Fire Bug

By Eric Brown

“One match,” he said. “One  match is all it’d take.”

Danny has moved to a new town and things are not going well. No-one has taken an interest in him – he’s bored and lonely and bullied by the cruel and violent Ross Davis. But then Danny discovers something new, something that makes him feel powerful.

But will Danny know where to stop?

Fire Bug is the story of what goes wrong when Danny tries to make his life go right…

Written, edited and designed for teen readers who love gripping stories with as few obstacles to reading as possible. Particularly suitable for dyslexic, struggling and reluctant readers with a reading age of 7 and over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: infinite press
• Release date: May 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386278764

Eric Brown

Twice winner of the British Science Fiction Award, Eric Brown is the author of more than twenty SF novels and several short story collections. His debut crime novel, Murder by the Book, was published in 2013. Born in Haworth, West Yorkshire, he now lives in Scotland.

Book preview

Fire Bug

Eric Brown

Published by infinite press

© Eric Brown 2003, 2017

Cover images © Gemenacom, Tatisol and Jag CZ

Cover and interior design by Keith Brooke

First published by Barrington Stoke, 2003

No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder.

The moral right of Eric Brown to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

Contents

Chapter One: One Match

Chapter Two: Up in Flames

Chapter Three: Toilet Torture

Chapter Four: An Angel

Chapter Five: The Greatest Night of My Life!

Chapter Six: You Did It!

Chapter Seven: The Big One!

Chapter Eight: Going Out with Sandra

Chapter Nine: Gaz

Chapter Ten: In Deep

Chapter Eleven: A Bad Dream?

Chapter Twelve: Confession Time

Chapter Thirteen: The End

Fire Bug

Chapter One

One Match

One match...

That was all it took. One match changed my life.

It all started on that Sunday afternoon. There was nothing on TV and I was bored with my computer games. I decided to go out.

Dad was in the kitchen, cooking one of his big dinners.

We’re having the Prices around tonight, Danny. I’ll fix something you can eat in your room, okay?

I just shrugged and went out. Every Sunday it was the same. Mum and dad would cook for their friends. I’d be given a tray and told to eat in my room. It made me feel like a family pet.

I walked through town to the playing fields. It was an icy cold day in late October, and I could smell fireworks in the air.

Ever since leaving Halifax and coming to Barnsley, I’d been unhappy. I had no friends here, and I hated my new school. Even worse, a lad called Ross Davis had started picking on me. I was the new boy, and I was small. So I was fair game.

It was hell at school, and the weekends were so boring I thought I’d die.

All in all, life was awful.

I came to the playing fields. Some lads were having a kick around in the mist.

There were only three other people watching, and a dog. The players were rubbish. They couldn’t pass the ball, and both teams missed open goals. There was a lot of swearing and fouling, too.

And they call it the Beautiful Game!

I got bored after five minutes and wandered away.

There was a big field of rhubarb at the edge of town, and then a small wood. I decided to explore.

I set off along the path at the side of the rhubarb field. Before I got to the wood, I heard the sound of an engine behind me.

I wanted to run, or hide. But there was nowhere to run to, and nowhere to hide.