Penny Black

Chapter 5

Penny dropped the ribbon. As she did so the light fell away and she found herself surrounded by darkness. She reached for her beside light to turn it back on. She hadn't remembered turning it off but she needed to make sense of her surroundings. She hadn't remembered falling asleep either so this was turning into one heck of a dream. Had it ended when the ribbon fell? She couldn't find the light switch. She fumbled some more but it was nowhere. Neither was the beside table or her duvet. There was nothing to tell that she was in her room at all. Not even the electric glow from the street lamp through her curtains. She felt suspended in space, weightless and ungrounded and she could not move. She felt nothing. And it felt good. No Tummy Turns, no Sunshine Girls and it certainly wasn't Tuesday.

The sense of endless space around her was interrupted by a distant glow, as if it were a train approaching from the end of a very long and dark tunnel. The naked night around her was nipped with pin light as stars gathered above and below her. The light was speeding at her now with urgency and her bright red curls were the only part of her to move as they lifted from the rush of air that the light pushed toward her. With each passing moment another part of her moved a little; her arms lifted, her legs unfolded and stretched below her; her hands raised to the stars as she danced now within them, the ribbon falling from her lap and then raising up to wrap itself between her fingers like a strobe of light across the universe. That last night with Daddy was alive again. She didn't know who sent the ribbon; she didn't care. If they needed her, she was prepared to stay and help them if it meant she could be here forever.

A sudden rush of wind pushed her backwards. She reeled as she tried to regain her balance in the cavern-like darkness of the space she floated in. She started to fall, in a tumble at first but then straight, downwards with her feet first and towards... the ground? She didn't know where she was headed. As the stars flew past her she held tight to the ribbon. She knew she must not let it go. She only wished she knew why. Fear was beginning to grip her like being winded after a thud to the chest. There were voices, thousands of voices calling her name like an eerie choir in chaos; its harmonies all at odds as it tried to sing its song and send out its message. 'We Need You'. Then it stopped.

She landed on all fours, face to the floor with her right hand resting in a pool of light, the ribbon entwined within her fingers. The pool of light moved; it ebbed and flowed and took form. It was more than light. It was made of the same stuff as the ribbon and it flowed upwards and beyond Penny's limited view. She raised her head to follow the glow and by now she was holding out her right hand to cover her eyes and save them from the light. She was mesmerised as the light shifted and swayed like a curtain, iridescent and ever-changing, throwing out shards of mother-of-pearl blues, reds, greens and gold.

'We Need You', came the call, only deeper now and from a singular source, from far above her where the top of the curtain of light came into view. The voice that called to her was like those of the Mum's at school that greeted their children with so much joy; soft, deep and warm and Penny fell into it as if it were a deep blue blanket of love. Nobody had ever needed her, ever. She had always needed Daddy more than he had needed her and she was a constant irritation to her Mum. Amber was stronger than Penny had ever been and could go on without her. But this... This light, this voice, this was somewhere she felt safe; no Tummy Turns, no fears at all. She was closer now to the happiness she once knew, closer than she had ever been and she was wanted. Right here. As she pulled herself clear of the dusty floor and reached her right hand further, the ribbon dancing and floating and pulling her upwards and closer into the light, her heart froze. The curtain of light was no curtain at all. It was a robe of splendour that went on and on, shifting upwards and sideways and Penny followed it until she reached the face of the one who wore it with such grace and peace. A hand unfolded from the glow of the gown and reached down to raise her up; to meet the one who poured out her name like liquid silver.

"Penny Black."

Who was this and how did they know her name? And why did the company of a stranger feel so familiar in this strange and unfamiliar place.

"Dark Thoughts are advancing," sang the voice. "My light is fading. Your time has come."