Luna felt unnaturally light in Max's arms. He could probably throw her high into the bright, blue sky and catch her again with ease. It was a weird feeling, looking down on a three-year-old in your arms, carrying them for so long, and feeling no pain in his arms and no strain in his back. Except, he could feel her. She had a weight, she had feeling to her, it was just that Max didn't feel it as a struggle. He would be able to lift her up and feel her mass in his hands, but it would cause him no pain, nor strain. He was glad for that. He was pretty sure that he didn't need to worry about whether he was being hurting her because he would be able to tell if he was squeezing too much. He was pretty sure. Not sure enough to prevent himself from looking down at her and loosening and then tightening his grip on her just to check. He would have to test that theory out before he could say for certain.
He wondered how late it was. He had no clue how long he had been with these guys and, with it being summer time, it would still be around as bright as it was now at seven or eight in the evening. Who knew, it could be that time now.
Max recognised the street and knew that it wouldn't be long down until they were at Lily's house. Only one or two minutes and he would be able to sit down and take a break from all of the commotion and not have to worry that he had places to go or people to find.
He hadn't had a proper look at Lily's house when he'd carried her there earlier that day as they had been in a rush to get Lily inside but he looked upon it now and took in its beauty. The chapel had two darkish doors at the centre of its front which rose up and into a point and four windows mirrored their shape – just the very top window was the shape of a rectangle – and had metal on the inside that created the outlines of diamonds. Lily brought a key out of her shorts' pocket and turned it in the lock before pushing the door open.
"Come in, guys," she said as she stepped inside to pull the door wider. They all filed in and stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, not sure where to go.
"So, living room or bed?" Zoe asked Lily as she closed the door and locked it again. Of course, Lily's house may as well have been Zoe's and vice versa. They could probably both navigate each other's in their sleep, Max guessed.
"Well, what does everyone want to do?" Lily asked as she placed the key on a rack next to the door.
"What time is it?" Mia asked, looking around her for a clock.
"There's a clock in here," Lily said as she led them into the kitchen, where there was indeed a clock.
"Eight thirty," Max said out loud.
"Oh, wow. That's later than I thought," Mia said.
"I like your house," Kenny said, breaking the tension.
"Thank you," Lily replied with a smile. "Now, what time do you and your sister usually go to bed?" she asked, suddenly aware that it was probably past their bedtime. She wasn't sure why she felt that mattered when compared to the current affair but she wanted to stick to their bedtime anyway.
"Luna goes to bed at seven and I go to bed at half seven!" he said proudly.
"Well then, it is very late past your bedtime, isn't it? Come on, then, let's get you up to bed."
"Can we have a bedtime story?" Kenny asked eagerly.
"Go on then," Lily said with a smile.
"I'll go," Mia piped up immediately.
"No, Mia. You've already been taking care of things today. Sit down on the sofa and relax. Zoe, please could you get everyone drinks or food? Whatever people want. I'll take Kenny and Luna up to the spare room."
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The Explosion
الخيال (فانتازيا)When a strange ripple of light sweeps across the town of Lentington, wiping out all of the adults, the town's children are trapped fighting for their lives, blocked from the outside world by a mysterious force and made to choose between right and wr...
