Howard sighed as he hoisted the last few items out of the box. It felt like he'd been unpacking for hours and he still hadn't got even halfway through the mountain of bags and boxes piled against the unfamiliar walls which, he noted with a frown, were covered in the most hideous faded floral paper. Still, he conceded, it wasn't all bad. The room was twice the size of his old one, back home in Leeds, and the huge inbuilt wardrobe was a definite improvement on the 3/4 sized child's one that his parents had been promising for the past 4 years to replace. Picking up the strange looking coconut shell toy doll which, despite being 12 years old, he still hadn't plucked up the nerve to throw away, he cradled it to his chest.

"Well, Milky Joe, looks like me may have ourselves a home here."

He placed the doll on the window ledge and looked out, the streets a mass of tall grey buildings, so different from the rows of quirky back-to-backs and open fields of the small village he had, until recently, called home. Not that he had seen much of his home in the past year, having spent the majority of his time in Spain, while his mother tended to his dying grandmother. At first he had argued with his parents, begging them to let him stay back in Leeds with his father but they had refused, blaming his father's long work hours and frequent business trips. Looking back, he was glad they had insisted he accompany his mother, the poor woman had seemed on the verge of exhaustion and emotional breakdown, seeing her own mother fade away before her eyes. In the end, it was a relief when she finally passed away, putting an end to the many months of suffering they had all endured. Cancer was, he thought to himself moresely, a really vile disease.

All the time away from England also hadn't done much for his education. Although he'd attended the local school, it had only really covered the very basics and although he'd previously been a pretty much straight-A student, on finally returning to England, he'd found himself hopelessly behind the other pupils. Being only 1 month from the end of the year, his school had suggested, much to his horror, that he repeat the year and no amount of desperate pleading with his parents would change their minds about this. In a way, it was lucky that his dad's company had decided to close their Leeds office and ask all the staff to relocate to London as it meant that at least he wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of all his previous schoolmates (in the loosest sense of the term, Howard had always been kind of a loner) knowing that he'd been held back. New city, new start. Howard tried to think positively but in truth he was petrified.

"Howard, honey, why don't you go outside and get some fresh air before your dinner's ready? Do a bit of exploring while it's still light. You've been stuck up there all day and food won't be done until six."

Grudgingly, Howard agreed. His mother was right, in the three days since they had moved there, he had barely left the house, spending the time helping his mother unpack and reassemble furniture as his dad had stayed behind in Leeds, finalising their house sale there. Still, he didn't mind admitting he was a little bit scared of going out there. How would the people of London take to the shy and softly spoken northerner who had always been a bit of an outcast?

He tugged on his worn old trainers (his mother had insisted he save his new pair until school started) and grabbed a jacket, shouting a quick goodbye, and headed out into the unfamiliar streets. Allowing his feet to lead the way, as he didn't really know where he was going, he was pleasantly surprised when, ten minutes later, he inadvertently arrived at the site of his parents new allotment. This had been his father's one demand, when looking for a new place to live, if they couldn't have a house with a large garden, like their Leeds home, then he insisted on somewhere with allotments nearby, so that he would still be able to devote time to his one passion outside of work, gardening. Each of the three times they had viewed the house before finally agreeing to buy it (his grandmother's inheritance money had meant that they didn't have to wait for a sale on their old home before putting in an offer), his father had insisted that they also view the allotments and their particular plot of land had been selected even before the house purchase had been agreed. It took Howard no time at all to recognise his father's new 'second home', the mounds of earth overgrown with weeds and the tiny dilapidated shed clearly having seen better days. Nevertheless, Howard felt a sense of peace here and as he picked his way carefully through the long grass and dandelions, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about the hours he and his dad could spend together here, making the place looked loved again.

As he approached the shed, he was stopped in his tracks by sounds coming from inside. Someone was inside their shed? His heart pounding, he tiptoed closer, wishing he was braver than he was. There was what sounded like muffled shouting, coming out of there.

"Get off, go away, leave me alone," a young voice cried out, clearly distressed.

Trying to slow his breathing, Howard edged closer. He didn't know how many people were in there, the shed barely seemed large enough to contain more than a couple of people, but whoever was in there was clearly being scared by someone. Crouching by the window, Howard tried to glance inside, but the old glass was opaque with dust and the shed was dark inside.

"No, please, don't….. STOP," squealed the voice, breaking into sobs.

Noticing the door was slightly ajar, Howard pressed his eye to the tiny gap, frowning in confusion. There was no-one inside except a tiny figure curled up in the corner. No-one attacking anyone. Feeling understandably braver, he pushed the door wide open, to let the daylight stream in, to further prove there was no-one else lurking in the shadows. That confirmed, Howard edged inside, nearer to the body thrashing around on the floor, still sobbing and calling out. Closer inspection revealed the figure to be a sleeping child of indeterminable sex. The ripped jeans and dirty sneakers pointed to it being a young boy, but the long straggly hair and elfin features, not to mention the downright girly display of whimpering on show, made it hard to be sure. Suddenly a loud shriek pierced the air.

"Aarrggghh, no, please, help me, somebody HELP ME."

Unconsciously, Howard found himself crouching down beside the crying figure, shaking it roughly by the shoulder, trying to put an end to the obvious nightmare.

"Shhh, it's ok, wake up, it's just a dream".

"Stay away from me, don't hurt me," the child yelled, scooting back against the wall, tears spilling from the most impossibly large blue eyes the northern boy had ever seen. Howard edged closer, wanting to try to comfort the strange young boy/girl.

"I mean it, stay away, I've got a knife," the sniffling figure cried, bloodshot eyes flashing dangerously, the effect spoilt somewhat by the tears that still flowed freely down the young face.

Unsure whether to take this last statement seriously or not, after all, he WAS in London now, Howard inched backwards, towards the doorway, just in case he needed to make a quick escape.

"I'm NOT going to hurt you," he reiterated, slightly exasperated, "I just want to know who you are and what you're doing in my shed."

"Your shed? It's MY shed, I've been coming here for ages, I've never seen you here before," cried the curious creature, indignantly. "I'm Vince, and this is MY place, so go away, you northern freak!"

His anger spent, Vince cowered in the corner, knees pulled tightly into his chest, as though awaiting a beating from the larger boy. Not being of an aggressive nature, Howard had no such plans and simply crouched down in the doorway, slightly depressed that, having only been in the city three days, he had already been called a freak. Staring at his shoes, he mumbled childishly,

"Actually I'm Howard Moon and I think you'll find it's my dad's shed. We just moved here and he's renting the allotment, which includes this shed, so you'll have to find somewhere else to play," adding cruelly, "We'll probably knock it down anyway, and if you're still inside, you'll get squashed!"

Vince looked up miserably, bottom lip trembling and voice barely a whisper as he croaked,

"But then where will I go? I like it here. It's quiet. People leave me alone."

Howard shrugged.

"Find another shed to play in." He felt a little bit cruel, taking away the kid's playhouse, but this was a place for he and his father to spend time together, not for some young child to use for his afternoon nap. And the child HAD called him a freak.

He stomped off, not sure whether leaving the small boy behind in the shed was entirely a good idea, but not having the heart to physically throw him out. He had to admit, his first encounter with his new London neighbours had not been entirely successful. Now he was really dreading school tomorrow. If even the young children were this strange, what were his classmates going to be like?