Written for Pancreatic Cancer UK,, to fundraise and raise awareness of this terrible illness after losing my dad, November 2020

part 5 of 5

Poisonous plants

Watching the faces around the fire, Joe observes the Shadow and his reaction to the children. Thirty now trapped in his presence. He appears smug, he thinks he has won, but he hasn’t.  They might be a group of children, but they are strong together.

Yan was an expert in botany, it was his hobby, and the Shadow was oblivious to the plants that surrounded him.  The idea of poisoning the Shadow seemed a wise one and their weapon was prosperous.  All around them with its white flowers grew Water Hemlock, they could beat him.

Billy had started making harmless cocktails and giving them to the Shadow.  He was drinking them like he is a king and Billy his loyal servant.   All they needed to do was mix in the Water Hemlock and they can escape.   Tomorrow they would put their plan in place.  They had already practiced all holding hands in a row, he won’t suspect a thing.

The plan

Drink prepared, Strawberry, blackberry, cherry, mashed daisy, mashed daffodil, blackcurrant and finally Water Hemlock.  Billy carefully walked it to the Shadow, trying not to show his fear, he desperately wanted to go home.

As the children played again their rehearsed game of all holding hands, the Shadow started to cough and splutter, the hemlock had worked.  Then gasping for breath, and shaking he turned from man to shadow.   Joe did not expect this, he had expected a full human reaction, but he is not human. As the children stood dancing together the Shadow vanished.  Was he gone? Or had he just gone somewhere else?

“Come on kids this is it, who wants to go home?”

Standing in a row, Joe could see his garden through the tracing paper like film.

“Okay, all follow me, and all hold on tight.”

Joseph

The children have been missing weeks now.  Hannah kept telling me to not worry. How do you trust that your nine-year-old knows that her brother is alright?  Especially when I have held her sobbing for him.

The only solace I have found is in my garden. Pulling out the weeds has been cathartic, the effort to pull and the reward of a clear flower bed.  The garden looks better than it has in years.

As I sit watching a frog sitting on my small pond, I hear cries and shouts from behind me.  As if they are appearing out of the sky my garden is suddenly full of children.

“Mum.”

Leading the merry band was Joseph.  Hannah was right he was playing the hero, but how did they literally just walk out of the sky?

Joe and Hannah won’t tell me the full story.  They say they can’t, Jamie still thinks the shadow person he saw is to blame.  I’ve never believed in the supernatural but how else can children walking out of the sky be explained?

The school is now full again and things are getting back to normal, however there are rumours of a shadow.  The older children won’t talk about him but some reception children have drawn him.   I hope that whatever the children did to get away from him put an end to his plans.

We are all together again and we can now get on with being a family and not live in fear of the children disappearing.

Loss is horrible, I lost Joseph for a few weeks, I know that I’m lucky to have him home.

Here is my fundraising page, if you would like to donate.  Any size donation is appreciated.

Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK