When Kyle Coffer reached his eleventh birthday, his mother took him to the supermarket, just on the borders of the town to go food shopping, because his slightly over-weight diabetic Aunt Flora was coming over for dinner that night and to celebrate Kyle's birthday. Kyle was a short, slim boy, who loved to wear baggy jeans and his favorite "Screaming Granny" band t-shirt, sometimes he wouldn't take it off for days until his Mum insisted it had to be washed... His hair was short and scruffy "It's the way I like it," he'd say if anyone threatened him with a haircut.

"We must ask the baker to make sure the cake is suitable for diabetics, Kyle." His mother said, Kyle was pushing the shopping trolley along side her as she scanned the shelves... They were walking up aisle 665, on the third floor, of the 'Bryan and Davidson Super-mega-hyped-market "Fruit and Vegetables of Exotic Natures" was printed on the sign dangling above the aisle...

"Mum" Kyle said.

"Yes darling, what is it?" Kyle's mum asked tilting her head slightly, towards Kyle, to hear her son better.

"Do we need any fruit and vegetables of an exotic nature?" Kyle looked up at his mother, a tall blonde lady with pink lips and deep blue eyes, slightly plumped around the hips...

"Why yes Kyle, we do... I know, I'll go to the Bakery section to ask about a birthday cake suitable for diabetics, while you, hold on..." Kyle's mum ripped the list at the bottom and handed it to him.

"You get the fruits and vegetables of an exotic nature and then wait around here, I'll be back in a moment..." Kyle's mum walked around the corner of the aisle and disappeared.

"Okay... Let's see..." Kyle squinted at the list, his mums cursive handwriting was delicate and flowing, but hard to read... "Yams, Satsumas, Purple Dim-Dams from the deepest Congo, Dragon Fruits, Lychees, Pomegranates, 'Pink Baby Apples', Rainbow Mangoes of Malaysia... This is a lot of fruit.... I wonder if Mum is going to make me eat it all..." Kyle grimaced at the list, "Yeuch, I hate pomegranates..."

Kyle began his task, pushing the trolley up the aisle, he found his first few items, and he gingerly bagged up the 'Dragon Fruits' "1-2-3 that's enough of those..." And took another bag to hold 10 satsumas, another bag for 2 purple Dim-Dams, 1 rainbow Mango each bag he tied tight to make sure they wouldn't roll out into the trolley. The Lychees were next, Kyle bagged two handfuls of the spiky fruit, the fine jagged scales looked more reptilian than fruit like... "Hmm... I wonder what people do with these... These can't be for eating can they?" He then hung one from his ear, in a similar fashion to an earring "Hmm... These would be all right for a punk to wear..."

His daydreaming was interrupted by an old man... clearing his throat, he asked Kyle "Excuse me young man, do you know where I may find soft-drinks such as cola and lemonade..? I'm a bit lost..." The old man's eyes were milky white; his face resembled a leather handbag. His white, silvery hair poked out in random directions from his beaten bowler hat.

"I'm not sure sir, I'm guessing they would be in aisle 436, next to the seasonal goods, I think I saw soft-drinks there..." Kyle looked up at the old gentleman...

"Thank you son... This place is a bit big for me..." The old man shuffled off, down the massive corridors, with walls made of fruits and vegetables of an exotic nature.

"Okay... Back to work..." Kyle looked back at the list... "Pink baby apples... Hmm...  And yams and finally..." Kyle shuddered... "Pomegranates..."

The pushed the trolley to the end of the aisle, turned around and began walking with it, back down the way he came, his eyes shooting up and down the different containers for the fruits and vegetables... His eyes caught sight of 'Yams'...

"Ah-ha, there we are... Kyle picked up a yam; it resembled a rodent, long and furry but with no eyes and legs or ears... But the resemblance was there. He placed it along side the other fruits he had bagged up.

The 'pink baby apples' were next to the yams. Kyle bagged up 5 of them, as they were not as big as normal apples, such as a Granny Smith, but not a bad size... The skin colours varied from slightly pink to a deep maroon, some where pink with patches of red... Like blisters on burned skin... Kyle tied the bag tight.

