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I remember reading a book of short sci-fi stories for children when I was at primary school- I can't remember the book's name, but most of the stories I found relatively uninteresting, just stories about kids in futuristic or sci-fi settings. But there was one story in the book that really captured my imagination- and it was EXTREMELY dark and rather disturbing, particularly for a kids' book- almost more horror than sci-fi.
I don't remember the title or even if it had one, but the story was about a boy called Simon who possessed some kind of telekenetic powers. (The first line of the story I remember was "Simon had never been normal.") The story was told from the point of view of another kid, who met Simon during the school holidays and befriended him. Simon bragged to him that he had the power to make things happen just by thinking about them, and the boy at first thought he was lying, but then Simon proved it to him by causing a drinks can to fall off a bin, and then causing a bird to fall out of the sky. The boy introduced Simon to his circle of friends and they found him good fun to be around because he could make all sorts of things happen to their advantage, like getting them ice lollies for free and sending a bully home crying. However, it soon became clear that Simon was plain evil and would stop at nothing to get his way with his powers. He used his powers to make the narrator beat up another boy, then he took the narrator home to his parents, whose lives he tormented by ruling them with his powers, and who were terrified of their own son (the story took a much darker turn at this point, there were some seriously disturbing scenes in the family home). Then after Simon was told off by a teacher at school, he waited around for the teacher after school, and caused a car crash to happen, killing him. The narrator went home to tell his parents about what Simon had done, and although they'd first been sceptical he now managed to convince them he was telling the truth, and he made a vow to stay away from Simon. However, somehow he wound up at Simon's house again, and Simon's mother had just given birth to a baby girl, who IIRC Simon was plotting to kill. But the baby girl turned out to possess the same powers herself, and she looked at Simon from her cot and caused him to be lifted into the air and spun around the room violently, hitting the walls until he fell down dead. The story ended with Simon's mother looking down at the baby girl in her cot and whispering "Oh no, not her as well...".
I'd like to try and locate this story if I can- does anyone else remember reading this or know where I could find it?
I don't remember the title or even if it had one, but the story was about a boy called Simon who possessed some kind of telekenetic powers. (The first line of the story I remember was "Simon had never been normal.") The story was told from the point of view of another kid, who met Simon during the school holidays and befriended him. Simon bragged to him that he had the power to make things happen just by thinking about them, and the boy at first thought he was lying, but then Simon proved it to him by causing a drinks can to fall off a bin, and then causing a bird to fall out of the sky. The boy introduced Simon to his circle of friends and they found him good fun to be around because he could make all sorts of things happen to their advantage, like getting them ice lollies for free and sending a bully home crying. However, it soon became clear that Simon was plain evil and would stop at nothing to get his way with his powers. He used his powers to make the narrator beat up another boy, then he took the narrator home to his parents, whose lives he tormented by ruling them with his powers, and who were terrified of their own son (the story took a much darker turn at this point, there were some seriously disturbing scenes in the family home). Then after Simon was told off by a teacher at school, he waited around for the teacher after school, and caused a car crash to happen, killing him. The narrator went home to tell his parents about what Simon had done, and although they'd first been sceptical he now managed to convince them he was telling the truth, and he made a vow to stay away from Simon. However, somehow he wound up at Simon's house again, and Simon's mother had just given birth to a baby girl, who IIRC Simon was plotting to kill. But the baby girl turned out to possess the same powers herself, and she looked at Simon from her cot and caused him to be lifted into the air and spun around the room violently, hitting the walls until he fell down dead. The story ended with Simon's mother looking down at the baby girl in her cot and whispering "Oh no, not her as well...".
I'd like to try and locate this story if I can- does anyone else remember reading this or know where I could find it?
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