Gwassel and the Augelein

Gwassel knew he was being watched - and followed. Often he heard the sound of eyelashes and when he surreptitiously flipped an antenna over his shoulder sure enough, there would be the Augelein, slightly embarrassed, pupils shifting uneasily, pretending to be reading a book. Gwassel had noticed straight away that it was always the same book. And it wasn't even a proper books, with words. It was completely blank, like a note book. There are other extraterrestrials who would no doubt have been alarmed by this constant surveillance. But Gwassel wasn't like that. He found it amusing. Perhaps a little flattering. On Krumphf97 there were very few intelligent beings (or unintelligent ones, for that matter) with bellybuttons. This was because most beings on Krumphf97 were of reptilian origin - although there were a few who Gwassel also suspected were the result of failed laboratory experiments. But Gwassel was a Gnosha and Gnoshas had belly buttons. The mild weather on Krumphf97 meant that most of the year Gwassel did not need to bother with clothing. He had nothing to embarrassed about (Gnosharian genitalia retracts neatly into the body when not required) and everything to be proud of. If the Augelein wished to spend its time following him, then far be it from Gwassel to deny it that pleasure.

Royal Rap

Sometimes Prince John worried about his family; his father in particular. Of course, everyone knew that the very nature of royalty had changed. No one expected them to remain locked away in castles anymore, eating off solid gold plates and dancing gavottes to classical music. People liked it that the King and Queen were seen attending pop music events. It was considered a sign that they were in touch with the zeitgeist when well-known actors and singers were invited, occasionally, to gala events at the palace. But, thought Prince John, there had to be limits and surely a royal rap dancing video, with father-and-son coordinated outfits, posted on Youtube, was really pushing the limits of respectability.

The trouble was, how to broach the subject? His sister, Princess Letitia, loved it. He had seen her surreptitiously checking her phone while they were at functions to see how many subscribers the royal channel had. And clearly his dad was going to be hard to convince that this was not a dignified way for a king to behave. That left Queen Anja. Yes, she was his only hope. His mother was not the type to openly criticize her husband, or suggest that any idea of his was in any way questionable, but John sensed that deep in side she felt the same way he did. Now he just had to think of a way of bringing the subject up.

Aliens

Let something be clear: Lily had a great deal of respect for her friend Rebecca. Who wouldn't? Rebecca was smart - the smartest person Lily knew by far. They had met in the first class at school and forged a friendship that under normal circumstances would've seen them both through primary school. But there was no such thing as normal when it came to Rebecca. By half way through that first year Rebecca had jumped two classes and now, three years on, she had almost finished high school. She had won multiple prizes for science, often using the lab she'd constructed in her bedroom to conduct her research. Lily was immensely proud of her friend. But she had recently come to realise that, despite her indisputable intelligence Rebecca did sometimes get some very strange ideas.

At the moment for instance she was fixated on parallel universes, speaking about them with such authority that it was almost as if she'd seen them with her own eyes. 'There's another solar system that in some ways is very much like our own,' she told Lily excitedly one day, 'except that instead of a orangey-red sun like the one we have, theirs is light blue and quite small.' 'But how do you know that?' asked Lily. 'It's just statistically very likely,' replied Rebecca. 'I can show you the maths on my computer if you like. It's pretty mind-blowing.' 'No thanks,' said Lily politely. She knew she wouldn't understand it anyway. Besides, it was a nice day and they were supposed to be going for ice cream. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped inside in front of a screen full of maths.

'But the most exciting thing is that I've also worked out that, statistically, there is definitely aliens on this planet too,' continued Rebecca. When she got excited she had a habit of invading Lily's personal space, waving her arms - her right one in particular - in Lily's face. Lily sighed, but said nothing. When Rebecca was like this the best thing to do was just hear her out. 'I know a lot of people don't believe in aliens,' said Rebecca, 'but I know they're there. I just need to get to that parallel solar system and I can prove it.'

It was then that Lily noticed something nearby on the ground. 'Rebecca,' she said nervously, 'what's in your backpack?' 'Just a few supplies,' said Rebecca. 'I'm going to try and hitch a ride on a space ship. It won't get me all the way to the parallel universe, of course, but it'll get me a bit closer at least. Do you want to come?' Lily thought quickly. There was no point in trying to talk her out of this - she knew that from experience. Her best chance was distraction. 'Of course, I'd love to come,' she said brightly. 'Let's go for ice-cream first though. Who knows how long it will be before we get to do that again, right?'

Fancy Lights

'Who would've thought that it would be so tricky to find the right lights?' mused Anja. 'When we took on the job of redecorating Countess Latriciana's palace I was sure that the five purple and gold marble bathtub would be the hardest thing to find. But we sourced those almost immediately. Same with the ten foot high gilt-edged mirrors for the entrance hall. Even the jewel encrusted doorknobs were easy, compared with this.'

'It's not so surprising really,' said Maya. 'I mean, the Countess was very insistent when she hired us that the lighting was to be a key feature of the redecoration. She kept saying that she didn't want ordinary lights. She wanted them to be... what was the word she used again?'