"Okay... Where's mum...? Surely it doesn't take that long." Kyle pondered... "Well, this place is big, maybe she's seen something, or someone..." He looked back at the list... "Pomegranates..." Kyle sighed. As he looked up, he saw them, a fine pyramid display with a sign poking out of the top... "Bryan and Davidson Finest Loose Pomegranates Especially Imported From Albuquerque" Kyle took one from the display, making sure it wasn't one that was bearing weight or having any structural roles. It was like any other pomegranate. He took another. Another normal pomegranate, though the idea that because these had been imported from Albuquerque gave them special features was resonating in the back of Kyle's 10 year old mind. The final pomegranate, to his horror, shock and disgust - had a face!!! He dropped it into the bag with a daze, was what he saw real? He was trying to fish it out when Mum came around the corner of the aisle with a big box.

"Kyle...?" He looked up at his mother.

"Yes mum?" She put the big white cake box with silver trim and a decorative, deep blue sticker on the top carefully into the trolley and stood up, her hand on her hips.

"Did you get all the stuff on the list?" She squinted and smiled at her son in a pretend contempt, like a villain in a spoof movie.

"Yes I did, but look at this pomegranate, it's kind of creepy." He fished out the three pomegranates from the fruit bag. His mother examined them.

"What's wrong with them. Which one am I looking at?" Kyle's mum began to laugh. "Are you making up stories boy?"

"I thought. I thought I saw one with a face." Kyle looked in slight horror at the three pomegranates in his hands. No face. He was sure he'd seen a near human face.

"Come on m'lad, we've got to get other stuff." His mum took the trolley handles and pushed along the aisles. Kyle walked next to her looking up and down for things she'd read aloud from the list...

"Okay Kyle, we're at aisle 664, look out for dog food for Dexter..." Dexter was Kyle's loyal dog, a large chocolate Labrador and Great Dane cross with a big appetite to match.
Kyle spotted the industrial size cans; two would do Dexter at least a couple of days. He grunted in effort, hauling the large weighty can into the shopping trolley. "Is it heavy Kyle? You want me to help you?" His mum looked at him, she didn't want the lad to hurt himself.

He grunted. Straining the muscles in his arms and shoulders... "It's okay, Mum... I've got it..." It felt like an eternity from pulling the tin from the shelf to placing it in the trolley. Kyle took a deep breath. "Whew... That's heavy..." Sweat dribbled down his nose and into a glistening bead, swiftly wiped onto his t-shirt.

"Okay, let's go get some cold meat, for sandwiches, and some salad stuff. It's been warm for the past week, do you think it's going to last a little while Kyle?" His mum smiled...

"Yeah, I hope so Mum it'll be good to go outside without a hoodie on." Kyle rode the trolley for a little while, mum pushed. His arms ached a little from the weight of industrially tinned dog food. The shopping went on for the best part of an hour. Kyle and Mum dashing up and down the aisles acquiring everything they'd need for the week ahead... By the end of it all, Kyle was getting slightly drowsy, slightly tired, his eyes got heavier. In his mind, flashed the creepy pomegranate from Albuquerque with a human face, its malevolent scowl and deep black eyes. He shot up... His mum was packing the shopping as the girl at the checkout scanned all the goods, sometimes pausing to remember codes for loose fruits of exotic nature...

"I thought you were going to fall asleep Kyle... Are you tired...?" His mum smiled again, subtle little wrinkles appeared at the corners of each eye socket...

"It's okay mum, I was just resting my eyes." Kyle then yawned. Under his eyelids flashed again an image of the creepy pomegranate from Albuquerque. The hair on the back of Kyle's neck stood up on end. Was this real?

Kyle's mum packed up all the shopping and put it in the trolley... They walked to the car park. The air-conditioning at the shop front blasted them with cool air. The bags in the trolley ruffled and crinkled under the influence of the blowing from the air conditioner. As they walked down the aisle in the car park a trolley boy ran up behind them. He then tapped Kyle's mum on the shoulder "Excuse me miss... You're pomegranates fell out of your trolley... One of them is sort of ugly looking..." Kyle's mum took the pomegranates and thanked the trolley-boy.

