She felt a little nervous about spending an evening with Poppy but also hopeful. Poppy wasn’t uncomfortable knowing what Norah was going through, and she wasn’t scared to talk about it. She knew the experience intimately. Even if they never spoke about it, being around her felt like a relief. Poppy just got it.
‘Hey, if you could choose, would you rather be able to fly, but you can only go twenty miles a day or read minds, but it’s only dogs?’ Norah suddenly heard herself ask as they walked down the street to the bus stop.
Poppy looked at her like she was bonkers. Norah supposed it was a bit silly, but she’d always liked hypothetical. Usually, they stayed in her head. But it felt good to talk about nothing.
‘Cauldwell, are you insane?’ Poppy said with a tut. ‘That’s no question at all. I’d read the minds of dogs.’
‘What?’ Norah said. ‘You wouldn’t fly?’
‘Twenty miles? I’d get as far as what? The next town? Pointless. Might as well get the train.’
‘But you can fly!’ Norah said.
‘Or I could know the mind of a dog and all its mysteries. Clear winner.’
‘You’re nuts,’ Norah said with a shake of her head, grinning.
‘You’re nuts,’ Poppy grinned back.
Six
Now
‘No, I managed to flush it, so I cancelled the plumber,’ Poppy was lying to Luna while she dug around the fridge for a yoghurt.
Luna was sceptical. ‘But you said you couldn’t. That it was a giant poo. You said it needed an expert—’
‘Luna, can you please just accept what I’m telling you?’ Poppy begged.
But of course, Luna couldn’t. That would have been completely against her nature of needing to know everything all the bloody time. Some days, it was a wonderful feature of her personality. She was unrelentingly curious. Then there were days like today when Poppy just wanted a little mercy from the child. But she would give no quarter.
‘I’m only asking why it’s different now,’ Luna went on.
The reason it was different now was that a fictional ginormous poo was no longer necessary. It fulfilled its function, which was to get Poppy out of a car crash of a social situation with Norah. Of all the kids Luna could have attached herself to on her first day...
Poppy wanted to be happy for her. The transition to a new school hadn’t been too horrendous if Luna was skipping out with a fresh bestie. But of all the besties, it had to be Norah’s son, didn’t it? Even that awful woman Susan’s kid would have been an upgrade from this.
But it might peter out. Kids made lots of friends at that age, and they could be fairly superficial. This was just the first day. Tomorrow would be some other kid. Right?
‘Mum!’ Luna cried. ‘Answer me!’
There was nothing for it. Poppy was going to have to be honest. Luna wouldn’t buy anything else.
‘Look, Luna... I lied. There was never a plumber coming. I just didn’t want to have a friend round today.’
‘Why not?’ the kid asked instantly.
‘Because it’s stressful.’
‘Why?’
‘Because while you’re playing, I have to entertain the parent,’ she said simply.
‘Why?’ Luna asked.
‘Because that’s how it works.’
‘Why?’ she asked again.
‘It’s the social contract,’ Poppy said desperately.
‘Social contract?’ Luna repeated.
‘Look, adults are different from kids. We can’t just ask each other to play. It’s not simple for us.’
‘I asked other kids to play today. Freddie was the only one that would,’ Luna said.
That took the wind out of Poppy’s sails. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah. He’s nice.’
‘Is he?’ Poppy sighed, annoyed.
‘Yeah. He let me play with his pterodactyl.’
Great. Freddie had to be a sweetie pie, didn’t he? But it didn’t change anything. They’d have to be friends on their own time. Poppy and Norah could have no part in their friendship. It was simply not possible.
Twenty Years Ago