'Fancy,' said Anja.She wasn't the type to give up easily, but what did fancy even mean anyway?
'We'll find something,' said Maya reassuringly. 'We have loads of cash and the Countess told us to take as long as we needed.'

'You're right, of course,' said Anja,  finding herself glad, yet again, that she and Maya had decided to set up this interior design business together. She had known from the day when she'd sat next to Maya during a Furniture and Fittings lecture and had both pulled out matching leather-bound notebooks and silver pens that they would work well as a team. They had the same taste, the same commitment and the same drive for perfection. The only real difference between them was that Anja liked socks whereas Maya preferred to spend her money on belts and bracelets instead. But this was minor and other than this the two young women got along perfectly. Only two years out of uni their business had expanded to the point where they had recently taken on a third partner, David.

David was different to Anja and Maya - he was a guy, for one thing and a little more excitable than they were, but Anja had a hunch that David would prove to be a valuable addition to their business. Which reminded Anja. Where was David?

There was the sound of running footsteps coming up behind them. It was David, breathless with excitement. 'Stop!' he cried excitedly. 'Literally do not take another step! You guys will not believe the shop I just found!'

Katjia and Mika

Katjia and Mika had been friends for a long time. They had a lot in common. They were exactly the same age for one thing. They shared a love of long-sleeved tops and skinny jeans. And they both knew the way that the right accessory - a scarf tied just so, or a swingy, colourful bag, could finish off an outfit perfectly. But just recently Katjia had started to find Mika a little irritating.

Today, for instance, they'd only been out shopping for an hour and already Mika wanted to go home. 'My back is aching like you wouldn't believe,' she said, resting against a small, conveniently placed shelf, although a  less conveniently placed spike on the side of the shelf kept jabbing her. 'I think my bag is too heavy. Or maybe it's because of my long feet. You have small feet Katjia. You don't know what it's like.'

Katjia sighed. 'Mika,' she said sternly. 'Can you see what I'm holding?' 'Well I can see something,' said Mika, 'but I can't quite make out what it is. Maybe I need glasses.' 'It's my phone,' said Katjia. She needed, she decided, to do something to shake Mika out of this silly phase she was going through. 'Do you know how many other friends I have in the phonebook?'
'I know it's a lot.' Mika tried to smile but her arm felt weird. Broken or something. Maybe her too-heavy bag had caused some kind of dislocation.
'Four hundred and twenty,' said Katjia. 'And any one of them would come racing down here in a flash if I called them to go shopping with me.'  

Well why not just call them then? thought Mika, irritably. Her back was really killing her now. Her feet were aching too. Why couldn't Katjia be a little more sympathetic? And why did they have to go shopping every weekend? What about doing something different once in a while? Going to a movie. Even a museum or a gallery. Did Katjia even know that Mika was interested in 20th Century modernism?

But then Mika started to feel bad. Katjia was, after all, her oldest friend. They had held a joint 18th birthday party just last month. And for all her talk of her numerous friends Mika knew that not one of them could set the angle of Katjia's scarf  like she did.

'Well OK then,' she said. 'Maybe just for another hour.'

Koala and Co

It hadn't been easy, setting up her business. It had, in fact, sometimes felt almost impossible, given the amount things working against her. When she initially went looking for backers and partners she saw them sum her up and dismiss her before she'd even started to speak. Young, their expressions said. Single mother. Marsupial. And although she knew she was every bit as smart as them these prejudices meant that many doors simply refused to open for her.

Then, on the rare occasion that someone would hear her out it was only to have her idea ripped to shreds. 'The world doesn't need a new type of eucalypt leaf,' they kept telling her. But she knew they were wrong. She knew she had a potentially world-changing product in her claws. So she ignored them all and went ahead and set up the company herself. She called it Koala and Co. because it sounded important like that, professional, but also because she hoped that one day her daughter might join her.

And she had succeeded. Despite everything. Through sheer determination and belief in her idea Koala and Co's easy-to-pick, easy-to-hold eucalypt leaves had become an enormous success. The same people who had sneered at her a year ago were now begging her to let them invest money in her company. She didn't gloat about it though. She had too many other things to think about. Childcare, for instance. Running a rapidly growing company single-handedly is not always compatible with the demands of motherhood. Her daughter had a fantastic nanny - usually so dependable - but today she'd called in sick. Today of all days - the day the photographer from Business Weekly was coming to photograph her for a profile piece the magazine was writing about her. She rang to try and reschedule but they said it wasn't possible. 'Bring your daughter along to the shoot,' the editor suggested. 'I'm sure she'll be fine.'

'Now this is a very important day for mummy,' she told her daughter as they made their way to the studio where the photoshoot was being held. 'Yes, Mummy.' 'You'll have to sit quietly in the corner and wait while they take the photos. OK?' 'OK Mummy.' But the moment the photographer pulled out his camera, everything changed. There was no way the daughter was going to miss out on being photographed and insisted on clinging to her mother's back. 'Well, at least don't upstage me,' the mother whispered, resignedly. 'Of course not Mummy,' said her daughter.