"I wonder what he meant by a ugly looking pomegranate?" She thought.

Kyle looked around the car park. Did the trolley boy see the pomegranate's face?

As he was pondering the mystery, they had reached the car. Or more a sports utility vehicle, specially purchased to carry industrial sized foodstuffs from the Bryan and Davidson Omega-Hypermarket... Kyle and Dexter and Mum as well. But not much else would fit after the weekly shop. The car was packed tight with all the things they had bought. Kyle sat with the cake box on his knees, in the front seat next to Mum. The diesel engine puttered and rasped. A deep grey burst of smog shot out of the exhaust pipe. "Remind me to get that checked later, okay Kyle?" Kyle's mum's head was bobbing and darting in all directions as she was maneuvering her bulky vehicle out of the parking space. Checking mirrors, dipping clutch, wresting with the steering wheel. The hulking great vehicle straightened up.

"There we go... Now we can go." She said, another smile aimed at her son. The smile dropped, slowly... A look of concern crept over her normal sunny disposition, "Are you okay darling? You look a little fearful..." She reached over and touched under Kyle's chin, gently persuading him to look at her.

"Hmm... I've seen that look in your eyes before. Reminds me of when you accidentally smashed Mr. Biniscotti's shed window when you were playing football. Are you worried about something? School..?" Mum was good at deciphering Kyle's every expression, but the situation behind it usually evaded her... Who could guess her son was being plagued by a piece of tropical fruit, probably bent on world domination... from Albuquerque?

"It's nothing Mum, I just thought I saw something, but I don't think I did, it just looked like it was something it wasn't." Kyle shuddered. The look that pomegranate gave him, that scowl... That wrinkled face... The grin.

"Well, if it's not school... What is the something?" His mum looked with concern into Kyle's eyes, though it was just a glimpse as she was also keeping her eyes on the road ahead... It was getting dark, the drive home was quite long, the winding roads were dotted all around by lights. Red lights formed trails through the evening twilight like ants coming from a pile of sugar, guided by the corridors of white reflections of cat's eyes in the tarmac. The quiet rumbling of the car's engines gave off a comforting hum as Kyle drifted off into sleep. Mum took a quick glimpse at her mirror and caught sight of a glimmering trail running from the side of her son's lips, he was dribbling in his sleep! She pulled into the roadside to let any traffic pass while her attention switched to Kyle. Mum pulled a tissue from a box she kept in the glove box and wiped the saliva from her son's chin, once his face was acceptable they continued on the route home.

Dexter would be waiting, waiting for his dinner and to see Kyle and Mum again!

As she pulled up to the junction at Junction Street, her hand slid down to the rod behind the steering wheel to indicate left, there was a loud grunt. Kyle was snoring. "Awww... How sweet..." She thought.

Twenty minutes later they were trundling into the cul-de-sac where they lived. The driveway gates were open, waiting for the car to roll up next to the slightly scruffy shrubs. The headlights lit up the back wall, moths fluttered in excitement around the bonnet. Mum reached across and put her hand on Kyle's shoulder, "Kyle..." she whispered.

She gently nudged him "Kyle... Wake up my boy... We're home," she whispered. Kyle must have been in a deep sleep.

Mum nudged again "Kyle, come on wakey-wakey Flora will be calling soon and we've got to put our shopping away... Dexter will be wondering where you are." She said. Kyle responded with some slurred mumbling and yawned, his eyes slid open - Mum's smile was there to welcome him. As she opened the door it made a yawning sound Kyle followed suit, his mouth stretched wide, his arms curled up and unrolled in a big S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Then there was a wave of cold air from the outside billowing into the front seats, the blonde hairs on his arms suddenly shot up in goose bumps. There was a rustling sound from behind as Mum was lifting some bags from the car boot.

"Come on son, grab some bags and we can get a cup of tea when we're all done."

