Updown

by Simon Haynes

You don't know me, I'm Daniel and me an' mom live in a updown south of Titan City. You've seen vids of carnival rides. There's one what's a big pole with a flying saucer thing going up and down, up and down and spinning round and round. Well our house is like that, only there's just two of us in it and it doesn't spin else we'd get sick ...Social services call on ten-year-old Daniel, intending to take him away from his home. Danny has other ideas. A 1500-word science fiction short story.

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2011

About the author

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock, Harriet Walsh and Hal Junior (MG) series. He divides his time between writing fiction and computer software, with the occasional bike ride thrown in for a laugh.

Simon lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining horror listening 🎶🔰

This was free from the author

Daniel is being taken away from his mother by social services but Daniel has other plans.

I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for a quick cute read 👍🔰. 2023 😀😯😕🏡😮

Oh how I love 💘 those free books 📚!I

[Eric Flint · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has an interesting point of view. The main character is a child, and the interpretation of what happens in the story is from that aspect.
You have to pay attention to gather what is going on, and it gets interesting in an unsuspecting way. I don't want to do any spoilers, so just read it. It's short, and a real twist is the key to the story.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 3 out of 5]

going through either ku or freebie day books by writer, if not either skipping, another too short not really understandable/explained enough one and/or gross etc-- trying to figure out when how and possible even IF there is kindle etc for Collect One-Two BOOKS {One, Two, then double pack with all} contains the following stories by Hal Spacejock author Simon Haynes: Sleight of Hand, The Desolator, Updown, A Piece of the Action, Catch of the Day, Yard Fail, Off Course, Billy's Book, Loss Leader, Fizz!, Thonn Day and Escape Clause. This means have to check each book to find on goodreads and pull it up IF even there to then see if have the individual book either kindle unlimited, bought/freebie day, so far and says 12 stories


You don't know me, I'm Daniel and me an' mom live in a updown south of Titan City. You've seen vids of carnival rides. There's one what's a big pole with a flying saucer thing going up and down, up and down and spinning round and round. Well our house is like that, only there's just two of us in it and it doesn't spin else we'd get sick ...

Social services call on ten-year-old Daniel, intending to take him away from his home. Danny has other ideas.

* just me keeping up with which ones reviewed as go, some won't be because couldn't find, not freebie day, not ku, etc

Sleight of Hand shows up separately on amazon/goodreads *
The Desolator shows up separately on amazon/goodreads *
Updown shows up separately on amazon/goodreads *
A Piece of the Action shows up on both but NOT ku and didn't get on freebie day etc
Catch of the Day shows up separately on amazon/goodreads *
Yard Fail, Off Course shows up on both but NOT ku and didn't get on freebie day etc
Billy's Book shows up on both but NOT ku and didn't get on freebie day etc
Loss Leader shows up separately on amazon/goodreads
Fizz! shows up {if look for it on his page, NOT by linking from goodreads} on both but NOT ku and didn't get on freebie day etc
Thonn Day shows up on both but NOT ku and didn't get on freebie day etc
Escape Clause NOT showing up for kindle etc

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple horror story. Daniel and his mom live in an up-down. When a man from Social Services calls on him to take him away, Danny has other ideas.

If this were a literary criticism, it might rate a 3, but the rating is based on personal enjoyment. Among other issues, the author failed to identify it as horror. You might want to avoid this if you're squeamish.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Haunting. Tragic. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flash fiction.

Author freebie. Is this humor or horror? It's a thin line between comedy and tragedy. A strange child is targeted by social services and does what he has to , in order to escape.

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. Loved the ending.