It was eleven thirty and there was only half an hour to go until the New Year arrived. Everything on Kit and Robyn's itinerary had been done and now everyone sat around the living room talking about plans for the New Year. No one except Kit and Robyn had anything major planned; their wedding was going to be the biggest event of the year as far as anyone could tell. Everyone was looking forward to it and plans were to be made as soon as possible during January.

Ziggy had asked Kit when the wedding was going to be and the date had been set for March 15th which was welcome news to everyone. The wedding was to be held at the Greentown Gardens in their lake side complex. It had taken some negotiating on Kit's part to get the management to lease them the complex which was where it was intended for the wedding and reception to be held. The complex was large enough to fit everyone on the couple's guest list including the two largest guests, Ché and Greta.

Currently Ché and Greta were spending the holidays in Spain with their extremely large family. No one in Lazytown could imagine how they'd manage to fit forty two people into their Andalucian villa. It was conceivable that forty two normal sized people would fit quite easily into the villa but no members of Ché's family were normal sized except the children. Everyone made a mental note to ask Ché and Greta how they did it.

Once a pause had fallen in the conversation in the room Doctor Cole asked Kit if he'd mind telling everyone how he escaped from the boarding school he'd been placed in.

Surprisingly Kit didn't object at all, "Well, as you know I was six years old at the time. My parents had died and I was told by one of the masters but I wasn't upset. Being that I was put into the boarding school when I was two and a half years old I'd never really had a chance to know them and-"

"Two and a half years old!" Sportacus interrupted surprised.

"Uh huh. We'll go into the particulars of the school another time but for reference I'll say that was the youngest children got put there and the school never released children for the holidays unless their parents allowed it. My parents only allowed it twice and only for a week at a time so they were more or less strangers to me when they died. Everyone with me so far?" Kit asked looked around.

Everyone nodded.

"Ok. So anyway, I was told that a man was coming to fetch me the next day to take me to a new place. Being as sharp as I was I knew who that man was and where he was going to be taking me. The news had worried me a little seeing as Mr Snail's reputation preceded him and he'd been to the school before to pick up another kid. From what I'd seen of him when he came during the night to pick up that kid I knew to be worried. I also knew he'd come for me during the night too, if you're half asleep you can't struggle so much.

Knowing where I was going to end up and when I was going to be taken by way of taking a quick peep at the head master's note book I planned my escape. This was easier planned than pulled off as the school was built like a prison with a metal fence all around. There were also masters on patrol that would do turns of the corridor and outside to make sure that no children were up out of their beds when they weren't allowed to be. If any of them had seen me when I made my run for it I wouldn't be here now.

In the dead of night about an hour before Mr Snail was due to arrive I crept up to the window in my dormitory and opened it a little. It was open wide enough for me to shimmy through but it also looked shut from the outside. I'd gotten myself on the ledge and was about to shimmy out when a car pulled in through the main gates, no points for guessing who was driving it. Luckily I wasn't spotted and waited until you know who was well inside the door before I dropped myself from the window. I landed on the roof of his car which was a soft top at the time. Once I'd made sure I wasn't being followed and hadn't been seen I made a run for it. It took me all of ten seconds to squeeze myself between two bars of the fence and I was off into the night. The rest, as they say, is history. All I can say is it was bloody close, just before I got through the gap I heard the door to the school open. Just two seconds more and I'd have had it."

"A great escape indeed I must say. Fascinating to be perfectly honest. It would have taken just two seconds for the course of your life to be changed entirely." Doctor Cole stated.

Kit nodded, "Fate; our friend, our brother and our worst enemy. I'd say fifteen years on the road was a damn sight better than what I would have had to have gone through in that godforsaken hell hole.

With only fifteen minutes to go until midnight everyone's excitement was growing. The New Year was fast approaching and even though it was cold outside everyone agreed to follow Kit out of the house when he told them he had something to show them. It was one of Kit's favourite circus tricks, fire eating.

There was a great air of excitement as Kit prepared his props for the trick with help from Robyn. To help stave off the cold a little for everyone Kit lit a small bonfire out of dead wood from a few trees which had succumbed to the winter chill and the warmth spread round the crowd. When he was ready he asked everyone to stand back a little and reminded them to not try this at home.

To start off his big trick Kit juggled the sticks he was going to set alight for about ten seconds before dipping each one in the fire before continuing to juggle them. With extraordinary skill Kit juggled the fire sticks as he had done the knives. Several people in the crowd gasped when they saw him catch one of the sticks wrongly and he burnt his hand. The only reaction Kit showed was to briefly shake his hand before catching the next stick. This surprised a lot of people especially Doctor Cole who against his better judgement allowed the trick to continue.

When Kit had sufficiently warmed up with his juggling and acquired the crowd's full attention he moved on to the grand finale. He threw the sticks further into the air than before when he juggled them and catching all save one which he kept throwing into the air extinguished them put putting them into his mouth. Catching the remaining stick that he'd left alight Kit quickly took a sip out of a flask Robyn had thrown to him and he blew onto the fire stick making the flame burst across the sky. To extinguish the stick he stuck it in the snow.

Everyone applauded and cheered while Kit too a bow. No one had seen Kit perform the trick before and they all thought it was great. There was no doubting his skill and there was no small amount of people who wanted to call for an encore but time was wearing thin and the cold was starting to get to them. Everyone went back inside when Kit extinguished the fire by throwing a bucket of water over it.

Doctor Cole reached for Kit's hand once he'd taken his coat off but Kit waved him off. Without saying anything Kit went into the kitchen and washed his mouth out with water.

"I would have talked then but that was petrol in the flask, didn't want to stink you out with it." Kit said going back over to Doctor Cole.

"I see. Can I look at your hand now?" Doctor Cole replied.

Kit shook his head and looking at the clock began to count down, "10, 9, 8, 7,6…"

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 happy new year!" Everyone called in unison their cheers accompanied by the clock striking midnight.

The New Year had arrived, a new beginning and the end of another year some parts of which were better off in the past. It was hoped that this New Year would yield good events and peace for all those that had suffered before.

Would their hopes come to fruit or would there be much more trouble to come? Only time would tell.