"Okay Mum..." Kyle was still slightly dazed. He fumbled around the side of the car seat to find the release button for the seat belt. Click! He was free! Kyle walked around to the car boot, a cavern of green and blue shopping bags welcomed him, he wondered where to start. He reached forward and wrapped the handles of two around his hands, one in each and pulled them out, suddenly the plastic tightened and squeezed hard. The bags didn't feel to heavy at first, then on that brief walk to the front door seemed like a marathon, like a strong man contest involving two big boulders of granite. His arms felt hot and stiff, "Just a little further, just a little further, nearly there, nearly there... Come on, come on, go go go, go go go..." The voice in his head was repeating the encouragement his hands and wrists were saying back "Oww, this is kind of painful!!! Can't we have a break?" The voice in his head replied, "No, we're nearly there - see? There's the kitchen!!! We've pretty much made it."

Once in the kitchen Kyle gently lowered the bags, their torturing grip was loosened though had left a few lines running diagonally across his hands and wrists. He could hear clacking and clicking coming up behind him slowly, a sloppy slapping sound. Then came a familiar smell of saliva, Kyle turned around and was glad to see Dexter! The dog was pretty much Kyle's height when he sat down, immediately he started licking Kyle's hands. "What do you want? Hmm? What is it?" Dexter's eyes were big and chestnut brown.

He looked at Kyle with a sullen look as if to say, "I thought you weren't coming back...?" of course Kyle knew this actually meant, "Will you get me something to eat?" A clever ploy he'd learned when he was a puppy, when following Kyle around for the crusts from toast he wouldn't eat.

"Oh I see. Hungry eh? Well, Mum and me are still getting stuff out of the car, so you'll just have to be patient." Dexter still stared at Kyle with his soft eyes, his eyebrows raised and tail swept slowly left-to-right on the black and white checkered kitchen floor tiles.

Thud thud thud thud thud!!! Came from the staircase. Muffled footsteps approached. "Hey." It was Kyle's older sister Sarah. She was sixteen, a tall girl with long red hair, with her trademark a black dressing gown and pink bunny slippers when hanging around the house, as well as a cream coloured towel draped over her shoulders. She must've just wandered down from the bathroom. At this point in time her head resembled a mop, her red hair curled upwards and dripped. There was a smell of lemon in the air. "How's the birthday been Kyle? Did you like what I got you?"

Mum walked in with four bags and placed them on the kitchen floor. "Hello Sarah, has your Aunt Flora phoned? I'm pretty sure she said she would call after tea-time."

"Not as far as I know Mum. I put off going to shower until she did, but so far there's not been anything. Ryan rang but I said he had to be quick because of Flora phoning." She took the towel from her shoulder, put it on her head and began drying her hair.

"Oh, how is Ryan I haven't seen him over since the school dance," Ryan was Sarah's best friend; it was handy to have him as a dance partner at events such as the fifth year school dance. "He's okay, he's got some project for chemistry next week and spent all last week on the internet looking for info for his essay. We're going to Gallerina's Cafe in the town this weekend, if that's cool with you?"

"Sure. As long as I have an idea of where you are, I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides I have Kyle and Dexter to talk to." She sighed then laughed, "Flora will be here too." The Phone rang, Sarah dashed into the hall to answer it... A brief silence followed by "Mum, it's for you!" as Mum left the kitchen Sarah entered, "That was Aunt Flora... Anyway what did you think of the present? Have you tried it on?" Sarah had bought Kyle a pair of baggy green coloured camouflage trousers and a 'Screaming Grannies' t-shirt with the artwork from their latest album 'Brussels Sprouts From Hell,' on the front and on the back was printed the bands name in blood red. Kyle had developed his taste for the punk-style heavy metal group after listening their albums, through the door, when Sarah was playing it at eardrum shattering volume in her room.

"I haven't seen if they fit yet, but I really like them!" Kyle hugged her.

"Whoa there, this doesn't mean I like you that much, you're still as annoying as an itchy armpit." She said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"So are you..." He replied.

