Crime Stories Shade Shorts 2.0
Page 3
‘People are asking questions about you,’ he says.
You ask who these people are.
‘Your parents would like to visit you,’ the lawyer says, ‘but they are not allowed to.’
‘I don’t want them to see me like this,’ you say.
‘What did you do to make them take you?’ the lawyer asks.
‘I was on holiday.’
‘Why were you on holiday there?’ he asks.
‘My friends have family there. We stayed with them.’
‘Have you or any of your family or friends ever been in trouble?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
‘That is the wrong answer,’ the lawyer says. ‘You and everyone you know have to be innocent. If not, it means you’re guilty. That’s how the system works.’
‘How can I be sure of a thing like that?’ you say.
‘You have to say what I tell you to say,’ he says.
So you say what he tells you to say. And you wait. And you wait. And they ask you more questions. But you can tell they’re getting bored.
‘Are you one of them? Are you one of us?’
You say, ‘No.’ And you keep saying, ‘No.’ And, after a long time, they get tired of asking you questions. They even get tired of hitting you. And they stop. And they agree to release you, as long as nobody makes a fuss. So you don’t make a fuss. And they let you go.
Your family are very glad to have you home. Your friends are very glad to see you. They’re very sorry they left you behind. But your friends have moved on. You’re not the same, and neither are they.
You go to college to make up for what you missed. You make new friends. You explain where you were. Some people are impressed. Some ask you to join the fight. ‘You know who the enemy are. You know what they are afraid of. Help us to get them,’ you are asked. ‘Give them what they deserve.’
‘What have you got to lose?’ you are asked. ‘Do you want them to think they won?’
You are not afraid. You say you will think about it. You think about it. You think about it. You’re not afraid.
You think about it.
More great SHADES 2.0 SHORTS reads:
Sci-Fi Stories
Funny Stories
Ghost Stories
Copyright
SHADES 2.0 SHORTS
Crime Stories
by Penny Bates, Alan Durant, Anne Rooney and David Belbin
Published by Ransom Publishing Ltd.
Radley House, 8 St. Cross Road, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 9HX, UK
www.ransom.co.uk
ISBN 978 178127 491 0
First published in 2009
This edition published by Ransom Publishing 2013
Copyright © 2013 Ransom Publishing Ltd.
Texts copyright © 2013 Penny Bates, Alan Durant, Anne Rooney and David Belbin
Cover photograph copyright © andrearoad
A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. 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 unauthorized 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.
The rights of Penny Bates, Alan Durant, Anne Rooney and David Belbin to be identified as the authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.