'You should write a story about that.'
It's a line that writers hear a lot, a bit like comedians in a bar being told. 'Here's a joke for you.'
Best to smile politely and change the subject or get a round in. There are occasions when I didn't do ei...
The last time I saw my mum and dad, I was seven, and by now, I might be 10 or even 11. I remember that because I remember my birthday party. There were hats and cakes and a magic man. I remember crying later; I don't know why, but I did, and they even said that I should go to bed. I didn't go to bed though, I stopped crying, and that was that.
Not long after, we went to Gran's in Essex, and that's how I know I was seven. I don't know how far it is to Gran's, but it would take a whole day to get there. Sometimes it would be dark in the night when we arrived, and I would be asleep in the car and get carried straight to bed. This time it was day, and we stopped at a big place for trucks on the motorway for some dinner. It was sunny, and we didn't stay near the trucks. We stayed in a quiet place with grass and tables.
We ate sandwiches, tuna with cucumber without crusts because I didn't eat them then. Toby is my younger brother, and he was one and a half when I was still seven. My mum was crouched on the grass with him in her arms, and I decided to explore a little bit.
"Hey, don't you go wandering off," Mother had shouted like she always does. Right then, Toby spit the green stuff she had been feeding him onto her arm. It was all on her new cardigan and Dad went running to the car to get something from the baby bag.
So, what do I do?
Just like any other kid would, I walk away, not far just into some trees, only just out of sight, and I don't think that counts as wandering off. When I got there, I was disappointed because it wasn't a real forest or anything. I could see a road and houses through the trees.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Right up against the woods on the other side, there's a car. A big green square-looking car.
I could see that the engine was on, and the door was open. Right then, I could only think of one thing and that was to drive the car.
I could go over, jump in and drive it around. I would have got in trouble, but I didn't care because I could drive a real car. I could hear my mother in the background and knew they might stop me, so I ran into the trees as fast as I could. Just as I was almost at the open door of the car, blam. Everything went black, and the next thing I knew, I was here and that was the last time I saw any of my family.
It was smelly at first, but the smell went away after a while and I didn't notice it. It smelled like a cross between a butcher's and a hamster cage.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
