Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Charlie the fly sat in total darkness, his tiny heart thrumming in panic. He tried to calm himself down and figure out what to do. His cardboard prison was bumping up and down, and Charlie guessed by the steady rhythm that he was in Dylan's pocket, and that Dylan was walking. Charlie was well and truly stuck. He had to change back– and fast. But Charlie needed to be calm in order to change, and there was no escape from his spiralling thoughts. He felt as if he was trapped in a coffin, buried deep under the earth. He couldn't imagine ever seeing daylight again. He could hardly breathe. Charlie hurled himself against the cardboard walls of the box, banging and bashing to no avail, until he finally gave up and miserably clung to one of the

sides. He couldn't even tell if he was the right way up. Slowly but surely, Charlie the fly felt himself start separating from Charlie the boy. Bit by bit, he could feel his thoughts and memories slipping away, and Charlie knew they would go on shrinking until they disappeared altogether, and all that would be left would be a fly in a matchbox. Charlie fought the terror that clutched at him. He tried to slow his breathing and remember all the people who loved him: his mum and dad; his brother, SmoothMove; his best friends, Mohsen and Wogan, and of course, Flora. He clung to warm memories of them, desperately trying to stop himself sinking into the dreadful quicksand of forgetfulness that threatened to engulf him. Slowly, the slide into oblivion stopped, and Charlie found he could still remember who he was. He might be a fly with a pooey proboscis, but he was Charlie the fly. He was still stuck, though. The happy memories had been enough to stop him losing himself, but hadn't been quite enough to get him to change back. Through the cardboard, he could hear faint noises from outside. It sounded like he was in a playground. Dylan must have reached school, and Charlie was still stuck in his pocket. 'Come on, Van der Gruyne!' shouted the unmistakable voice of Mr Wind, the Head of Year. 'You nearly missed the bus, boy. Get on quickly!'

Charlie felt the bumping steps as Dylan clambered on to the bus. 'Now,' Mr Wind continued, 'that's everybody… apart from McGuffin. Anybody seen Charles McGuffin? No? Well, he was warned! Hope he has fun on bog-duty with Mr O'Dear! Driver, if you will, to the zoo!' Through his six sticky feet, Charlie felt the vibration of the bus engine starting, then a sudden bump as Dylan sat down. Now Charlie was REALLY stuck. There was no way he could change back now. Everyone would see him. As the bus drove further away from the school, the babbling of the children became louder and more excitable.

But above the chatter, Charlie could clearly hear two voices arguing. 'He does!' 'He doesn't!' 'He DOES!' 'He' DOES NOT!' Charlie would know them anywhere. It was Mohsen and Wogan. 'How do you know? You haven't even seen it!' 'Right, Flora, can you settle this?' That was Mohsen speaking, Charlie thought, smiling inside. 'Does Spider-Man blow webs out of his bum?' 'Does Spider-Man blow webs out of his bum?!' That was Flora's voice, and Charlie's heart leaped with joy. He could imagine the look of disbelief in her face. 'Is that what you're really asking me?' 'He does!' exclaimed Wogan. 'In the first movie– the one with the evil sheep! Spider-Man bends over and blasts webs out like massive farts all over them!' Charlie felt laughter begin to ripple through him like sunshine on water. 'Wogan,' Flora said wearily. 'Please. Listen to yourself. Spider-Man blasting webs out of his bum on to evil sheep? Are you sure this wasn't a dream?' 'Ah,' Wogan replied. 'Yes. Now you mention it, there's actually a strong possibility it was a dream. In fact, come to think of it, I'm almost certain it was a dream.' If Charlie hadn't been a fly at that moment, he would have roared with laughter. But as he was a fly,

he just hung upside down, laughing silently to himself. And that was all it took to make Charlie start changing back: happiness and laughter and love. For the first time he could remember, Charlie didn't want to change back– he was on a bus packed with his classmates!– but he couldn't stop himself. The image of Spider-Man bending over and shooting a web out of his bum on to evil sheep was just too funny, and Charlie felt himself starting to grow… Dylan could feel it too, and grabbed at his pocket, but it was too late. 'Noooooo!' he cried. With a gigantic ripping sound, Charlie smashed out of the matchbox, burst out of Dylan's trousers. And a moment later, he had changed completely back to human-Charlie, and was sitting on Dylan's lap in the back corner seat of the bus. 'Charlie!' called Wogan, spotting him. 'There you are! Where've you been?' 'We thought you missed the bus!' said Mohsen. 'But why are you sitting on Dylan's knee? There are plenty of seats.' 'They must have finally got over that whole "mortal enemies" thing,' said Wogan.

'Well isn't that wonderful,' Mohsen beamed. 'Everybody's friends now, sitting on each other's knees.' 'I knew you two would put your differences aside eventually,' said Flora. 'I'm so proud of you both.' 'We have NOT put our differences aside,' said Dylan, shoving Charlie off his lap. 'And we are STILL mortal enemies!' 'Ah well,' said Wogan. 'Never mind. I thought it was too good to be true.' 'And not only will I wreak a terrible revenge on you, McGuffin,' continued Dylan. 'But you owe me a new pair of trousers as well.' Dylan stormed off to the front of the bus, clutching the hole in his trousers so he didn't show the whole bus his pants. 'Will that boy ever change– hang on, what's that?' Wogan asked, pointing at Charlie. 'What's what?' Charlie asked. 'That! All over your face,' said Wogan, still pointing. 'Ugh,' said Mohsen. 'It's like brown stuff all round your mouth and nose.'