“Who told you that?”
“Sarah Moss and her friends. And they wouldn’t let me touch Robbie in case I squished him.”
“Robbie?”
“He’s a chinchilla—that’s a cuddly toy brought to life by magic.”
“Where does she live?”
Marion sniffed. “It’s called Copperdale Estate. Near to that place Dad takes us, you know, Frank’s Yard. They have giant snails in the front garden. Pretend ones, though.”
When she lifted her head, John was gone, but a slick red strawberry sweet lay next to her inside the protective circle. Marion picked up the strawberry stick and put it in her mouth. As soon as the pink-flavored sugar fizzed on her tongue, she began to feel a little better.
A few weeks later Mrs. Moss was about to drive Sarah and her little brother to school when they found the skin of Robbie the chinchilla spread across the windscreen of the car. No one knew how the skin had got there or what had happened to the inside bits of Robbie. Marion did not go back to Sarah’s house again. If ever she was invited to things, she pretended to be poorly. Instead, she preferred to stay in what Dad called her “own little world” with the door firmly locked against intruders.
@devushka.94
July 6th
Hi today this is Sonya.
This is a normal day for me I clean/fed everybody all morning. Sometimes I play with the white rats and they don’t eat my fingers now because they know I am friends. Many children come to the store to look at the puppis. The Mrs. Boris tells me I am ask them what they want and if they do not buy I must stare at them with angry eyes until they leave. But I am not as good as Mrs. Boris at making angry eyes and the children do not leave. They poke their fingers through cage and scream making the puppis bark, then the parrot make Kaakaaakaa sound and the cats hisssss and my head gets so big with noise I think it might pop.
At night I watched TV show about horses. One day I like I will work with horses. Big animals better they can run free not like the little things in cages. Sorry for not so good English I will try harder please be patience with me!
August 8th
This day is hot very and daddy gecko died. I cry because I am sad it died but also because I am sad about many other things. Boris says it is my fault because not enough water for daddy gecko. Boris says daddy gecko cost a lot of money. The Mrs. Boris says the money must come from me.
August 9th
Again very hot and my hand hurts because I was bitten by the bad puppi. Even with bitten hand I have to clean and feed and clean more. Boris says it is my own fault. Everything is Sonya fault. Puppi is growing very big. Someone must buy him soon because if he gets too big he is not cute enough to be loved. We must not tell anyone he bites. Even the fishes look scared when the bad puppi barks.
Sept 9th
Man bought the bad puppis for his little girl birthday. But then the puppi bit girl on leg and the man brought back to store. He threatened to go to politzia if Boris did not give him money. Boris is angry with me though it is not my fault. I thought he would hit me. He says the puppi must be killed. He took it to the river. I am sad even though it was the bad puppi.
I called one puppis Adrian because he has the curly hair like you. He was the best one. He didn’t bite anyone and has gone to nice home. I hope he is happy.
Sept 10th
Clean and feed and clean and feed all day long. I am teaching the parrots English. Then they will know my secrets. I will tell them about you Adrian. I wish I could set them all free. I wish they could set me free. Sometimes I am so hungry I eat their food.
Dec 12th
Now is winter very cold. This morning I find a yellow bird and two of the baby mice not moving. Things die when it is cold things die when it is hot. The cats are in bad mood with me for some reason. The big cat with thick fur coat like rich lady scratched my face I do not know what I have done to upset her.
Feb 23rd
My English is so much better now—i watch many TV programs in English at night but I have to keep the sound very low so no one hears me. It is a program about animals in a big American zoo. I want to study about animals and become maybe a vet or work in a zoo. Do you think that will be possible Adrian to study these things in England? Of course I will need to get a job too and save up very much money I know this and I am prepared to work hard, do you have any animals? We were not allowed to have pets in the State Children’s Residence, but I loved to read books about all kinds of animals. This is why the supervisor obtained me the job in the pet store, but really it is the worst because the animals are treated so badly, but even then not as badly as some people!
Feb 25th
I received the money you sent yesterday. I am so excited to come to England! Of course I am a little scared because it is a very long journey, a bus, two trains and then a big boat. Then I wait at the McDonald’s for the Mercedes car. I hope I do not get lost on the way. No one will miss me here, except maybe the white rats.
LUNCH WITH JUDITH
As she waited for the clock to move to half past twelve, the inside of Marion’s thin nylon raincoat began to feel as hot as a carnival tent in summer. She had put it on well before going out, because getting the zip up could be a bit of a struggle, and she didn’t want it to get stuck at the last minute and end up being late. Of course, she was only going next door to Judith’s house for lunch, but it was a drizzly February day and Marion felt safer with the layer of orange nylon between her and the outside world.
She held her handbag clutched in her lap as if afraid someone might snatch it, which was unlikely, of course, since she was alone in her own kitchen. The clock twitched to twelve fifteen. Appointments made her nervous. If only she could have come up with an excuse! But saying she already had plans for the day would have been an obvious lie, as Marion never had any plans.
A pile of mail lay on the table in front of Marion. Mostly it consisted of leaflets and brochures encouraging one to do things like buy a new sofa or stay in a cottage in Cornwall.
YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY SAVE ￡￡￡￡￡￡ SWITCH TO GREEN NET BROADBAND
screamed a bright orange-and-green leaflet on top of the pile. She wasn’t exactly sure what broadband was; her brother, John, made all the decisions about that kind of thing, but perhaps she ought to keep it in case the opportunity was one they really could not afford to miss. Marion suddenly imagined them falling into poverty, becoming homeless and having to sleep on the streets as a result. Even though part of her knew she was being silly, a superstitious fear that she found hard to explain prevented her from throwing it away.
Beneath it was a blue leaflet with a photograph of a pizza. The red circles of meat between bubbling cheese made her think of pictures of skin diseases in a medical textbook that John had once dared her to look at when they were children.