Home Forever

She was curled up on her bed, writing her diary.

"Dear diary, I'm going home in two days time. I've really enjoyed my two weeks here, and I've made so many friends. One especially. I'm pretty sad to be going, but I think I'll enjoy hearing about Mum and Dad's adventures in Greece, and seeing my friends from school, and sleeping in my own room…"

There was a knock at her door. Sportacus came in, and Stephanie's face lit up. Then she saw that he was very grim and sorrowful. Her heart stopped. "What?" She began to feel extremely afraid as he sat down on the bed beside her, sad, sympathetic. "Your uncle asked me to come and see you. I'm sorry, but I have bad news." Her heart began to thump through her temples, and she braced herself. "It's about your parents. Stephanie, I don't really know how to say this, but there was a plane crash." He paused, and drew breath. "I'm afraid they were killed."

Stephanie's face grew white, as a hot rush of electricity rushed from her spine to her skull, and her head felt as though it would explode. He gently supported her shoulders to stop her fainting. Slowly her face crumpled and creased into a silent wail, before she broke into gasping, heaving, hysterical sobs. Instinctively, and without a word, he put his arms around her and lifted her easily onto his knee where he held her close, stroking her hair and rocking her.

He would hold her for an hour, for ten hours, for as long as she needed him to.

It came to him suddenly that his life was changed forever – from now on he would love her as if she were his own daughter; he would watch over the town obsessively, just in case she needed him. He would make sure he was always there to protect her and for her to confide in, day and night, sun and rain, and that she had loyal friends to play with, and wonderful birthdays and Christmases. She had always dreamed of going to dance school when she was older. Well, he would do everything in his power to get her into the best one in the world, if she still wanted it then.

But first she needed him just to keep his arms around her and listen to her jumbled thoughts, her sobbing confessions and her desperate denial. After an hour she sat hiccupping, staring off into space. He turned her towards the window so she could see out, and opened it so the gentle, cool wind could ruffle her hair and the flower scents could waft their healing into her room.

****

Miss Busybody was not much better than her uncle, she thought, as the woman scurried, fetching spray and clips to secure her pink hair under the black hat, so that it didn't show at the funeral. Miss Busybody chatted about all sorts of things, things that had no importance, that she didn't want to hear. She longed to just curl up in bed, but she forced herself to keep on – it would break Sportacus's heart if she locked herself away and lost faith in the world.

She thought of her parents' soft, warm bed, smelling of lavender, into which she crawled so often to doze between them in the early morning. She thought of her mother sitting her at the piano and teaching her how to play "Oh Can You Wash A Sailor's Shirt?". She thought of her father coming home from work, picking her up and swinging her around. She thought of how her mother would bake her rock scones to take to school and colour them pink specially. She thought of her father teaching her baseball outside on the lawn. And last, she thought of how, just before they had put her on the train, her father had said "Take care Sweetie," and her mother had added "We can all swap stories when you get back!" And as her train had plunged into the tunnel, they disappeared. Forever.

"All done! A work of art, though I say so myself…" Miss Busybody turned Stephanie's head, yanking at her hair by mistake, to look in the mirror. Stephanie had the grace to smile and say thank you, before she started off to her uncle's house where a new black dress, tights, cardigan and shoes were waiting. "Poor baby," Miss Busybody murmured as she saw Stephanie, looking so alone and lost, disappearing down the garden path and through the gate.

****

She and her uncle took the train to the city for the funeral.

When she saw the coffins, she felt physically sick inside. She wanted to rush to the bathroom as her stomach churned, but she closed her eyes and held down the nausea. She tried to imagine her parents in there, side by side at the alter. The image eluded her, and she sat down shakily.

The vicar was a good man, she could tell. They sat in their pew as the weather grew hotter and hotter, listening to the eulogy, but he didn't know her parents very well. She could tell by the inflections of his voice that most of the endearing things he said about them had been direct quotes from friends and family.

They walked with the hearse to the graveyard. The sun beat down, and she began to feel very thirsty. Despite the heavy ache of grief in her belly and chest, she began to wish the whole thing was over so that she could have something cold to drink and go home…to LazyTown. Once at the cemetery, her uncle took her hand, and they joined her four grandparents. They were all given a rope. Stephanie didn't know what to do exactly, but copied the others as the two coffins, one after another, were slowly lowered into the ground. She didn't hear the vicar as he gave the blessing. She was too absorbed in a mental waterfall of memories, and anger at God for taking them both from her.

****

"Stephanie," her aunt said, smiling down at her, "I'm so sorry for your loss. It's a terrible thing to lose anyone close. But I hope you've been enjoying your stay at your uncle's. Your Mum and Dad would have wanted that". Stephanie avoided her aunt's gaze, but tried to smile and nod. "You'll be going back to school sometime soon then," Stephanie turned away and wandered off.

When she returned a few minutes later, she heard her aunt saying, frantically, "But Milford, you can't possibly expect her to travel all this way to school!"

"Of course not," her uncle replied, "She'll be going to school in LazyTown."

"But you know nothing about children, especially a girl! The whole thing is ridiculous. I think everything would be much better if I took her in – it's much nearer to her old school and her real friends."

"No…!" Stephanie didn't mean to say it, and it came out as a whisper, but her aunt turned to her. "Please Uncle, I want to stay in LazyTown." She paused, and, fighting back tears, "Let me stay…"

"Stephanie darling, you're not thinking properly…" her uncle suddenly cut in sharply. "Stephanie will stay in LazyTown!" Stephanie's head jerked up sharply, as relief dared to flood through her. "She has loyal friends who love her, and I won't hear of her going anywhere else."

"You were great, Uncle Milford", she exclaimed, as he hurried her away towards the train station. "Er…Was I? I didn't…I mean…thank you…well, let's…get on the train…" Still the same old bag of nerves then. A small but genuine smile spread briefly across her face. Her uncle put his arm around her, as they saw the train emerge from the tunnel.

****