Chapter 1 - Keith's Dragon

Keith wants dragon back from his baby brother. Perhaps the dark man standing in the shadows will be able to help.

Keith was happy to be an only child. He liked having his own room with his own things in. Mummy and Daddy were allowed in to play of course but nobody else. When Daddy said he might like a friend to play with, a baby brother or sister, Keith had burst into floods of inconsolable tears.

His opinion didn't seem to matter though. Mummy got fatter and fatter. She went to hospital and came back with a baby. Keith was not happy about it, especially when his favourite toy, the blue stuffed dragon he'd christened "Dragon" vanished from pride of place on his bookcase and turned up in the baby's cot. He tried stretching his pudgy hand through the bars to get it back whilst mummy was sorting the washing downstairs but he couldn't quite reach. The fury of being so close yet so far to Dragon, his little Dragon, was too much to bear especially as the baby lay there gnawing its poor wing.

He stood beside the cot trying to decide what to do. He noticed a man was standing in the shadows in the corner of the room. He was pointing at the baby and frowning. Keith understood immediately. He had no concerns about a complete stranger appearing in his brother's bedroom, not even one with skin so pale it was almost pure white, his sunken eyes little more than black pits of darkness. Keith had bigger things on his mind, like getting Dragon back. He asked the man to get Dragon for him but the man only shook his head before holding up a marble.

Keith understood, walking quietly back to his bedroom as the baby continued gurgling and biting Dragon. Although just shy of four years old, Keith was already quite the organiser. He knew where every toy was, every book, everything including Dragon. Dragon was in the wrong place. It didn't belong with the baby. It belonged on the bookcase between Bear and Piglet.

His stomach thrust out self-importantly as he carried his box of marbles through to the baby's room, tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on his task. He set the box down by the cot and peeled back the lid, scooping out a handful of marbles. He transferred a good one to his other hand, drew his arm back and threw the marble with as much force as he could muster. His aim wasn't good, it bounced off the corner of the cot and rolled under the changing table. Undeterred Keith set to work, the man watching him the whole time, nodding benevolently.

He picked out the largest marble in the box, the one that always reflected his eyes back as he stared into its depths. He hurled it forwards. This one missed too, flying straight over the cot and thudding into the wall behind. The baby giggled, watching him with curious eyes, Dragon momentarily forgotten.

He decided to change tactics, filling his fist with as many marbles as he could and throwing them all at once. Some missed, ricocheting harmlessly round the room but one made it, flying between the bars of the cot and hitting the baby square on the forehead as he stared back at his big brother.

The baby was silent at first as if unable to process what had just happened. It began to scream in pain but by then Keith was already throwing another handful of marbles, hoping to inflict at least one more punishing blow before mummy came running to investigate the noise.

He could hear the washing machine churning in the kitchen. Perhaps that was why she hadn't appeared yet. The baby was still screaming when a marble landed in his mouth, dropped in by the man who was leaning over the cot as the glass ball lodged in the baby's throat. Its face began to change colour, hands flailing around in a funny way. In its desperate efforts to draw breath, it kicked Dragon to the side of the cot where Keith could easily reach in and squeeze it out, hugging it closely to his chest as he looked back at baby. Had he done something wrong? He wasn't sure. The baby had gone still again but should it be that strange colour? The man was still smiling at him. If he'd done something wrong the man would have told him off, not leaned further over the cot, his face hovering over the baby's, his mouth open.

Keith collected his scattered marbles from the floor and put them back in the box, carrying them through to his room before returning to collect Dragon. He thought it best to tidy the marbles away first, not wanting mummy to tell him off for leaving them lying around, she might be angry at him and she could be very mean when she was angry. The man had gone now but Keith didn't mind, Dragon was going back to its rightful place. He didn't care about anything else that happened to the baby. He went back to his room and pulled out a few of his favourite books , flicking through the pages and smiling at each pop up scene as mummy stomped upstairs with the washing basket in her arms.

She stuck her head in his room first, smiling at the sight of him reading quietly to himself. She turned to check on the baby. She dropped the washing basket and collapsed to the floor. Keith turned and watched her funny crawl through to the baby's room. She pulled herself up the side of the cot and reached down, lifting the baby into her arms with her mouth wide open, as if she was yawning but no sound came out.

As she collapsed to the floor with the baby in her arms, she began sobbing inconsolably, Keith climbed off the bed and stood feeling nervous. Why was baby's face so wrong? It looked broken. He began to cry too. He'd only wanted Dragon back. He didn't want to see inside baby like this. "Can you fix him?" he asked, sniffing loudly, but mummy didn't answer.

When the men came later they asked him about baby and mummy who still wasn't saying anything. She was being funny, playing a game with the men and not letting them take baby from her. They didn't ask him about the marbles so he didn't tell them. He told them that no, he didn't know what "dead" meant but he wondered if he could have an ice cream maybe and they gave him one from the freezer. He told them he had a dragon, would they like to meet him? It never occurred to him to mention the man. By then he'd forgotten all about him anyway.