Coraline

by Neil Gaiman

‘The mice have a message for you,’ he whispered. Coraline didn’t know what to say. ‘The message is this. Don’t go through the door.’

‘She left us here,’ said one of the voices. ‘She stole our hearts, and she stole our souls, and she took our lives away, and she left us here, and she forgot about us in the dark.’

‘I swear it,’ said the other mother. ‘I swear it on my own mother’s grave.’ ‘Does she have a grave?’ asked Coraline.

‘Oh yes,’ said the other mother. ‘I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back.’