Back Things that Fall from the Sky Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. A Walled-In Girl
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. The Five Lightning Strikes of Hamish Mackay
  31. The Five Lightning Strikes of Hamish Mackay
  32. A Mermaid Splashing
  33. 1
  34. 2
  35. 3
  36. 4
  37. 5
  38. 6
  39. 7
  40. 8
  41. 9
  42. And That was The End of That
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. 7
  50. 8
  51. 9
  52. 10
  53. 11
  54. 12
  55. 13

Bruno is tame because when he was little, I fed him with a baby bottle. Now he thinks I’m his mum, and when I walk past, he always comes up to the fence and bleats. Bruno is black, which really means brown, and one of his ears hangs down lower than the other one, because his mum tried to bite it off. Even if a lamb has just come out of its bum, a sheep might not realize who its baby is.

Bruno was sure he wanted to live and he latched on to the baby’s bottle like a wild beast. Milk splashed everywhere, the bottle bubbled and Bruno’s mouth slurped and smacked. Looking down at him, you could see his tummy getting bigger as it filled with warm milk. It wasn’t a cute job, feeding Bruno. It wouldn’t look nice in a children’s book, the way my hands got wet with milk, holding the bottle.

Bruno can eat grass now.

Today the sheep look miserable: no one’s saying baa.

They’re lying all over the grass, feet tucked firmly under their bellies. They always lie in the same gangs. The brown ones are friends and the white ones form two different groups. They look at each other as if they don’t get what the others are doing in the same pen.

When it’s raining hard, the wool of the sheep goes flat and they look thin and wet. Auntie said that if you throw a sheep into water, it sinks.

There’s smoke coming out of the small chimney of Extra Great Manor, which means that Auntie Annu has lit a fire in the kitchen. That’s good because otherwise the kitchen is so cold you don’t want to take your coat off.

I know that you mustn’t complain of the cold if you live in a manor house.

3

3

When I was six years old, Auntie Annu got seven numbers right in the lottery. A genuine Double Mega Jackpot was up for grabs: so much money it’s hard to put into words. It’s more than the African Star in the board game: the diamond that’s worth more than the rubies and all the notes put together. When you win, you have to rethink things a bit. For example, do you enjoy working? Do you want to carry on playing African Star? Do you want to live in a different place, or sign up for riding lessons, or buy diamonds? Then you have to consider what’s important in life. Family, of course, but that’s got nothing to do with money. Anyway, Auntie Annu doesn’t have family because she’s got no kids. Also, you’ve got to beware of burglars. Even if you have won the lottery, you might not get to go into space, and money can’t buy happiness, and you won’t get to have servants in your house.