Category: Childhood

Dragon Lillies

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‘You go’

‘No way… you first’

‘Nope you threw it, you can go and fetch it’

‘But what if she is there…’

‘Then you better get in and out quickly’

Emily walked up to the walled garden, took one look back at her sister, let out a long sigh and scaled the wall. Davina looked on, the corners of her mouth unsure whether to bloom into a smile or wither to concern.
‘Can you see it?’ Davina called out as Emily dropped down into the garden. But she received no reply, Emily was either ignoring her or out of earshot. ‘Is the witch there?’ She called a little louder. But again there was no response, her options of ignoring and unheard changed to under a spell or dead. ‘Are you okay?’ She started to shout, but failed to finish as her subconscious mind prevented the words from leaving her mouth, afraid of drawing attention to her sister on the wrong side of the wall.

Behind the ear of the Monkey

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‘What are you looking at?’ Mum asked Nathan as she tucked him into bed. Nathan didn’t reply he just wriggled a little lower and pulled the covers to his chin. ‘What did Monkey do today?’ Mum changed tact.

‘He is very old isn’t he?’ Nathan replied in reference to his pet monkey.

‘He is you are right. He used to belong to your Daddy.’

‘So he is older than Daddy?’

Mum stopped to think for a moment, ‘I think your Daddy got him when he was about 2 or 3 years old, so Daddy is a little bit older but not much.’

Nathan paused for thought. ‘Have you looked behind his ear? Look at the colour of his fur.’ Nathan pulled Monkey’s ear back to reveal soft yellow fur. ‘Did his whole face look like that once?’

‘I am not sure, you will have to ask your father that.’

‘It feels like Muji’s fur under his chin its soft and cuddly, will Muji’s face change like Monkey’s?’

‘Maybe, Muji is a puppy still and he will get older, but I think he will always stay cuddly’

‘I don’t want to get old’

Mum laughed and hugged her son, ‘I don’t want you to get old either, shall we make a promise to stay young forever?’

‘Yea like Monkey’s ears and Muji’s fur.’ Nathan turned to his mother and smiled his big smile. Mum kissed him on his forehead, tucked the duvet around him and Monkey and agreed.

‘Yes like Monkey’s ears’

Adventure Starts Early

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‘It’s like fishing, you put the maggot on the hook, the fish tries to eat the maggot and gets a little surprise’

‘And then?’

‘Well, the bike is like the maggot, they will come running down the path, see the bike and then come looking for us up the hill.’

‘So we are telling them where we are, that’s stupid’

‘Well that’s what you think, but you are wrong. We will see them coming up the hill and then when they get into the boulder field we will double back and run back down the path, easy peasy.’

There was a pause as the plan settled in Joe’s mind. He nodded his head in agreement but still had questions. ‘What about the bike?’

Jacob hadn’t thought about the bike ‘ummm… the lock’s pretty solid we will come back for it later.’

‘Later.’

Crackkkk… A loud snap echoed through the forest.

‘Quick get down, they are coming.’

‘Buuuut…’

‘No buts get down.’

‘But my bike.’

Beauty

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I just had to look and my mind wandered

‘Sometimes you forget the little things’.

‘What are you talking about’ Sarah said

‘You know sometimes you forget to look, you’re so focused on where you are going and where you should be you forget…’

‘Oh be quiet… come on we have to get there before the shops shut’

‘You know sometimes the ugly things are the most interesting’

‘I think you are ugly… now come on’

There was a pause as the girls looked at each other, a playful frown growing across Jo’s face, then they laughed.

‘Not as ugly as you’ Jo replied and with one last look at the undergrowth they set off up the hill Jo looking over her shoulder only once at the purple flower she left behind.

Out of my Skin

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At some point you just have to start.

I knew at some point I would have to grow up. I had followed her, listened to her and copied her all my life. She was infuriating, but inspiring and I loved her very much. But and I am not sure exactly when, I realised that I was not ‘just’ her little sister. I was me. I was my own person and I could be what I wanted. I could be different from how I thought I should be. So I leapt out of her shadow, the little sister no longer.