A nice find from Kairosnews ready for innovative use by any good school librarian – a wonderful story called The Puzzle Box. This is one for reading aloud, or working with online.

Either way, it’s a little bit of magic from Edward Picout! You might also like to visit the HyperLiterature Exchange, or do a search of the Electronic Literature Directory.

From Chapter 1:

“No, no,” said her Dad. “No, darling, I’m sorry, they didn’t have one. This is something else. It’s a present for you, but it isn’t a GameBox.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I’m not going to tell you that, am I? You’ll have to wait and find out. It was a marvellous shop, though, with all sorts of unexpected things in it. Not the usual mass-produced stuff at all. The shopkeeper was the strangest little man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Dad,” she said, “why didn’t you tell me Adam was in the back of the car?”

“What?” he said, turning round. “Adam’s in the back of the car? What are you talking about?”

Dora turned round too. The boy on the back seat had vanished.

“Honestly, Dora, you gave me such a turn.”

“But he was there, Dad! A boy called Adam! He was there just now! I was talking to him!”

“I think you must have fallen asleep and dreamt it,” said her Dad.