"Come on Kyle," Said Mum, "We've still got a some more bags to bring in. Aunt Flora was just saying that her " Once the mammoth task of bringing in all the shopping from the car was done, Dexter following Kyle back and fourth each trip, it was time to unpack it all. Mum, Sarah and Kyle got to work: packs of meat; bags of vegetables; tubs; cans; tubes; packets; bottles; boxes of all shapes and sizes consumed the black granite work-tops. The empty cupboards, holding only the last resort tins such as "Pickled eels in tomato sauce," and "Bryan's Bivalve Molluscs In Brine," were then filled back up with nice things to eat. The freezer, once a frozen desert inhabited by icicles and breadcrumbs began to hum, now full with goods to keep cold. "This is good, we won't have to go to back for at least three weeks," Said mum as she poured biscuits into the ceramic tin. A menagerie of different kinds scattered in a mosaic of sweet tastes. The temptation to just sit down with a cup of tea was hard to resist. But just as the suggestion had crossed Mum's mind the doorbell echoed a long ding-dong!

A shadow slid along the hallway, black fingers waved back and fourth as trees swayed their branches in the wind, illuminated by streetlights. Kyle walked briskly to the door; a large black figure was standing on the other side. He turned the handle. The brass lock clicked and slid open. A second click then he pulled the door open. The large black figure lurched over, it was Aunt Flora! Wearing a large puffy woolen jumper with a large crimson handbag with a shiny golden buckle, the jumper was mainly purple but with slivers of different colours all over. It was like rainbow coloured comets streaking across a peculiar purple night sky. This was the centre point of attention, compared to the black jeans she'd squeezed into. She leaned down and squeezed Kyle tight. "Oh, my little nephew, how you've grown!!! Give's a kiss!!!" Before Kyle could reply there was a familiar, slightly rough - squishy, warm and wet lips planted a circle of saliva on his cheek. "Where's your Mum?" She let go.

"She's in the kitchen." Replied Kyle, with that Dexter wandered in, barking at this new stranger to the house.

"Hello handsome!!!" Aunt Flora bent down and began lavishing attention on the now subdued and attention-seeking dog.

"Hi Flora, how are you? Feels like ages since I'd seen you last!" Mum ran and hugged her sister.

Sarah followed suit, "Hi Aunt Flora, how was your journey?" she enquired? Still ruffling her hair with the moistened towel.

"Well, I missed the lot of you. It was quite busy around the road to Mullet Road; think there was road works, caused quite a lot of commotion. Then at the roundabout to the main road to get here there must've been an accident earlier, there were lots of police running around and blue lights flashing. Didn't see what they were running around for." She scratched Dexter around the back of his left ear.

"Come on, I'll put the kettle on." Said Mum.

A little while later, the family was sitting in their living room. Having tea and sharing a plate of biscuits, watching the evening drama series "The Willow Trees in June" on Channel 4. Mum and Sarah were sitting on the couch, Aunt Flora on the old comfy seat that belonged to a great uncle, James Boodle, who was a bit of a hoarder of all sorts of bits and pieces. Kyle sat on the floor with Dexter curled up next to him. He looked up at the clock, 8:34pm, then out of the window it was dark, deep purple-blue clouds wisped along the sky; stars glimmered and twinkled. The room became dimmed, there was a glow of yellow-orange that flickered followed by a quiet, but getting louder "Happy Birthday to you..." Kyle turned around to see the cake, in the shape of the "Falcon of Justice" a cartoon character Kyle liked to watch the adventures of on a Saturday morning. Its image was lit up by the glow of the candles that burned on top.

Mum placed it in front of him on the coffee table; Aunt Flora was fumbling around in her crimson bag. "Just a second, just getting my camera so I can take a picture for my blog." She found it, wrapped in its artificial leather carrier, took it out and tapped the top. The camera woke up with a beep and a brief squeal as the lens telescoped out of the main part.

"Smile!" She said as the camera flashed catching Kyle off guard. "Okay now one with Mum and Sarah," she said. Sarah and Mum crouched behind Kyle and another flash from the camera. Flora looked at it using the camera's preview option. "Awww... That's lovely." She laughed, the little roll of extra flesh under Flora's chin jiggled around. Then there was a photo taken with Kyle and Aunt Flora; then Kyle and Mum; then Kyle and Dexter; then all five with the camera on a timer; then the cake alone.

