Runalong

When I was a kid, my family would often take long drives to visit relatives.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a vivid imagination. Six hours or more in a car with your parents and sisters can do things to your brain.

Especially when your dad insisted on leaving before dawn.

When I got bored, I'd imagine creatures running alongside the car: beasts like huge greyhounds. I never remembered ears, but I do remember their mouths were much bigger than they should have been. Their eyes glowed gently in the dark as they sprinted along, effortlessly keeping up.

When I put my hand out the window, I imagined the wind moving beneath it was their sleek back, rising and falling as they ran.

I called them runalongs, and to me, they were beautiful.

When I grew up, I all but forgot about them. They became a footnote to my childhood.

Then one day, while doomscrolling through the internet, I saw a shape I recognised.

Curious, I read the story.

Someone else had imagined beasts almost exactly the same as mine when they were a kid.

And in the comments, more people described something unnervingly similar.

That fascinated me.

So, of course, I had to find a way to work them into the Slipworld.

From book two onward, runalongs make regular appearances, running beside the team whenever someone has a little too much time to think (usually Catch). It's almost as if they're drawn to that state of mind.

In the Slipworld, anyone can see them.

In the Upworld, they're invisible—except to children, the bored, and those who know for certain they exist.

Companions, maybe.

Maybe something darker.

But definitely real.

So tell me: do they sound familiar?

Maybe, once upon a time, you saw them too.