The Room

I keep dreaming about the man in the spare room with all holes and string round his mouth and blood coming down. His eyes are mad, and his hands come racing through the dark like nasty claws. The man screams and screams.

Fern says he's not there anymore stupid but I still see him when I close my eyes.

When I wake up the bed is all wet again. I don't want to tell Daddy. This Daddy gets cross and says I'm too big for accidents.

Aster doesn’t shout. She sighs a bit, and takes the sheets off and shows me how to put them in the washer. Then she lets me get in her bed.

In the daytime, Fern says I should go in the room so l can see it's empty. I think I hate her.

Aster holds my hand and we walk into the room together. I don't hate Aster. I think she shouldn't listen to stupid Fern. But I go with her in the room, and I look and look BB and I can't see him anymore.

"See," she says, "he's not here. The police came and took him to hospital."

I love Aster but she's wrong. Maybe she's lying, but I don't think so. She just got it muddled, that's all. Police don't put you in hospital. They put you in prison. It's ambulances what put you in hospital.

The old Daddy would have agreed with me, and then sung a song and gone hop hop. The old daddy was silly and patient and his face was always smooth, like he was waiting for the next game to play.

The new Daddy has a cross, frowny face all the time. He's not patient, and he doesn't play any fun games.

At bedtime, I go to Aster's room. It's safe there.

The man still screams.

+

Thank you for reading