15th November
Goldie
After showing her sister the story, Goldie is quiet for a long time, so long that Liyana starts to think she might have fallen asleep. Her chin rests on her knees, her eyes are closed. Still, Liyana waits.
‘I . . .’ Goldie lifts her head. ‘I just don’t want to say goodbye. And if I never go back I . . . I can pretend he’s still there.’
‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Liyana slips an arm over her sister’s shoulders. ‘You don’t have to say goodbye, you never have to say goodbye.’ Softly, she strokes the curls of blonde hair. ‘But . . . but I think you do need, one day, to return to this world and . . . live again.’
Goldie sighs.
‘I’m not preaching,’ Liyana says. ‘I know I could do more of that myself. But I was thinking that perhaps . . .’
Goldie looks up. ‘What?’
‘Perhaps you could read your stories to our sisters.’
Goldie turns to Liyana, frowning. ‘In Everwhere?’
‘Yes.’ Liyana drops her hand. ‘Of course I’d come with you, Scarlet too. I think . . .’ Liyana twists her fingers together in her lap. ‘I think we should go back and join them again; we could be useful, we could be part of something . . . meaningful.’
On her left knee Goldie traces the lines of the red chequered pattern of her pyjamas. ‘I don’t think I’d be of any use to anyone right now.’
Liyana reaches for Goldie’s hand. ‘You underestimate yourself.’
Goldie shakes her head.
‘Please.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You don’t know that.’ Liyana squeezes her sister’s hand. ‘Not until you try.’
Liyana
When Goldie falls asleep, Liyana picks up her story again and starts to draw . . .
