About the Book

To celebrate the launch of Quick Reads in 2006, The Sun ran a short story competition called ‘Get Britain Reading’ in order to find the hidden talent among its ten million readers. It was judged by Sun columnist and bestselling author Jane Moore. The Sun Book of Short Stories contains a selection of the winning entries. They may make you smile, laugh or cry – but all of them are sure to entertain you.

The Sun
Book of Short
Stories

Foreword by Jane Moore

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA,
www.penguin.co.uk

Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First publication in Great Britain, published by arrangement with The Sun newspaper
Bantam edition published 2007

Compilation copyright © Transworld Publishers 2007

For copyright details of individual stories, see below

Quick Reads™ used under licence

To conform to the literacy guidelines the stories contained herein have been edited from their original form.

The authors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781446437629
ISBN 9780553818826

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Ball Games Copyright © 2007 Francesca Bardsley

A Living Copyright © 2007 Gavin Bell

Henry Copyright © 2007 Elizabeth Brassington

The Lost Gene Copyright © 2007 Angela Coughlan

There’s a Queue for the Therapist’s Chair Copyright © 2007 Colette Dickinson

I Don’t Know Why Copyright © 2007 Terence Foster

Last Gasp Copyright © 2007 Richard Grant

Murder In Catcher’s Wood Copyright © 2007 Paul Horsman

Christmas Truce Copyright © 2007 Jeanette Middlemas

Dad’s Car Copyright © 2007 Stuart Real

Super Copyright © 2007 Michael Ripley

She Copyright © 2007 Daniel Rowe

One Wish Copyright © 2007 Lisa Sanders

Need to Know Copyright © 2007 Kevin Tutchener

Daylight Robbery Copyright © 2007 Georgina Voller

In Terms Of: An Office Story Copyright © 2007 Steve White

CONTENTS

Cover

Title

Copyright

FOREWORD

Everyone thinks they can write a short story or even a novel.

After all, they think, I’m really good at telling a funny or interesting tale. How hard can it be to put it down on paper and get the same result?

But when they actually try, they soon realize that it’s very difficult indeed. You don’t have gestures or facial expressions to help you out. You don’t have the benefit of eye contact with the person you’re speaking to. You have to pull them in to your story purely by what you write on the page, the way you create your characters and give them a realistic plot or twist. When you’re writing a short story, this is doubly hard because you have so little time to capture the reader’s imagination. As a result, your writing has to be sharp and to the point, well paced in a very small space. Believe me, it’s tough to do.

I really admire anyone who can write a compelling short story, so I was thrilled to be one of the judges for The Sun’s short story competition ‘Get Britain Reading’. It’s designed to tie in with World Book Day and to champion the cause of promoting literacy. The idea was to find brilliant, unpublished writers. We were overwhelmed by the tens of thousands who entered short stories of a very high standard. Some were skilled at writing punchy prose with twists and turns, others preferred a slower style, drawing the reader in to a detailed moment in time. It was an extremely tricky job to come up with a shortlist! But after much deliberation, our panel of judges picked the best from the Under 16 and Over 16 categories, many of which are printed in this book.

I have little doubt that some of the short story writers you see here today will become the bestselling novelists of tomorrow. Enjoy!

Jane Moore

BALL GAMES

Francesca Bardsley

AMIRA WASN’T ALLOWED TO talk to strangers. In those dark days the city was dangerous, especially for a nine-year-old girl. Even one who knew where it was safe to go and when to run and hide.

But Khaled was no stranger. Everyone knew him. His smile, his swagger, his roll-up cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He would crack a joke with her father. Offer a respectful comment on her mother’s cooking. Amira knew she was safe when she was with Khaled.

She was playing with a group of children one day. They were in what had once been the schoolyard, before it had been destroyed. Khaled joined them. There was a hoop attached to what remained of the school wall. He challenged the girls and boys to throw a rock through the hoop.

Amira’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together, laughing, as her rock went straight through. It just clipped the rusty metal ring as it fell back to earth. No one else even came close.

‘Well done, little one!’ said Khaled. ‘You are better than all these big boys.’

He searched through his pocket and produced a brown paper bag full of sticky pastries.

‘Take this,’ he said. ‘You deserve it.’

Amira often saw Khaled at the schoolyard after that and showed him how well she could throw. He told her she was getting better. Every time she cleared the hoop, he gave her something. They were small things. Sometimes extra rice to take home to her mother. Sometimes flour or spices. Sometimes little sweet things Amira could keep for herself.

He started giving her tips. Telling her to pull her arm back and focus her eyes before letting go. Soon she could make the hoop every time. It seemed natural when Khaled suggested they go in search of new targets.

They practised together often, always in the safe neighbourhoods. But Amira felt no fear when she was with Khaled. He had told her she was better than the boys. She trusted him. Besides, no one messed with Khaled.

Sometimes he would make marks on walls or on the ground. Amira would land the rocks, or whatever they had found to throw that day, on his mark.

Once they found a burnt-out truck. Amira would have been afraid to go near it but Khaled told her it was safe. They used that for her to aim at. At first Amira couldn’t throw her rock through the empty windows where the glass had been. But soon she had mastered that too.

Khaled strolled up to Amira one day when she was at home. She was surprised. Usually they would meet at the schoolyard, and she had seen him there only yesterday. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I have a new thing for you to try. It will be a little harder, but I’m sure you can do it. You are such a clever girl.’

She followed Khaled, but became uneasy when they started leaving her familiar neighbourhood. He could see her mood and laughed at her. ‘Don’t be such a frightened little mouse, you’re with Khaled.’

She continued walking but held her hands tightly together behind her back, wishing away the bad people her mother and father had warned her about.

They approached a courtyard. There was nobody to be seen but the atmosphere felt different – tense and dangerous. Amira shook it from her mind. Khaled would never take her to a place that wasn’t safe.

He showed her the day’s challenge, pressing a small, hard round thing into her hand. It felt different from the usual rocks but Amira did not really notice. She fixed her mind on the throw, wondering what he would give her afterwards.