Chapter 1: The Tumble
The view was heavenly. Rolling green velvet hills panned out as far as the eye could see with little irregular shaped dirty fluffy cotton wool balls scattered on top, which must be sheep William thought. William leant further forward, and then another inch, and just a little bit more, and then stretched just that little bit higher for a better view. Crack! Clutz. He never listened.
The old knobbly branch on which William once stood simply broke. A clean break. William gasped as the air around him whooshed by, his already dishevelled hair flying tall to the sky, or to the earth, it was hard to know what or where. Green leaves from the old oak tree brushed past his face, his twisted feet entangled in twine, and before he could decide which way was up or down, thud. William hit the floor. His face collided with the tree trunk’s roots and poor William’s forehead span. His vision blurred. Then dark.
“William, William Joy? Can you hear me?” a tall elegant figure cried into William’s ear. “William. It’s Alyssa, can you see me?” Alyssa stroked the invalid’s head and he mumbled something unintelligible. Not much change there then really.
“Naribu?” William murmured. “Is that you still, Naribu?”
“Let me through, let me through. Out the way. Who is it this time, what has the old oak tree done now? Anyone hurt? Lately, there seems to be nothing but trouble from this here old tree, it shakes and creaks and seemingly has a complete life of its own. I swear it swung one of its crumbled bark branches at me just this morning as I walked by. And it sniggered. And it sneezed black soot in my direction. There was ample room for me to pass, and not the slightest breeze to move the twigs, but no, I was hit square on the jaw,” the complaining, eventful voice of Miss Lovett resounded through the gasps and mutterings in the school playground.
“William Joy fell, Miss,” one red-headed boy shouted, pleased he was the first to tell.
“He was right on the top branch, Miss, admiring the view, again. He knows it’s dangerous. Then I heard an almighty crack, and William was tumbling through the air,” an equally, if not more, red-headed girl added to the commotion.
“William? Nod if you can hear me? Squeeze my hand,” Miss Lovett peered into the boy’s eyes, sternly, and he sat up.
“Any one got any chocolate?” was William’s first words. “I’m starving.”
“You’re fine, then,” Miss Lovett huffed at the boy. “Why do you always create such a fuss, dramas, can’t you just keep out of mischief, just for once?” Secretly, Miss Lovett was thankful no harm had come to the boy, and she hurried the school nurse along to press cold paper towels onto William’s head. There appeared no swelling, no raised purple pounding bump and equally no cuts or bruises.
“You are a brave boy!” Mrs Hill, the plump, ancient bumbling nurse mumbled, pampering the boy who really had no time for her.
“Get off me, I’m fine,” William wriggled, grimacing with embarrassment, trying to release himself from the nurse’s tight grip. Without success.
“William!” Miss Lovett stressed his name. “William! Enough of your rudeness. If you’re going to climb trees and get into this trouble, all of the time, then you can at least be looked at, again, to make sure you’re not knocked out, nearly again, or indeed concussed. One day, I’m sure that will be the case. No doubt about that.”
Before brushing down the leafy clothes he had collected on route and standing up, wobbling, he offered a sort of apology. “I’m fine, truly I am,” William mumbled in return, fakely, and Miss Lovett could not do much about it. She marched back through the crowds of children, who all had gormless gaping mouths, and William smiled back up at the tree. “Thanks, Naribu,” he whispered as he picked white feathers from his ruffled hair, and an owl flew overhead. “Thanks for the insight.” The owl winked in reply.
William sat in the shadow the old oak tree cast across the playground. Its heart shaped leaves shed enormous black shapes onto the dusty mud floor and William felt perturbed. He had missed Naribu. His snowy white owl friend had not been in contact forever, and now the Autumn school term had begun, the bird had suddenly revealed himself. He picked up a stick and drew pictures in the chalky ground thinking bravely of Naribu’s pressing tale. Untrue, it seemed.
“Hi there, Wills. Are you feeling better?” Alyssa pouted and meandered over, her long legs never seeming to end from where William was sitting. He jumped up. He smoothed his hair. Alyssa turned pink. William had no idea where to put his eyes.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, thanks very much,” William replied, trying to sound cool but turning a classic shade of crimson far deeper than Alyssa’s ruby tone. He could be polite, if it suited him. But girls, they were another species. Yuk. His heart raced. Alyssa was the eldest and the tallest girl in the school, but she also smelt of lavender and had neat plaits. Another double yuk. He had no time for that prissy stuff. Clean? Pretty? A girl? He went purple and his insides twisted at just the thought. Or was it bashful awkwardness which he was yet unable to handle? He threw that thought aside.
But, Alyssa. Alyssa, she had always had a soft spot for William ever since his grey school shorts resembled baggy trousers and he had found it really difficult to jump the yellow hurdles at sports day. She had lifted him up, and his ears had shone scarlet. William scribbled out his dust pictures with his moss covered green stick. He kicked the dust everywhere.
“What were you drawing?” Alyssa peered closely and sat cross-legged next to the boy, who now felt like his cheeks were burning with so much embarrassment he did not know how to act. “Well?”
“Oh, nothing, just animals, animals and people,” William replied, flippantly, trying to cover up his awkwardness, but it was hard to be cocky to Alyssa. It was okay when it came to Belle, but Alyssa? He was completely at a loss of more intelligent conversation. He coughed. “Animals for the Environment Project this term,” William carried on, knowing that would make him seem intelligent. A little. Although his bottom lip did drop, quivering.
Alyssa could quite plainly see that the drawings were much more demonic. “Weird project, if you ask me.” Alyssa gave him a sly look. “So what are you doing scrubbing them out? They were good, really good. I could have taken a photo for your journal, no? Draw them again.” William thought Alyssa was far too insistent, just like a girl to tell him what to do, and although he could not really refuse, he found her interest a bit strange. He picked up his stick, and before the blond girl could bat her eyelashes, William had sketched, again, the most remarkable design in the dry earth. He looked at them, and then at the stick. Weird! How did I do that? It wasn’t him, for sure.
“Wills, that’s awesome!” Alyssa gaped in awe, elbowing the boy in a friendly way and calling him Wills to make her look popular. “Champion, and your arm, it hardly moved.” Alyssa called to her best friend, Imogen, who lumbered over to see. Alyssa peered at the boy. The boy peered back. What was he up to? William, he had no idea what he was up to.
“Imy, look at what Wills has drawn in just a few seconds,” but as Alyssa spoke her words, William had dashed off. He rarely dashed, he did not know the meaning of the word, but he did it that time. Faultlessly, cowardly, before any more questions were fired at him. He didn’t know what to say to one girl, let alone two.
“Belle, it’s happened again. Anouka has found us.” William crashed into his sister who was hanging upside down from the monkey bars. He whispered into his sister’s listening ear. Belle’s mouth fell open.
