Dark Night of the Soul

Chapter 7

'Go outside. And shut the door!' screams Bob's mum. She had had quite enough of his moping and arguments this morning. Bob stomps into the kitchen, grabs a handful of goodies from the biscuit tin and puts on his coat. With a grunt he slams the door behind him. 'What to do now,' he thinks. Andrew had gone off with his boring mates some hours earlier. He turns up the alley and strides up the hill towards Kristen's shelter.

The walk seems longer than he remembers from last time. All of that arguing must have sapped his energy. He slows his pace as he begins the ascent, huffing and puffing and muttering to himself. He doesn't even like Kristen. She's too weird. But his feet carry him forwards.

Once the huts are in sight, Bob hides behind a tree. He feels uneasy but doesn't know why. An acorn hits him square on the forehead and he looks up to see Kristen sitting amongst the branches, filthier than ever.

'Gotcha!' she guffaws, nearly falling out of the tree in the process. 'You should have seen your face!'

'Yeah, good one. Is this what you do for fun then? Throw acorns at people?'

'No. That was just a happy coincidence. I'm good at climbing trees though. There's a really good view from up here. You probably can't climb it.'

'Course I can,' tuts Bob as he tries to lift his leg up onto the lowest branch.

'Oh, I wouldn't...' But it's too late and the branch cracks under Bob's weight and he tumbles to the floor. 'OK, so tree-climbing isn't your thing. Shall we do something else?'

'S'pose. Nothing much to do up here though is there? Shall we go to the park?'

'I can see the park from up here. I've been watching your brother and his mates. They are so lame. Can't they see how embarrassing it is to be in a play park at their age? They are actually swinging properly on the swings and taking turns on the roundabout. Let's go and wind them up.'

Kristen swings herself around to a lower branch and then leaps to the ground, landing neatly on two feet.

She runs over to the hut and pulls a tarpaulin over her stuff. 'Right, let's go!'

They plod in silence, Bob rustling the biscuit wrappers in his coat pocket. He doesn't know how he feels about making fun of Andrew.

'So what do you want to do then? This was your idea after all,' says Kristen as they push open the heavy rusting gate and step into the park.

'I dunno. I mean, playing on the swings and stuff is really sad. We could get some sticks and collect some conkers?'

'Well, if that's the best you can come up with. Come on then.' Kristen walks to the side of the boating lake to collect a handful of sticks drifting on the water before heading towards the copse of horse chestnut trees by the play park.

'Doesn't look like they're quite ready yet, but they might come down if you catch them right,' Kristen shouts at Bob. She launches a stick up into the branches, heavy with knobbly green conker casings. 'Ooof, just missed'.

Andrew and his friends pretend not to see them. He's content playing on the swings, seesaw and roundabout. Andrew had always been a quiet child and was feeling so confused by puberty. Not by the hormonal rages - he was used to them now - but by the idea that he was supposed to be 'a teenager' or even worse, 'a grown-up', when he liked nothing more than playing in the park with his equally confused friends. He knows Bob just laughs at him, but Andrew tries not to care.

Kristen screams with laughter and Bob cringes. 'Why does she have to be so loud? Weird.' He glances over at Andrew and his friends, feeling twisted emotions of love and annoyance. He feels deeply protective of Andrew, even though he is older. Bob understands how the world works but Andrew seems oblivious to reality, preferring to watch cartoons or read his comic books. Bob has even caught Andrew watching toddler TV at times, although he had quickly changed the channel, a blush spreading over his cheeks.

Bob sighs and feels deeply uncomfortable. He looks over the tops of the trees, watching the migrating birds. 'Let's give up, Kristen. They're not coming down yet.' He drops his sticks in a heap and stuffs his cold hands into his pockets. 'Oh, I forgot about these. Do you want one?' He retrieves two squashed-looking Wagon Wheels from the depths of his pocket.'

'Oh yeah, thanks.' Kristen snatches one out of his hand and greedily takes a bite, getting a chunk of wrapper too in her haste. 'Mmm, god, these are so awesome. Hold on, can you hear music? Bit cold for an ice cream van isn't it?'

'It sounds as if it's coming from behind the trees. Maybe it's a boat on the river with the radio on, or summat.'

'Yeah, probs.'

Having finished their biscuits, Bob and Kristen sit on the wall near the lake, idly throwing acorns and watching the ducks dive out of the way. Bob glances up at Andrew, still on the swings. 'Boring, innit?' he complains. 'But, that music sounds like it's getting louder, doesn't it?' They look up in the direction of where the music's coming from - over the trees, past the play park - when a strange hovering, pink airship looms into view. Flying slow and low, its canopy scrapes the tops of the tallest trees.

Andrew and his friends catch sight of it too, jump off the swings and seesaw, gleefully point to the sky and start chanting. 'What are they saying?' asks Kristen?

'Sounds like 'The Pinky Ponk. The Pinky Ponk'' replies Bob.

'What's a plinky plonk when it's at home?'

'It's not plinky plonk, it's Pinky Ponk. Oh, I can't be bothered to explain. It's from some old TV programme. Andrew was obsessed with it. Mum still teases him now. None of it makes any sense.'

'Oh,' says Kristen. 'But why are they chanting it? Are they on drugs?'

They both turn to look at Andrew and his mates. Not only are they squealing, but they have also started to jump up and down and clap their hands.

'They should be careful, they will wet themselves if they carry on like that,' snorts Kristen, wondering if she had picked a rogue mushroom for last night's dinner.

She looks again at the airship, which appears to be landing next to the water's edge. The older boys all start to run, not looking at each other but totally entranced.

The Pinky Ponk doors open to reveal three strange-looking characters skulking inside: one blue, one brown, one pink. They frantically push multi-coloured balls through the doors. One by one, they land on the muddy grass and instantly inflate into huge bouncing, grinning balloons. 'The Haahoos! The Haahoos!' Andrew and his friends shout, running towards them, arms outstretched, as the music grows louder and louder.

Andrew races ahead, his face red and beaming. Bob had never seen him like this before. Finally, reaching one of the Haahoos he leaps up as if to hug the monstrous plastic smile.

But as soon as his fingers touch the creature, Andrew seems to pass straight through it, without emerging from the other side. It is as if the thing - the Haahoo - has absorbed him. The same thing is happening to all of his friends. One by one they disappear.

The music stops and there is a deathly silence. Kristen and Bob are rooted to the spot, unable to utter a word.

As they stare open-mouthed at the Haahoos, a shimmer appears around them. A haze of nano-sized fragments comes from the tops of their heads. For a moment, Andrew's ghostly, fragmented form appears. But in an instant, the particles disperse into the air. He has gone. They have all gone.

The three figures in the Pinky Ponk gather up the Haahoos, stuffing their now-deflated bodies through the airship doors. The blue figure presses a red button causing the now quiet pink airship to rise up into the air, the canopy doors sliding shut silently as it floats back over the trees.