Kept Safe and Sound (short story)

Kept Safe and Sound was the sixth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Companions. It was written by Paul Magrs. It featured a unique model of K9 that would go on to feature in later stories by Magrs..

Summary
Jack lives with his widowed mother. His mother doesn't leave the house much, but every Saturday they go to the market. Jack spends his allowance at the book store. He is collecting the volumes of the Books of Mayhem. The bookseller appreciates Jack's interest in books and tells him if a new volume came in.

One Saturday, the bookseller tells Jack that volume six is available. Jack pays one pound for it, and tells the bookseller that he only has one volume left — volume twelve.

As Jack makes his way through the market, he notices a robot dog in the electrical equipment stall. He strikes up a conversation with the dog, and they become friends. The dog is slowly being sold for parts. Jack visits it every Saturday, but he has to be careful because the young man who runs the stall doesn't want Jack hanging around the dog.

A few weeks later, Jack finally obtains the last volume of the Books of Mayhem. He is sad to realise that after he reads it there will be no more new stories. That same day, all that is left of the dog is its brain. The dog promises Jack that if he rescues it, it will tell Jack many new stories. Jack takes the brain home with him.

Characters

 * Jack
 * "Robot dog"
 * Jack's mother
 * Bookseller
 * Young man

Worldbuilding

 * Jack is collecting volumes of the short story series Books of Mayhem.

Continuity

 * Jack's father was killed by a Tyrannosaurus rex in England in the middle of the day. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
 * Fox Soames was editor of the Books of Mayhem series. (PROSE: To the Devil — a Diva!, Mad Dogs and Englishmen)
 * The "robot dog" would later visit Fenella Frimbly in Baker's End. (PROSE: Mrs Frimbly's Festive Diary)