...a nine year old boy who loves playing computer games. Sam has a great imagination and would dearly love to own a dog. Sam has fallen behind greatly at school, with his teachers rather unsympathetic towards his struggles or his mums self diagnosis. Matty, Sam’s best friend, loves him just the way he is, regardless of his reading and writing abilities.

One evening, Sam falls asleep at his computer whilst creating a space hound for he and Matty to play with. Upon the stroke of midnight, the playful pooch magically comes to life, inviting him on a purposeful adventure. An adventure that will change his outlook and change his life.

“Shall we go now Sam? Let’s have some fun” said the little dog grinning from ear to ear. Sam’s heart started to pound so loudly that he worried it would wake up his mum in the next room. Then without another thought, he leaned forward and pressed the tag as quickly as his trembling fingers would allow.

Once the great array of magical colours had stopped swirling, Sam found himself transported far into the great night sky.

“Where are we going Lexius?”

“All in good time lad. I’m going to help you, you’ll see.”

Travelling at high speed and with eyes so wide they could almost pop, Sam could barely hold on to his thoughts. They whizzed past planets, rode alongside shooting stars and loop-de-looped the moon. Relaxing a little, Sam became aware of their space craft. Chuckling to himself, he thought it had all the makings of a super charged flying water bowl. The craft brimmed full of gadgets and technology that a boy could only dream of owning and Sam couldn’t quite believe his luck. His thoughts turned to his best friend Matty who should have been there to share this with him as they did everything together.

It was the most clearest of evenings, and the hazy summer warmth was still evident even at this hour. All the planets where dazzling as far as their eyes could see and the feeling became intense. They soared passed Jupiter, spun across Mars and swooped around Pluto. Sam was a boy aged nine, so could be forgiven the childish grin that had automatically crept across his face as they slowed up alongside Uranus.

From nowhere, three extremely bright rings, two purple and one green, became highly visible, glowing fiercely in the distance. Sam and Lexius were now totally out of control due to their powerful force pulling the space bowl towards their direction. Lexius jumped up on high alert and his short stubby tail went wild with excitement.

“Wow Lexius, where are we?”

“Hold on lad, this one’s a slippery landing and the power force is strong. We must hit the green ring at just the right spot, or risk being spun out into the galaxy...probably lost forever!”

Sam squeezed his eyes tightly shut. His hands gripped firmly to the metal bar that had automatically drawn around them when they entered the space bowl. The audio navigation system had become stuck, repeatedly announcing,

‘You have now reached your destination…'

’You have now reached your destination!’

Braced securely in their seats, Sam and his great new companion were ready for impact. Following a very abrupt landing, the flying water bowl slid some way before clipping a bolder, rolling onto one side and flinging both boy and dog like pancakes out on to a blanket of the most enchanting silvery blue dust. Picking himself up and brushing the twinkling dust from his pyjamas, Sam called out nervously to Lexius, who seemed to have disappeared. Spinning 360 degrees, Sam spotted Lexius reappearing in the distance. First his back legs and then his front popped out from a large ball of sparkling dust which had buried him completely upon landing. The little dog finally emerged safely giving Sam a cheeky wink and a thumbs up. Breaking free he engaged in a doggie like shimmy, ridding his coat of all the dust and sparkles he had collected a long the way. Finally, after completing a random sneezing fit and a good scratch behind both ears, Lexius appeared to be back on track.

“Sorry lad, you ok? I never did pass my landing test!”

“Err... yes, I feel brilliant.” Sam shouted back whilst wondering if there really was such a thing as a test to land a flying water bowl.

“I think my eyes are still spinning though!”

“Welcome to Letter Land Sam” bellowed the scruffy hound, swinging his arms wide in front of his chest. “This is the land where letters don’t always behave. We are going on a long journey tonight lad. We are going to see the Letter Goblin. The Letter Goblin lives at the top of Letter Mountain and the brightest star, the most special star of all reins continually over the mountain, protecting the Letter Goblin and his people. The Letter Goblin believes that every child fits, and all children deserve the chance to be understood.”

- Dog Lexius… A Tail Of Two Friends