Steve
looked in the mirror, and grimaced. He hated his hair in the morning;
it took a comb, water and a ridiculous quantity of gel to mould it
into something acceptable to the rest of Year 6. His mother used to
help him, but now she worked. Every morning was the same: Steve got
up when his mother called ‘Bye, love!’ and the front door banged.
She had dressed, washed, cooked, kissed him awake and turned on the
radio for him. And then he was alone. His breakfast was on the table;
his lunch was on the microwave. His father had gone to work eight
months before, and still hadn’t come home, but Mum wasn’t worried
“He’ll be back. He promised”.
A
movement in the mirror. A noise behind him. Steve swung round. The
back of his neck felt cold, his ears were burning. He had seen
something, just for a second. He picked up his deodorant, flew out of
the door shouting ‘Ha!’ and pointed the spray at....no-one. He
stood listening intently, breathing as silently as possible. Nothing.
He looked at his feet and laughed quietly. “Stupid!”. He had
always been terrified of intruders, but his father used to be there
to protect him. Now he felt vulnerable. He looked at Dad’s
toothbrush which was still sitting in its place.
Suddenly,
a voice. “It was only me, don’t worry”. Steve jumped so high,
he thought his heart had come out of his mouth. She was sitting on
the edge of the bath, looking at him. Her purple eyes burned with a
yellow light. “Close your mouth and follow me. We have things to
do,” said......said who? Steve stared at the creature in front of
him in his bathroom! She had broad shoulders, impossibly long, fluid
legs, and scales, like a fish, on her arms and cheekbones. But what
made her the strangest, most beautiful creature Steve had ever seen
was her colour: turquoise, like tropical waters and mint ice-cream.
And she was carrying a battle-axe.
‘Are
you coming?’ she asked impatiently. ‘How can I argue with a huge,
beautiful green woman with an axe?’ thought Steve and nodded
weakly. The ‘woman’ swung round and jumped through the bathroom
wall, as if it was a waterfall. As Steve stepped cautiously through
the liquid tiles, he heard her voice ‘By the way, I’m your
sister.’
 |
| Illustration by Roberto Miranda |
