"He's as smooth as sandpaper," she says, elbowing me in the ribs, pointing with raised eyebrows at a man standing by the counter. I look at him sideways. "Don't look!" she says, whispering

He sits in the stand watching the game of rugby. He doesn't know who is playing, some local team, he thinks. It's not important. He doesn't even understand the rules. He isn't here for the game. He is

"No publicity, please!" the old woman says, palming my camera away. She frowns and shakes her head. "You people," she says. "Will you never leave me alone?" "I'm sorry,"

"It's not a debate," he says, and with that shuts down the conversation. We sit here in silence. Well, almost silence. Bilker farts, and Kibber taps a beat with his finger on the arm of his chair.

"I'm not prey," he mutters, hiding behind the large overspilling garbage bin. It stinks of rotting meat, vegetables, and shit. Even the rats are looking at it suspiciously. He hears a Sentinel

"Button it!" the woman says. The child ignores her and continues to complain that she is hungry and wants to eat the sweets. "You're not hungry," the woman says, pulling the packet

The head on the door is talking to me, again. It was quiet for a while, a few days I think. But since I woke up about three in the morning running from something horrible in my dreams, the head has been

Myers told us that it was time to "play Sacrifice the Lettuce!" Everyone cheered, including me, until I noticed that under my nametag was a tiny picture of a salad. I put my hand up. "Err,"

He paces the room in a state of expectation. He tries to sit, but his legs won't keep still, and his fingers drum on the chair. She looks at him and rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry," he says. "I

He didn't like cheese. He pulled a face and picked up the small packet of Mature Cheddar from the shelf. It was touching his yoghurt, and even though it was unopened, he felt the cheese had contaminated

He stands in the hallway of the house he shares with three other people, none of whom he has met since he moved in three weeks ago. There is a poster taped to the kitchen door. It has the words, "No

"Would you like to swap?" I looked up as a shadow fell upon me. I shielded my eyes against the bright sun and squinted. The voice belonged to a boy, about my age, I guess. He was a serious-looking

Mr Pecker (I can't even think of calling him Al, no matter how many times he tells me too) smiles. It isn't a warm smile. It makes me think of a shark, or maybe a wolf. All teeth and hunger. He reaches

Hope arrived with springtime. It had been a tough winter. Another bad year, people were saying. But when the birds started singing, and the flowers started to pop out of the cold ground, people were feeling

"You know what this means?" she asks, pushing the papers towards me. I reach out for them, awkwardly; the chains that bind me to the table restrict my movements. I read the pages carefully and

"Okay," Blocker says, shifting in his seat, as though he has an itchy arse and he's trying to chair-scratch it. "So, what you are saying is that we need to tone down the corruption?"

And there he was, face-to-face with death itself. Okay, okay… let’s back up. Three days ago, Daniel and his two friends, David and John, were sent on a mission by the King of Zunan. Their task? Find the

We were young when it started. Maybe ten, perhaps eleven. I am not sure if we'd moved up to The BIG School by then. Anyway, it was summertime, and we were bored. I don't know why we were bored. We had

Killer was my second favourite ant. He was a loyal friend to me, over the years, and without him, I wouldn't have made it as far as this. I wouldn't be standing here, in front of you, giving you this speech.

I sit in the dark room trying to invent a new empire. Outside, the others are on a break. I hear them running in the corridors, the Guardians telling them to "stop running in the corridors!"