"One more thing..." Flora said as she reached into her bag again and dug around some more. She took out a square parcel, a birthday present, wrapped in day-glow yellow paper with bumblebee's printed all over it, and handed it to Kyle.

"Thank you very much, Aunt Flora," Kyle said as he smiled gently tearing open the wrapping paper to reveal a Falcon of Justice T-shirt and a DVD of 'The Falcon of Justice Movie - Return of the Magpie of Mischief,' - Kyle loved them. "Thank you Aunt Flora!!!"

"Come on, blow out the candles and make a wish, you don't want wax to melt all over the cake" Mum said and smiled. The boy drew in all the air his lungs could hold and blew. Sweeping his breath over the candles snuffing them all out, this action was swiftly followed by a round of "Hip-hip hurrahs!!!" from Mum, Sarah and Flora as well as barking from Dexter. Mum cut the cake and put it on plates, reassuring Flora that it was specially suited to her diabetes. The sponge was light and butter-cream sweet, accompanying the taste of plumb jam between its layers. The icing was the best bit, thick and white around the sides, and with a thinner layer of coloured fondants making up the 'falcon' image. A couple of hours later, it was bedtime for everyone. The group had planned to celebrate Kyle's birthday the next day with a trip to the Ultramarina Marine Centre, at Kyle's request, and then to Raltakkah Indian Restaurant for tea. Aunt Flora was going to sleep in the living room - on the couch, which conveniently folded out into a bed. Kyle was the first to say "goodnight", to get to bed early in order to get up early and hence the next day would arrive sooner.

He opened the living room door, his shadow hit off of the staircase, which until that point was bathed in darkness. The darkness can have a strange effect on everything familiar; the dark distorts and morphs what would normally be seen as a simple object into mysterious manifestations. The fingers that were waving from the outside became claws slashing and ripping at the wind, the patterns of the wallpaper could melt and flow due to eyes not being able to catch enough light to see properly. Unfortunately, Kyle had to navigate this night gauntlet to reach the light switch to the upstairs. Kyle didn't have a fear of the dark. Just a slight fear of what the dark could hide, and his imagination was vivid and quite creative even when he didn't want it to be.

He stepped forward into the shadows, taking one step at a time, one after the other in a dead straight line to avoid bumping around in the dark. His arms stretched out to feel the walls. Suddenly, a loud creak unwound itself under his feet; it must have just been a loose floorboard. The glass panels on the front door glowed a sickly orange, the light aided in illuminating the hallway, each step the boy took it seemed to stretch on a little further. Strange shadows twisted and pulled each other on the hall roof. He kept shuffling forward until there was the familiar feel of varnished wood, the end of the staircase where the wooden supports were low enough for Kyle to use as a guide through the near pitch black.

The boy walked up the stairs, looking up to see yet more darkness. At the top of the stairs, he reached forward. Click! Light lit up the room; the shadows and hidden horrors of the night ran away, with the exception of the particularly brave shadow that decided to follow Kyle around, stuck to the floor. Kyle walked took a left at the top of the stairs after clicking the light on, into the bathroom. When he pulled on the chord hanging from the roof the light came on, followed swiftly by the fan that buzzed and then rattled, then began humming quite loudly as it blew out air into the room.

After using the toilet, as Kyle washed his hands he looked in the mirror over the sink, smiling and pulling faces to check how his teeth were. Once the inspection was over he grabbed his green toothbrush and squeezed a blob of toothpaste onto it, and scrubbed his teeth. Up and down, left and right, behind them like the dentist said... "Or else... they'd fall out and he'd have to eat mashed up avocado's for the rest of his life." Kyle didn't like that idea. He spat into the sink and turned the tap on to rinse out his mouth. After that, he looked around for the mouthwash to make sure he wouldn’t be condemned in the future to a life of mashed up fruit being slurped up by his toothless, gummy future-self.

