The Other Side: Chapter Two

chapter 2

I clattered inside, flinging my bag into my room and headed for the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked biscuits welcomed me cheerfully.

"Hey Mum," I said happily, "Wuzzup?"

Mum looked up sadly, but her face lightened up when she saw me.

"Darling!" she cried, sweeping me into a hug.

"I have something to tell you," I said, "Harriet's Granddad is a Xyrn."

Mum froze with shock. Then, relasing in stages, she talked.

"Wow," she said, amazed, "And they're so Catholic! No Wonder Harriet wasn't told of this when she asked about her Grandparents. I would never have guessed."

"Do we have anyone who is a Xyrn?" I asked.

Mum looked at me. "I hate the island of Xyrn. All inhabitants of Xyrn. They disgust me. No."

She turned and left me standing in the kitchen, next to a steaming batch of biscuits. I absent-mindedly took one and bit into it. What was that about? Then, I remembered - one of Mum's old friends was supposedly dead, but many thought that she had gone to Xyrn for a better lifestyle. And anyway, maybe she's in a bad mood. Feeling better, I polished off a few more biscuits before going to my room to do homework.

An hour later, at my desk, it struck me.

Every Sunday, a Xyrn came to the local market to buy food for the week. They would be polite and friendly, always gracious, never in a rush. They mixed in happily. They chatted to shoppers. I was suddenly very interested.

"MUM," I yelled, "CAN I GO TO THE MARKET WITH HARRIET ON SUNDAY?"

"YES!"

"Whoop!" I cheered, and ran to the phone to ask Harriet what she thought.

Reviews

[Hans von Lieven]

Good show. Nothing much wrong this time.

Every Sunday, a Xyrn came to the local market to buy food for the week. They would be polite and friendly, always gracious, never in a rush. They mixed in happily. They chatted to shoppers. I was suddenly very interested.

(In this passage you start off with a singular Xyrn and then continue in the plural perhaps Every Sunday, a few Xyrn or Every Sunday, a handful of Xyrn, something of that nature)

Have fun, keep writing. You are doing very well.

Hans von Lieven