I introduced Neil Gaiman once, at the Fantasy Matters conference, as it happens. After agonizing for a terrifically painful amount of time over how best to do this, I realized the best thing to do would be to make the introduction as short as possible, leaving out all the glorious things written, all the well-deserved awards won. So, gentle readers, I give you: Neil Gaiman.

"The Guardian" is a 247 word (including title) short story, originally published in The Guardian, as part of a summer writing challenge for children between the ages of 6 and 14. I love short short fiction like this, because it's an excellent illustration of the importance of making every word count.