Page 2 of Like Fathers, Like Son
How strange that he called his dad by his name like that. I’d never heard anyone doing that before.
“Daddy Gray?”
He shrugged again, and pointed up at me.
“He likes your hair. It looks like fire.”
I glanced at the closed back door, and shivered a little. I didn’t like the idea of someone’s dad liking me or my hair.
“Uh… it’s just red.”
Blaze grinned again, and it was oddly infectious, my smile already returning.
“You didn’t tell me your name. That’s what you’re meant to do when someone tells you theirs.”
I shifted on the bucket, nearly slipping off the side of it. It really wasn’t big enough to stand on like this.
“I’m Anneka. I live here with my mum and dad.”
Blaze stepped closer to the fence, stretching one hand up towards me.
“Can I touch your hair?”
What? I slipped off the bucket and landed hard on my bum, taking a breath to hold back the wave of tears that threatened to escape from the shock. It didn’t hurt, not really, but it was scary. I mean, it did hurt a bit, but I could pretend it didn’t. I shook my long red hair out of my eyes, forced a giggle, and stood up again, rubbing against the sore patch on my behind.
“Are you okay?”
I moved over to the hole in the fence, and saw a startling blue eye staring at me, how were his eyes so blue?
“Uh yeah… just landed on my uh… I’m okay.”
Blaze sighed, and his eye moved back, a finger appearing instead, and tracing the small hole he’d been peeking through. He slid his finger through the hole and wiggled it, finally moving his finger to look through it again. There was a dull thud against the fence, which made me jump. Did he just kick the fence?
“We need a bigger hole. I can’t see you properly like this.”
2
Blaze
I’denjoyedchattingwithher yesterday; Anneka, the girl with hair like angry fire. When she fell, I wished I could be the one to help her up, but the fence was keeping me away from her, and I didn’t like it.
“What’s up, Blaze?” Daddy Dory sat down beside me in my room. I was on the floor with my back against the side of my bed. He smoothed his hand over his bushy beard and nudged my shoulder.
“You can talk to me, son. Do you like it here?”
Yes. I shrugged though, trying to play it cool like Daddy Gray would.
“It’s okay. I don’t like the fence though.”
Daddy Dory frowned, glancing around my room for a moment before he let out a chuckle.
“Oh. You mean in the back garden? I saw you chatting to that girl through the fence yesterday. What’s she like?”
I shrugged. “She’s pretty. I like her hair. It reminds me of flames.”
He grinned, giving me that proud smile he used when I did well on my homework.
“You know, your mum’s hair was what made me notice her, because it was like spun gold, only paler and more ethereal.”
