Lucas and the Skeleton

By Raihan Kibria

Lucas, a small boy, is on his way to gather raspberries in the forest when he meets a skeleton sitting on a boulder. Far from being spooky, the skeleton is polite but unsure how it got there. The two decide to go pick the berries together (skeletons being immune to insect stings and brambles, in contrast to little boys) and maybe unravel the mystery of the skeleton's origin together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raihan Kibria
• Release date: Jun 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223614944

Raihan Kibria

Raihan is a hobbyist writer with a lifelong interest in sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Lucas was walking on the old forest path to gather raspberries. His mum had sent him, and although he would have liked to play with his friends better, the promise of sweet jam made the sacrifice easier. Besides, it was a nice summer day. Bees were trundling through the air in search of flowers, and the sunlight dappled the ground, shining through the green treetops. He hummed a tune from a song his dad had taught him and was glad he didn’t have to clean the chicken coop instead. He picked up a stick and pretended it was a sword and held his basket to his side like it was a shield. He marched like the king’s soldiers who had come through their village a while ago, his face grim. He’d been a little afraid of the big men (though he would never admit this to anyone), but they had been kind despite their rough demeanor. He’d proclaimed to his parents that he would be a soldier too when he was grown up, and his father had laughed and ruffled his hair, though his mum had given him a disapproving look.

He was trying to remember the many interesting words the soldier’s sergeant had shouted at them when they did something wrong, or did just about anything, when he saw the skeleton sitting on a big boulder. He knew what a skeleton was, of course, although the only human one he had ever seen was when a traveling merchant had been in the village and had one hanging from a hook. His best friend Jamie had said it was made of gypsum and not a real one at all. This one was sitting on a big moss-covered rock, with its skull resting on one hand, as if it was deeply in thought. Its bones were smooth and white and clean, not yucky like the ones his mum would get from the butcher for soup sometimes. It turned to him as he approached.

Hello, little boy. Do I know you? it said in a voice that was hollow and high. It had no lips or a tongue, of course, but its jaw moved as it spoke. Lucas stopped, puzzled by the question, though he kept his basket shield protectively in front of him and grasped his stick sword a