; I don’t understand why you haven’t heard it?"

Mutt thought quietly for a moment. This monster sounded terrifying. She imagines a huge hairy monster with great big teeth and vast claws, stamping its feet and shouting and tearing the room up. She began to get nervous. After thinking this she spoke:

"I think we should hunt this monster down and confront it." She said, trying to sound brave.

"No no nonononono!" Max looked worried.

"Look", said Mutt, "the only way you will ever get any peace is if you confront this beast and tell it to go away and leave you alone!"

"But it might eat me or shout at me or, or steal my food!!" Max started to shake again. Just the very thought of confronting such a beast was too much for him.

"Well, I’m going to look for him and if you don’t want to come, I’ll do it by myself!" said Mutt

Max’s heart sank. He knew he couldn’t let the little dog go and face the terror alone, but he really didn’t want to confront it. "Okay, I’ll come too!" he sighed reluctantly.

"Good!" she exclaimed. "So where will we find this creature of horror?"

"Well, I don’t quite know, but it only comes out when it is raining." Max said. "Perhaps it lives in the rain clouds?" Max ventured.

"Hmm, how can we get to the clouds?" Mutt asked thoughtfully.

There was a long silence. Mutt thought as hard as she had ever thought in her life. She wasn’t very good at thinking, but she was trying VERY hard. Where would you find a monster that lives in the clouds? Well, if the clouds hold the rain, and the monster comes out when it rains, then perhaps the monster has come down with the rain and is hiding in the garden? She decided that that must be the case and so they must go out in the rain to find the monster.

"Come on Max, we need to go out into the garden" Mutt was determined now. She didn’t care how big the monster was, it had frightened her friend and she wasn’t going to stand for it.

"Before we go, I think we should stock up on rations." Max said hopefully.

"You’re quite right Max, lets go into the kitchen and get some snackerals."

The two dogs got of the bed and went out into the kitchen. Max bowed his head and Mutt clambered onto the bigger dogs head. Max lifted the little Daschund up to the table and Mutt walked off and looked around the table for some food. She found some chocolate and fruitcake and a couple of chews. She pushed the food to the edge of the table and Max gently picked it up and lifted it down to the floor. Then Mutt clambered back onto his nose and was delivered down to where the food lay.

The pair munched happily on the food until they both had big bellies. Mutt’s was so full of fruitcake that she could barely reach the ground with her feet. Both dogs suddenly felt rather sleepy. Mutt gave a big yawn and that started Max off. They both put their heads on the floor and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Several hours later, Mutt was woken by a gentle rumble and a mad scrabbling sound. She sat up and looked around to see Max running into one of the kitchen cabinets.

"What’s wrong?" shouted Mutt.

"It’s the monster….he’s coming for us!"

At that moment, Shandy, the little brown Daschund that lived on the sofa, came wandering into the kitchen looking for a drink.

"What’s going on, Mutt? Why is Max hiding in the cupboard?" said the little ginger animal.

"It’s the monster that comes with the rain, Max is terrified its going to eat him!" stuttered Mutt worriedly. "Perhaps it’s going to get us all!" she continued.

"Monster?" Shandy looked perplexed. "What monster? What are you talking about Mutt?"

Mutt explained the whole story to Shandy while Max cowered in the cupboard. When Mutt had finished, Shandy smiled to herself and then chuckled.

"What are you laughing about?" growled Mutt "This is a serious matter!"

"Does this monster make loud, booming banging noises?" asked Shandy.

"Yes!" replied Mutt.

"And does it happen only when it rains?"

"Yes!" replied Mutt again.

"And have you ever seen this monster?" asked the red dog.

"No, but Max has heard it many times" said Mutt.

Shandy grinned again and said:

"You can come out Max. There is no monster!"

Max poked his head out of the door.

"No monster? But I’ve heard it!" Max said creeping slowly out of the door.

"No, you’ve heard the thunder." Shandy explained.

"Thunder?" said Max and Mutt together "What is thunder?"

"It’s the sound that comes from the sky when you have really bad rain. You see bright lights as well. Its all part of the rain, its not a monster. I quite like it actually."

"Oh!" Max looked sheepish "So it’s not going to eat me?"

"No" said Shandy.

"And its not going to chase us?" asked Mutt.

"No" said Shandy "Its not going to do anything except make a noise and make a lighter sky."

"Phew!" said Max.

Mutt the dog once more thought. Shandy was right, there was no monster. She had seen the light in the sky and had heard the noise – she just didn’t know that that was what Max was talking about. She felt a bit silly, but rather relieved. She thought again and finally said:

"Shall we have some more fruit cake then?"

The other dogs agreed and Max bent down to pick Mutt up….

THE END.