"Can I have another pear drop?” Melissa grinned what was obviously her best grin. John held out the bag and she took another. They were going up the steps now, it couldn’t be far to her house. He was feeling very hot. His pulse raced. Sweat trickled from his armpits. “Are you alright?” Melissa looked worried. “You look very red.”

John took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes, I’m fine. I’d forgotten how steep this hill and the steps are, that’s all.”

Melissa radiated relief. “My dad is like you said, with the angels. He was looking after me one day and we’d just got back from the playground, you know the one down there, near where you said you lived?” He nodded. “Well, he was all red from running, just like you are now, and then he...” The words dried up and she began to cry. He could guess the rest. Dropped dead with a heart attack. He reached out and put his arms round her, then sat on the low wall that ran alongside the steps. She hugged him back fiercely and soon the shoulder of his teeshirt was wet with her tears. He felt tears prick at his eyes too.

“When did it happen?” He waited for a while, until her crying stopped. He reached into his pocket and found a tissue. Something useful after all, he thought absently.

He put her down on the steps and she blew her nose. “Last summer.” Her red eyes showed the hurt that was still too close.

“I’m sorry I reminded you about it. I promise I’ll be back to normal very soon.” He breathed deeply, feeling his pulse subside. The butterflies, however, still persisted round that buddleia bush. Poor girl, he thought. “My dad is with the angels too. Well, he wasn’t my real dad, he was called Twist. That’s a funny name isn’t it? A similar thing happened to him, but it was my mum who saw him last. There,” he said, “back to normal.” He smiled, and Melissa managed a weak smile in return. He got up, and they resumed their journey up the steps.

Return to stories