One night I was awoken by a terrible sound. Yet another storm raged outside my window. I was alone. My soldier stood strong in the corner, under the window, watching, waiting. He didn’t sleep whilst I did. Maybe I wasn't so alone. He protected me constantly. Forever.
1
The next morning all was quiet. Dad’s chair was empty. The space created silence broken only by the sound of the clock ticking, counting the seconds he wasn't here. “Mum where’s Dad?” I questioned, waiting for an answer I never received.
2
Mum gave me a cake to take to Grandma, who was ill. I instantly thought to go through the forest, the short way. Mum seems to read my mind. “ Go the long way. Don’t risk the forest.” I was unsure...
3
Today, I disobeyed Mum for the first time. I seemed to hear her disapproving voice drilling into my brain. I wanted to be there if Dad came back. Any way Grandma was ill, she needed someone there with her – me. One of my carefully written post its flitted past, weightless, carried by the wind. I ran after it not wanting to let it go. It was symbolic of Dad and the only thing around.
4
After a while I crossed paths with a boy. “Hello this cow’s for sale. Would you like to buy him?” The boy seemed strange and somewhat out of place. weird. “No” I spoke (I can’t take a cow to Grandma’s!) “ I’ll take that cake in your basket and you can have my cow instead.” “No. Its for my Grandma. She’s ill.” He didn't look upset. Confused, I walked on. I could hear him saying “ I’m ill.” He said it again and again. I looked back but there was only a hat and some wheat left on the ground. Weird...
5
Soon I met a girl with golden hair, who peered into my basket. “That’s a lovely cake you’ve got there, may I have it?” “No. Its for my poorly grandma.” She stared at me with her glassy, blue eyes. I started to run. “NO!” I shouted. “ NO,NO,NO!” “I’d like a cake like that.” She whispered. I dared to look over my shoulder. She seemed familiar. She was gone. Like she was never there. All that was left was an apron.
6
The forest was getting darker by the second, yet I saw a flickering, yellow light out of the corner of my eye. Afraid, confused and isolated, I headed towards the light. There was a fire with two ghost-like children huddling together like two lost penguins. The older of the two, the boy, wore glasses and had his arm round the young girl beside him, wearing blue patent shoes. “Our Mother and Father are lost in the forest. Have you seen them?” They spoke in unison. “No, sorry…” As my sentence tailed off I started to walk away. I didn't want to leave them but what could I do? I looked back but all that was there was a pair of glasses and two blue shoes sitting on a bed of ash. 7
8
I continued to walk deeper and deeper into the forest, starting to shiver now. I passed a branch with a coat hanging from it. I ran past not knowing what to do. Curiosity got the better of me before I could take another step. I retraced my path and before I could think what I was doing I had slipped the coat on. I felt like I was in a fairytale. It was lined with silk and had three brass buttons down the front. I carried on walking. At long lastthere it was!
9
I knocked on the door and a voice called out, “Who’s there?” It wasn’t the voice I was expecting. "It's me. I’ve brought a cake from Mum.” I pushed the door open a little. It creaked. “Come in, dear,” The eerie voice called. I was terrified. I slowly crept in. There in Grandma’s bed was...
10
Three days had passed since the boy had ventured into the forest. All lay silent except the sound of the breeze passing through. Carried by the wind was torn pages of a fairytale book and a post-it with ‘come home Dad’ written on it...
11