Page 6 of Second Verse

‘Hello,’ Norah said quietly and went in.

They were almost side by side as they crossed the playground. Norah decided to slow her pace to allow Poppy to leave her behind. Unfortunately, Poppy had the same idea, so their paces still matched. They were walking in perfect tandem toward the door of the open classroom. The kids were piling out, flying to their caregivers. Norah and Poppy were among the last to reach the door.

‘You first,’ Norah said, gesturing at the door.

‘No, please,’ Poppy said.

Norah sighed through her annoyance and said, ‘OK, thanks,’ and stepped forward.

Freddie was ushered out by the teacher. ‘Mum!’ he said.

He wasn’t usually so excited to see her, and his shiny, happy face offered solace in amongst the banal horror of the situation. But that was swiftly cancelled when the first words out of his mouth were, ‘I’ve got a new friend!’

No. Please, no.

A little girl ran out, and you couldn’t miss the likeness. She was a mini-Poppy, albeit one with perfect braids. ‘Mum!’ she yelled. ‘Can Freddie come to our house?’

‘Oh!’ Poppy exclaimed. ‘Ummm...’

Norah couldn’t believe it. And yet she could. Her fear had come to pass. It was comforting, in a way. Norah wasn’t paranoid. Life really was as stupid as she’d always suspected.

The one bit of fortune in this was the question wasn’t aimed at her. It was Poppy’s to deal with.

‘Well, maybe not today,’ Poppy said quickly.

‘Why?!’ Luna demanded. She was a mini-Poppy in more than looks, it seemed.

‘I’ve got to get back,’ Poppy asked.

‘What for?’ Luna pressed.

‘The... plumber is coming,’ Poppy improvised.

‘What for?’ Luna kept on.

Norah felt the corner of her mouth slide up infinitesimally.

‘The toilet won’t flush,’ Poppy said.

‘Did you break it?’ Luna asked.

Poppy grabbed her daughter’s hand and tried to coerce her out of the playground. ‘No, well... Well, yes,’ she said, pulling at her hand.

But Luna wasn’t going into that goodnight gently. ‘How? Was it a massive poo?’

‘Oh my god,’ Poppy muttered to herself, pained. She was still trying to pull Luna, whose feet were edging forward, but not nearly fast enough.

‘Why aren’t you answering me?’ Luna demanded.

Norah decided it was becoming a little too fun to watch Poppy’s suffering, and she took Freddie’s hand. ‘Come on.’

‘Have you brought my snack?’ he asked. He seemed to have realised no playdate was forthcoming and was over it, bless him.

‘Yes, of course. Let’s get out of the playground, and I’ll give it to you,’ she told him.

The allure of the snack pulled him from the playground with relative ease. She heard one last snippet of the conversation between Poppy and her daughter as she passed through the gates to a waiting BMW.

‘Yes, Luna. It wasmassive. OK?!’ Poppy was saying irritably.

---