looking pop starlet, her tanned arms around the neck of a boy band star who was wearing only jeans. Polly stared at it, her mouth dropping open in shock, and went crimson. Next to the photo were the words: JAMIE RICE—HOW SNOGGABLE IS HE?! Polly read the words, mouthing them silently, and then stared up at Rachel.
‘Does your father let you read this?’ She looked absolutely appalled and Rachel began to shuffle, embarrassed, on her wood-effect flooring. Listed down the front page she could see further shocks in store for poor Polly. STEP IN TO SEXY SUMMER SWIMSUITS had Polly’s hand flying to her mouth and DOES MY BUM LOOK BIG IN THIS? had her eyes ready to pop out of their sockets.
‘Um—didn’t you have magazines like this?’ she asked, feeling peculiarly self-conscious.
‘Well—I get Girl , of course,’ said Polly, still staring at SWEET as if it was the work of the devil. ‘But that’s nothing like this!’
‘What is it like?’ asked Rachel, taking SWEET out of Polly’s hands and tucking it hurriedly under her bed with MISSS and JJEM and other shocking publications.
‘It’s super! Full of adventures stories, like “Wendy & Jinx” and “Belle of the Ballet”. They have the most amazing things happen to them—and they certainly don’t worry about the size of their backsides! I love them. I always wanted to have adventures and amazing things happening to me …’ She tailed off, gulping, and her round blue eyes fixed upon Rachel with a wet glitter. ‘And now I’ve got my wish.’
‘This used to be Father’s room,’ said Freddy, as soon as he stepped into Ben’s bedroom. It was a wide room with a double sash window which overlooked the wild garden and the woods beyond. Ben slept in the top of a metal bunk bed. The floor was covered in blue carpet and drifts of Star Wars Lego, and luminous ‘glow-inthe-dark’ planets were stuck all over the ceiling. Ben kept meaning to take them down—he was thirteen now, after all, and they’d gone up when he was six— but he still liked the way they glowed gently in the night.
‘This must be really weird for you,’ said Ben. ‘What did it look like?’
Freddy shrugged. ‘Cream and beige. Oak stuff. Ghastly old curtains which must have been there since 1900, I reckon! It’s better now, I can tell you. That bed is whizzer! Can I have the top bunk?’
‘Well,’ Ben shuffled, awkwardly. ‘It’s kind of m-my bed. It’s got all my books and stuff on the shelf.’
Freddy grinned. ‘It’s all right, you clod. I’m just joshing you. I’ll be perfectly happy in the bottom bunk. I say—this is going to be fantastically odd. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow in 3 009! Maybe you will too!’
Ben sat down on the spinning metal seat which went with his white desk unit (also covered in Star Wars Lego) and stared at his great-uncle. ‘You really are something!’ He shook his head. ‘You’re just supercool about this, aren’t you?’
‘Certainly have been,’ said Freddy, opening the built-in wardrobe and eyeing Ben’s clothes and shoes. ‘Super cooling is part of the process. That’s how Father put us to sleep.’
‘Did you ever think that was—a bit—dodgy? Him putting you to sleep like that?’
Freddy shrugged. ‘It was the obvious thing to do. He needed to do research and it’s no good always doing it with rats or dogs. He only did it after he was absolutely certain it was safe. We didn’t mind. He never put us in any danger.’
Ben found it hard to agree. What if those cryonic torpedo things had gone wrong? Freddy and Polly would surely have suffocated. ‘He’d never get away with it today,’ he said. ‘Social Services would be round before you could blink. Mind you—I bet there’s not a parent alive that wouldn’t hope it could work. I mean—my mum and dad often talk about how great it would be to put us to sleep. In long car journeys mostly. They say they’d like a glass screen to slide up between the front seats and
‘Does your father let you read this?’ She looked absolutely appalled and Rachel began to shuffle, embarrassed, on her wood-effect flooring. Listed down the front page she could see further shocks in store for poor Polly. STEP IN TO SEXY SUMMER SWIMSUITS had Polly’s hand flying to her mouth and DOES MY BUM LOOK BIG IN THIS? had her eyes ready to pop out of their sockets.
‘Um—didn’t you have magazines like this?’ she asked, feeling peculiarly self-conscious.
‘Well—I get Girl , of course,’ said Polly, still staring at SWEET as if it was the work of the devil. ‘But that’s nothing like this!’
‘What is it like?’ asked Rachel, taking SWEET out of Polly’s hands and tucking it hurriedly under her bed with MISSS and JJEM and other shocking publications.
‘It’s super! Full of adventures stories, like “Wendy & Jinx” and “Belle of the Ballet”. They have the most amazing things happen to them—and they certainly don’t worry about the size of their backsides! I love them. I always wanted to have adventures and amazing things happening to me …’ She tailed off, gulping, and her round blue eyes fixed upon Rachel with a wet glitter. ‘And now I’ve got my wish.’
‘This used to be Father’s room,’ said Freddy, as soon as he stepped into Ben’s bedroom. It was a wide room with a double sash window which overlooked the wild garden and the woods beyond. Ben slept in the top of a metal bunk bed. The floor was covered in blue carpet and drifts of Star Wars Lego, and luminous ‘glow-inthe-dark’ planets were stuck all over the ceiling. Ben kept meaning to take them down—he was thirteen now, after all, and they’d gone up when he was six— but he still liked the way they glowed gently in the night.
‘This must be really weird for you,’ said Ben. ‘What did it look like?’
Freddy shrugged. ‘Cream and beige. Oak stuff. Ghastly old curtains which must have been there since 1900, I reckon! It’s better now, I can tell you. That bed is whizzer! Can I have the top bunk?’
‘Well,’ Ben shuffled, awkwardly. ‘It’s kind of m-my bed. It’s got all my books and stuff on the shelf.’
Freddy grinned. ‘It’s all right, you clod. I’m just joshing you. I’ll be perfectly happy in the bottom bunk. I say—this is going to be fantastically odd. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow in 3 009! Maybe you will too!’
Ben sat down on the spinning metal seat which went with his white desk unit (also covered in Star Wars Lego) and stared at his great-uncle. ‘You really are something!’ He shook his head. ‘You’re just supercool about this, aren’t you?’
‘Certainly have been,’ said Freddy, opening the built-in wardrobe and eyeing Ben’s clothes and shoes. ‘Super cooling is part of the process. That’s how Father put us to sleep.’
‘Did you ever think that was—a bit—dodgy? Him putting you to sleep like that?’
Freddy shrugged. ‘It was the obvious thing to do. He needed to do research and it’s no good always doing it with rats or dogs. He only did it after he was absolutely certain it was safe. We didn’t mind. He never put us in any danger.’
Ben found it hard to agree. What if those cryonic torpedo things had gone wrong? Freddy and Polly would surely have suffocated. ‘He’d never get away with it today,’ he said. ‘Social Services would be round before you could blink. Mind you—I bet there’s not a parent alive that wouldn’t hope it could work. I mean—my mum and dad often talk about how great it would be to put us to sleep. In long car journeys mostly. They say they’d like a glass screen to slide up between the front seats and
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