Winner Takes All Read Online Free PDF

really hideous sunglasses just to embarrass him.
    Who’d tell complete strangers about all the ‘funny little things’ he’d ever done, from bed-wetting onwards.
    Who’d make a fuss in restaurants by actually asking questions about the food, making him want to bury his head in shame.
    Mum hadn’t thought they’d be able to afford a holiday this year, and he was so glad, because he could stay in his room all summer and listen to CDs and read books and think about how when he went down the shops he might bump into Suzie Price and they’d get talking and she’d hint that she thought he was a really great guy; which was much better than really going down the shops, because he might really bump into Suzie Price and none of the rest of it would happen, which would spoil the daydream completely.
    And his mum, who did go down the shops, had won him this games thing, which only had one game with it but was really good anyway and he’d been playing it loads and was going to win the prize and he was quite happy to keep on doing that for the summer.
    But then she’d won this holiday. And it didn’t say anywhere on the card if it was for one person or the whole family, but Mum said that these things were always for families so she was sure it would be OK. And he prayed that it wouldn’t be, that it’d be just for her, and she’d go off without him and miraculously decide he was old enough to be left on his own and he could be happy. But she’d asked, and said she wouldn’t go if she couldn’t take her Bobbles, and they’d said it was fine.
    So he was packing his suitcase to go on holiday.
    . . . and when he arrived at Magical College, the head sorcerer shook him by the hand and said, ‘Robert Watson! This is such an honour. I know you’re going to be naturally talented at absolutely everything. Because you’re special.’
    â€˜Or we could go back to your mum’s, if you want,’ said the Doctor, and Rose couldn’t help thinking he sounded unenthusiastic.
    â€˜I told her we’d be back for tea,’ she said. ‘We could do something until then. I know there’s not time to save the whole world, but if we can find something smaller that needs saving, like a village or something, we could probably manage that.’
    â€˜So saving you from a knife-wielding thug doesn’t count as my good deed for the day?’ he asked.
    â€˜Yeah, I never got that,’ said Rose. ‘How Scouts and Brownies and stuff only had to do one good deed a day. I mean, if they, I don’t know, saw someone drowning, but they’d already helped an old lady across the road, would they let them sink?’
    The Doctor grinned. ‘Yeah, the Scout law’s really strict on that sort of thing. “You will do exactly one good deed a day and no more.” If they accidentally did an extra good deed, they’d have to go and kick a puppy or something to balance it out, or they wouldn’t be allowed to go camping.’
    She thought for a moment. ‘Did you have stuff like that?’ she asked, genuinely curious. ‘Space Scouts, or something.’
    He nodded. ‘Oh yeah. I got merit badges in time travel, monstrithology, interfering in the destinies of planets and cookery.’
    â€˜Monstrithology?’
    The Doctor grinned. ‘Monster spotting. Or, I might’ve just made it up.’
    They carried on down the road. There were all these posters, all along the street, all these giant porcupines wanting you to buy stuff and get free prizes.
    â€˜It looks so cheap,’ said Rose. ‘They’ve not even got proper posters done, it’s just photos of people dressed up as porcupines.’
    The Doctor walked up to a poster on the side of a phone box, so his nose was inches away. He was staring at it hard.
    â€˜If you’re wondering why we still have phone boxes when everyone’s got mobiles these