The Glass Boy

Nobody is Looking

by Julian Magovern

‘Nobody’ is a typical, inquisitive boy looking for friendship, except he is made of glass and completely see-through, which makes him invisible to everyone he meets. On his quest through a desert landscape, he discovers there are lots of advantages to his ‘invisibleness’. He can get close to every living thing, “count the freckles under a lion’s chin …strum the whiskers of a desert mouse...warm his toes under a nesting grouse.” But none of these encounters result in real friendship.

Loneliness drives him to seek friendship in some unlikely creatures that aren’t always what they seem. From mud flicking elephants to a groaning rock to grooving gerbils to a close encounter with a cold-blooded murderer to a superficial stick-on friend who scarpers at the first sign of trouble. Sadly, the simple-minded creatures of the desert are unable to connect footprints in the sand with a mysterious voice. Even when disaster strikes, for them there is nothing to see because, “…there’s no mess when you’re a crumpled heap of invisibleness.” When all hope seems lost, he makes a remarkable discovery.

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