The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller Read Online Free PDF

though, whilst seeing the Stone Man walk, was that by comparison the puppet elephant looked like a piece of shit.
    Everyone in the Stone Man’s path jumped back to let it pass, even before it had reached the edge of the barrier. The police looked a bit dumbfounded, and moved forward uncertainly, half expecting it to stop once it reached the tape. But it didn’t. To everyone’s surprise, it just kept going, pushing into the barrier and dragging it forward like it wasn’t even there. Everyone started cheering again, expecting the whole barrier to be dragged along with the Stone Man or for the police to stop it somehow. The former would have happened, too, if not for the quick thinking of one officer. Perhaps he thought that whichever performer was inside the Stone Man couldn’t see what they were doing, or was thinking that the barrier was only going to become a hazard if it were dragged across the square, or even that he didn’t want to ruin a potentially good bit of public performance; either way, he unclipped one end of the barrier tape, sending it retracting back rapidly into the opposite pillar that it had been drawn out of and effectively ending the problem. The crowd cheered again, the officer smiled sheepishly—there was no law being broken, after all—and the police followed after the Stone Man to see, like everyone else, what was going on.
    It began to pass through the crowd, who moved with it, and the people on the opposite side of the circle surged in to follow. It was setting off in the direction of the huge transport museum that lay at one end of Millennium Place, and I assumed that it was heading for the entrance. I snapped a quick picture of the scene, then scurried after the Stone Man myself, following the incredible walking statue and the laughing mob that walked alongside it.
    People were actually keeping a safe distance from the Stone Man when I drew alongside them (managing to snap a few pictures over their heads as I did so, some of which came out very nicely) creating a gap of four feet or so; despite the fact that we could all see it walking easily and freely, everyone could feel the weight in its steps, and didn’t want to risk getting caught under one of those feet. And they all probably would have gone on this way for the next few moments if it wasn’t for the guy in the green vest.
    Out of nowhere, this guy who had been with a couple of girls, drinking out of little hip flasks that they could keep out of sight of the cops, dashed forward from the pack, laughing. The girls who were with him cheered. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen, wearing a pair of deck shoes with half-length combat trousers and the aforementioned green vest. He started to shout something, but couldn’t get the words out for laughing as he ran alongside the Stone Man, avoiding its legs. He then suddenly leapt sideways, grabbing onto its shoulders and hoisting himself up as the girls cheered again. A yell of dismay went up from the crowd, thinking he was going to ruin the spectacle somehow, but it turned into a scream as Green Vest immediately went totally limp and slipped off the Stone Man’s back.
    He landed like a sack of wet meat, not even attempting to break his fall. I can’t decide which was worse; the sick thud as his head hit the concrete, or the audible snap as his leg broke under his own bodyweight. Three quarters of the mob screamed again—the loudest came from his female fan club—and stopped, turning to look at the fallen boy. The remaining quarter gave him the briefest of glances, then carried on after the Stone Man, most of them still actually laughing. The police immediately rushed over, one already calling on his radio for medical assistance and one kneeling next to the boy, asking if he knew his name and where he was. I moved in close myself, stunned but concerned. Amazingly, the boy was still conscious, and not even crying out in pain. His eyes were open but far away; not wide eyed, just