SUNSHINE
forward the grass changes into the concrete path to my front door. I follow it and knock, for I don’t have a key. No one answers so I twist the knob and find the door unlocked. I push it open and step inside. The cool of the vinyl floor is a shock to my feet. The air inside is cool, and I know immediately that my dad is not here. I am about to head out the door when I hear voices outside. They are not speaking English but are coming closer. I run through the house to my bedroom and hide under my bed, pulling the duvet down so it spills over the side of the frame to cover me. I am sure that I’m now unseen. I lie still as the intruders enter the house. Judging by the sounds, I think one is male and the other female. They don’t stay long: almost as soon as they arrive, they are gone. There is nothing of worth in this house. I get up, grab some bandages for my feet, find a water bottle, fill it and stuff it into a back pack with a mobile phone (which I don’t know how to use) and a jumper from my room. Almost as if on cue, I hear the voices of the two people returning to the house. I escape through the back door and hide behind my old playhouse. I can hear the low murmurs of their voices as they move about the house, then the front door slams in the distance and they are gone again. I wait a moment and walk cautiously to the back door. I - 58 -