Gone by Holly Jackson
Zoe Parker woke up to see her little brother Jack jumping on top of her bed and the disappointing sight which the estate agents details had claimed to have been a bedroom.
Yesterday the Parkers; mum, dad (who was very rarely seen due to the fact that he was always in his study and was not to be disturbed even in the most major of problems.) Zoe (the eldest of the siblings), Andrew and Jake had moved to a new country cottage next to millions of acres full of cow, sheep and horses. So of course there was the constant racket of animals.
Zoe stumbled down the stairs trying to avoid Jacks Doctor Who figures and various other things he’d left behind and he’d ‘forgotten’ to pick up. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she was not surprised to hear Andrew arguing with their mum because she had told him to tidy his room; put his socks in the wash bin or something to do with that sort of thing.
“Zoe, perfect timing, tell Andrew he has to have something for breakfast he can’t go hungry we’ve got a busy day today decorating. He’s got to get some cereal from the shop.”
“Come on everybody lets go and get some milk. Jack get your coat on.” Zoe announced.
The three children opened the front door to reveal the sun gazing down at them. Somehow along the way down the cobbled road to the village shop Zoe ended up with Jack on her back. Finally the children reached the shop, bought breakfast and made their way back home. As they approached the house the children noticed a mysterious trail of footsteps. Too small for human footsteps they lead into the forest.
Andrew gingerly opened the door where the footsteps had led from.
“Mum! Mum?” Jack cried frantically as he rushed into the house. The three siblings timidly walked into the kitchen to discover mum was missing, milk everywhere and a tepid cup of tea. Jack hid behind Zoe.
“Well no need to cry over spilt milk, said Zoe acting more bravely than she felt.
“Let’s follow the footsteps” said Andrew who had always longed for escape, adventure and to voyage across the world.
“We might find an alien or time portal,” added Jack.
“ I don’t think so anyway I’m not sure Andrew, what if we get hurt or ....”
“It’s better than decorating isn’t it?” Andrew interrupted before Zoe could say another word.
“I suppose so” Zoe admitted.
Yes result, Andrew never thought he would be able to convince Zoe to say yes, a moment that would go down in history!
“But you two are staying here.”
What? Had Andrew’s ears deceived him? Was his hope and dreams for the future been shattered into a million pieces? “ But...why...what if...”
“Andrew you’re not coming, get you and Jack some breakfast. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Stay here.”
Jack looked at Andrew. Andrew looked at Jack. They shared the same thought. Zoe walked out the door. The two brothers watched out the double glazed windows. Zoe entered the woods.
“10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.0, let’s go!” shouted Andrew. The two of them raced out the door and into the woods. Eventually they caught up with Zoe.
“Boo” shouted Jack.
Zoe jerked round to see her two annoying little brothers.
“What are you doing here? I told you to stay at home!”
“We were getting bored! How could you expect us to stay at home whilst you go out on an exciting adventure?” exclaimed Andrew.
“Exciting? What? Look go back to the house!”
“No!”
“Back to the house!”
“But”
“But what?”
“But it’s not fair you always get to do things we’re not!”
Silence spread throughout the woods.
“Come on then.”
Andrew decided to be quiet then and just follow Zoe and the footsteps.
Eventually they came to a small campsite. A small wood fire was made of tiny logs of wood no bigger than the size of two thirty cm rulers. Beyond the logs they could see a path, nothing else just trees standing tall and leaves standing small. The footsteps had stopped now and the three children stood there confused.
“Can we turn back now?” asked Jack.
“It was your choice to come,” replied Zoe. “Come on let’s go down here,” and led them down the path.
“Oy you over her!” The three siblings turned round.
“Cool” declared Andrew.
“Wicked” Jack replied.
“What is it?” asked Andrew.
“An alien, dur!” answered Jack.
“It’s a House Slob actually” Zoe interrupted.
“Excuse me,” said a little house slob impatiently tapping his foot. “Missing something?”
“Yes, yes we are. We’re ... Hang on how do you know?”
“That’s for me to know and you to guess,” said the little house slob.
“Where is she!?” Andrew roared.
“You win”
“What do you mean we win?” asked Andrew.
“I’ll show you where she is.”
The three children look at each other.
“Come on then, you want to see her?”
They followed the House Slob. He led the children to a deep dark cave; the siblings stopped.
“Come on then.”
They continued into the cave when suddenly they heard a crowd of little voices.
“Guys we’ve got visitors!” “Who is it?” “It’s the children you plonker!”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“What’s going on?” Andrew whispered to Zoe.
“I’m not sure.” Zoe whispered back.
“She’s over here mate!” another house slob announced.
The children walked over to where he stood. Jack was the first to spot her.
“Look over there!” he screeched, pointing towards a large glass cabinet.
There their mother stood enchanted. She seemed to be under a sort of trance.
“Thank you, but where’s the key” Zoe questioned.
“The key? Ohhh the key for the cabinet. You’re not having her without a deal.” A slob called out.
“Explain yourself.” Andrew answered.
“Well it’s quite simple really, we’re House Slobs. So what do we do? Slob around of course. Don’t like getting up, don’t like being tidy. House been empty forty years, we get our way don’t we? You move in and shock horror, she starts cleaning,” he said pointing to their mum. “The deal is mate you keep the house messy, you get her back. Simple.”
“Deal!” Andrew shouted before he could help himself.
Pure bliss being told not to tidy up, this must be a first. Zoe rolled her eyes and agreed.
“OK then but if we find anything missing.”
“Good children” the House Slob answered.
The slob clicked his fingers and a drawer in the bottom of the cabinet opened and a key jumped out. Could this really be happening? The key slotted itself into the keyhole; unlocked the door and released their mum.
“She’ll come out the trance about quarter to ten, in the meanwhile put her in bed she’ll forget all about it.”
The three children half carried, half dragged their mother all the way to the new house and put her into bed.
“Wow what a morning.” Zoe said just in time to see their mother clambering down the stairs. Her hair was all over the place and she looked like she had slept in her clothes for months.
“Alright mum?” asked Zoe.
Her Mum walked over to the mirror and patted the tangle of hair on the top of her head in a dazed manner.
“Yes dear, in fact I feel better than alright. I was thinking. It’s much too nice to do silly decorating today. So how about if we grab biscuits and spend the day outdoors doing nothing.”
The children looked at each other.
“Great idea,” replied Zoe. “Let’s just spend the day slobbing out,” she said with a sly wink at her brothers.
