To where?’ he asked, face agape in features. ‘You said…’

The Paternal face was warm, soft, friendly. It melted into understanding and the grey-day background, haze of monet colour drabness.

The Paternal face, said ‘Yes. To Sheffield.’

His face, his mind was wrinkled in confusion, until a small blot of thundercloud-darkening anger stirred. Something was not right.

To a council house. In Sheffield.’

The eyes were almost watery in their steady comforting embrace. That fond understanding , that calm, heaty acceptance. What Do You Know?

Click! The thunderclouds burst, took him by the armpits, lifted his arms and knotted his body in a shaking, defiant helplessness. And the rain tumbled from the skies, the droplets plummeting towards the figures with a graceless, unidirectional intent.

NO! I AM NOT GOING TO LIVE WITH SMELLY PEOPLE, IN A SMELLY HOUSES WHERE DOGS HAVE FLEAS AND PEOPLE HAVE BLACK TEETH. NO! Want to stay here. Want to stay and my friends, have no friends lose them all…’

The air, still heavy with moisture, the clouds relieved of their immediate burden, but remained, a background fixing the moments, passing, moments.

And it was still there, the hovering image that oval crouched; an insect hop; and smoothly, nearly, maybe nearly salamander licking lips:-

Joey, you can see your friends again. You can visit them. You can make more friends…’

But thunder threatened rumble, or was it just a hungry tummy. And confusingly, joey dear joey fled the oval whiteness of face understanding, finding comfort of the hollow bleaky floorboard blank in the old room that was, is bedroom, Home.

- * -

Joey hid behind the car seat, watching, carefully, adult reactions, watching, vaguely with body staring intensely, at the floor, cold rubber matted car floor that was dirty.

Stared sometimes out of the window, ignored sullen sister besides and people in front who should know, that vaguely, all is wrong.

And then we’re still, we’re all still, and the motor and sickness echoes a bit, but we’re still, a wolf howling at my mother and father, in my mouth, but still.

We’re Here, to add to my sickness, which strangely, sweetly subsides. And my sister, look is excited, and wants to see the house, it’s a mess but look it’s 3 storey’s high, and look, it’s all empty for us, and it’s different and big, and look, look at the upstairs, the rooms are funny, and race, race, Beccy, out of my way, we’re racing and racing, and the bedrooms are small and hollow too. But look, Beccy look!

Into her pridely shiny face, Look! I Say, We’ve go two toilets,

and flush the chain.

  • Simon Huggins, 8th June 1992

Comments from University of Sheffield Writer’s Group

*Generally well-received. Tom noticed the strong similarities to Virginia Woolf. Pointed out the reference to her in there. *

**Picked Up:***Viewpoint of child seen in past, which changes to a personal 1st person once it gets into second part, where moving house. The mental corrective slip in the last line (was, is) noted, pondered. *

*Sense of confusion picked up by most. *

Jolyon, of course, was not happy about the use of adult words for the child and ‘pridely’ shiny face.