‘Not that.’

‘Oh. Did you mean cars are big metal monsters that can kill you?’ he asked casually.

‘That’s the one,’ Norah said.

Suddenly, she felt embarrassed in front of Poppy about her aggressive phrasing. She turned to Poppy. ‘I know it’s a bit much...’

But Poppy was leaning down to Luna. ‘Did you hear that?’ Poppy said. ‘Big metal monsters.’

Luna’s eyes flashed fear, though she shook it off quickly. ‘I heard!’ she said angrily. ‘And I’m cold!’

Poppy, already carrying her coat in readiness, stuffed her into it quickly.

They continued walking, but both of them kept close to the adults now.

‘Thanks for that imagery,’ Poppy muttered under her breath. ‘I don’t want her to live in fear, but she’s got no sense of danger at all when it comes to cars. God knows I don’t want to spoil her childhood innocence too soon, but better I take a tiny bit than a car takes the whole thing.’

Norah nodded, pleased to hear her exact philosophy put into words. ‘Exactly.’

Norah wondered why it couldn’t be this easy to talk to Max. She’d always had this idea that when it was right, you didn’t have to talk. There was an understanding between you. But with Max, it wasn’t feeling so true lately. They weren’t in a peaceful, silent communion. They simply didn’t talk. When had it switched?

They reached the farm entrance, where a bored teenager ticked off the kids’ names on Drew’s guest list.

As soon as that happened, the kids looked at their parents with a question in their eyes, ‘Are we free to go nuts?’

Norah and Poppy nodded.

‘Head on in,’ Norah said.

‘We’ll be nearby,’ Poppy added.

They took off at a lick, running straight for an impossibly big trampoline.

‘You have to take your shoes off!’ Freddie said, already barefoot.

Luna groaned but did it anyway, and they were on the big trampoline, springing like they could reach the sun.

Norah and Poppy dropped off the cards and presents on the gift table and turned to watch the children. Norah realised she felt some sort of contentment for a change. And then Poppy asked if she wanted a coffee, and she was even happier.

Twenty Years Ago

It had been four weeks, and it wasn’t any better.

Norah couldn’t seem to get out of this pit of misery she was in. Though Norah was no stranger to misery, this romantic rejection was an entirely fresh kind of pain.

Whatever she could have said about losing her dad, it wasn’t like this. No one had said, ‘You don’t deserve a dad because you’re a total fucking loser, and we’re repossessing him.’

Terrible as it was, there was nothing malicious or vindictive about the way she lost her dad. His death from a tumour was impersonal. Though it had felt cruel, it was only in that ‘The universe is a chaotic bitch that doesn’t a give a shit about anyone’ kind of way.

But this was deeply personal. An attack at the core of her. She had shown just about every part of herself to Poppy, inside and out. And the response was, ‘You don’t hold my interest. Go away.’

Norah wished with her whole heart that Poppy could know how this felt. She wanted to hurt Poppy so badly, to make her know this agony. But she simply didn’t have that kind of power over her. That was the whole problem. Poppy didn’t care.

Norah did the only thing she could do. She worked. Her situation made the graphic novel take a hell of a turn. Dark moments filled the pages. She poured her resentment and anguish into every panel. The girl with the fresh superpowers was getting ever more bitter. She’d tried to help people, but it never turned out well, and it seemed like all she could do was accidentally hurt them. She was beginning to conclude that the only use for her super strength was to punish. She’d picked someone for retribution, a bully who had hurt her friend.

Despite this outlet, Norah’s wounds remained raw. She didn’t sleep well, and when she did, she dreamt of Poppy. In the dreams, Poppy was always laughing at her.

Just when she thought she was drowning completely, her phone buzzed one evening. She hesitated, heart racing as she finally unlocked her phone.

I'm sorry. Can we talk? Poppy asked.

Norah stared at the screen, her fingers trembling as her mind reeled with the possibilities.

Maybe it was all a mistake? Maybe Poppy was coming back to her? Maybe the love Norah felt was returned?

It didn’t take long for Norah to throw that fantasy out. She was a realist. Poppy had used her. To still cling to hope now was pathetic. She hated the instinct in herself.

Before she could weaken, she had to do something to make it impossible. She had to burn the bridge of any kind of chance for Poppy to come back into her life. Poppy was probably just hoping that enough time had passed that she could say, ‘Hey, let’s be friends again now, yeah?’

Fuck that.

No, she texted back. And then she added another message. Don’t contact me again.

It hurt like hell to press send. But there was no other way. That word was her only power in all this. What could she do but use it?

Twenty

Now

Poppy and Norah stood side by side with their coffees, watching the kids go bananas on a huge sunken pirate ship jutting out of a ginormous sandpit.

Poppy was still dealing with the surrealness of the situation. She hoped it would pass soon. It had simply seemed so impossible that she’d ever get another chance to be in Norah’s life that she hadn’t even liked to hope. But they were moving past the past. Poppy couldn’t ask for more.

‘Freddie’s nose is running like a tap,’ Norah muttered to herself.

‘Probably a touch of hay fever around all the, ya know, actual hay,’ Poppy reassured her.

‘I hope so. He’s not fun with a cold. He gets very morose,’ Norah mused.

‘Morose?’

‘Yeah, he starts making plans for his own funeral. “Mummy, if I don’t wake up tomorrow, don’t give my toys away. Just put them all over me. I can sleep with them forever.” That’s a verbatim quote. Gave me the shivers.’

‘Very ancient Egyptian of him,’ Poppy smiled. ‘Luna goes full diva when she’s sick. Demanding only the finest snacks, the best made-up games, movies that don’t exist.’

‘That don’t exist?’ Norah repeated.

‘She has this tendency to think that Netflix caters to her whims,’ Poppy explained. ‘If she dreams up a story about a unicorn that makes friends with a koala, she fully expects it to be there.’