Click!

Click!  1995 Post 309

Click! by Sally Odgers

Click! is a short reading scheme title based on something that really happened. One night, I heard a strange click and spent some time tracking it down. Eventually, I pursued it to the bathroom and discovered a click beetle (Elateridae) in the bath. The sound must have been amplified by all that white porcelain. In this story, a boy has gone to bed. His sister is in her bed, Dad is in his bed, the cat is prowling about and Mum, we later learn, is in the lounge-room. The boy hears a click and wonders if it is his sister playing checkers. He goes to ask and she tells him to go back to bed. He goes to ask Dad if he's clicking his fingers. No luck there. Okay, might it be Mum clicking her knitting needles? No. Again he hears the click and finds the cat in the bath tub stalking a beetle. He asks the cat if she is making the click... but it is the beetle that answers.
This story is odd for three reasons, I think. One is that it's about a click beetle. Think about that. a click beetle. Not a butterfly, a spider or a bee or wasp. A click beetle. Two, it did happen--sort of. Three, and most incredible of all, I got away with letting Mum... you know... KNIT! Okay. It was 1995. Oh, and the cover picture totally gives away the ending. What's with that?


ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service.