My Brothers Half-Crown

From the collection Dreamin’ Dreams; A short humourous story in 2,000 words.In Ireland 1942, you made your own fun!Anyway, my turn came and I threw the shovel the highest, but this time it came straight back down like a guillotine and it took the tip off my brother’s nose. We all froze in horror. Then my sister picked up the tip and stuck it back on his face a second before the scream came.Every family has a secret. When a peculiar couple moves into the derelict house across the street, Marty White, the only kid resident of the Dullest Place in the Universe, is certain they have something to hide. What he discovers is something not only out of this world, but in a different world entirely.Marty's new neighbours, the Beatniks, have uncovered a connection to Over There—a world just like Marty's one, but backwards—in their bathroom mirror. Over There is filled with reflections: malevolent doppelgängers his world was never meant to see. No sooner does Marty discover this place when he finds himself standing in it. At first this seems like nothing more than his neighbours' cruel attempt at getting rid of him, but he soon realises there's much more to it than that.Marty has his own secret. A big one. He just doesn't know it yet.