“Hmm… No mouthwash…? Anywhere?” Kyle raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the mystery of the missing mouthwash. Suddenly a shadow appeared on the floor. It wasn’t his. It looked like a bat, or worse a vampire! It spun around and around its wings beating, Kyle looked up – it was just a moth, confused by the artificial lights, spinning around and bumping its head off of the bulb.

There was then a slight, creak… creak… creak… coming from behind him. He turned around to confront whatever it was. Sarah. “Hey, twerp, are you going to be much longer in here?”

“No, why?” He replied.

“Because, I need to use the bathroom.” She grumbled, pulling a brush through her hair.
“Alright.” He said and walked to the door, back into the hall.

“Night-night…” She said.

“Night-night.” He replied.

As he walked past the staircase he looked down the stairs, into the blackness, then continued to his room door. The door was wooden, with a “Keep Out!” warning written in thick red felt tip letters taped to the door. He pushed it open and pressed his finger onto the switch, with a click his room was lit. Posters of the things he watched and music he listened to plastered the wall, his floor was cluttered with toys. There was a “Falcon of Justice,” poster that had a glow in the dark background that was

complemented by glow in the dark stars and dots that were stuck to his room roof. The walls, not hidden by posters were painted a dark navy blue, the blinds were turquoise and the curtains a dark green tartan, the curtains were there from Kyle’s family moved in, but Mum thought they were too pretty to replace. Kyle didn’t mind them either.
Kyle navigated the field of action figures such as kung-fu ninja gorillas, with their pointy weapons made from tough plastic that were oh, so painful if someone was unfortunate enough to stand on one with bare feet. He eventually made a safe route to his bed, his duvet was yet another tribute to his fandom of the Falcon of Justice. The hero cartoon bird was everywhere in his room, from his old computers screensaver; posters on his wall; his duvet; models and comics. Once he’d made it to bed there was a slight problem, how to turn the light off. He grumbled at the prospect of having to navigate the hazardous field of pointy pieces of plastic. After a moment of pondering what to do in this scenario, essentially to not have to bother getting out of his bed.

“Hmmm… Damn.” He whispered. “Damn.” He whispered again as he whipped the duvet to the side and slid out of his bed. Then he shuffled his feet along the wooden floor, pushing any objects in his path to the side in order to avoid a painful jab in the foot. He touched the light switch then turned around to shuffle back through the blackness. The orangey glow came through his bedroom window and odd shadows appeared. He looked out of his window into the street below, it looked so different from during the day. Grey hues painted the road and buildings, tinged by orange from glowing street lamps, behind that was a glimpse of a sea of other lights clustered in groups and some dotted in a grid formation. Leaves ran down the street, pushed forward by whispering wind. A fox ran up the street.

After a few moments of staring at the sky and the surroundings, Kyle lay down and pulled his duvet over. His eyes were closed, but he couldn’t quite nod off. Noises from outside such as the wind the cries of night birds and the rumbling of cars engines all kept him from sleeping, or maybe it was the prospect of the next day was a little too exciting and these noises were just adding to the problem. Kyle then heard a thumping noise from just outside his door. Was it the dog? It might have been Sarah going to the toilet… Maybe it was Mum. The thumping sound happened again. Kyle sat up in the dark room trying to be as quiet as possible he kept his breathing shallow and listened. Minutes passed, there was nothing? It mustn’t have been anything. Kyle lay back down and closed his eyes and continued trying to sleep. Eventually, without too much effort Kyle drifted off into unconsciousness, he dreamt.

He dreamt of the supermarket visit earlier, this time it was in black and white and very vivid. The old man who was lost; his eyes now swirling vortexes of green and yellow – the only color he could see in the scene of the dream. The aisles were twisted and distorted, signs read gibberish composed of random symbols; the pyramid of pomegranates was as tall as a building. The old man walked up to the pyramid and reached his hand forward, changing in composition and textures to that of a tree and back to his sagging greyed skin. He took one from the lot, the whole structure tumbled, pieces of fruit rolled everywhere as Kyle stood in awe. The old man turned around and held out the pomegranate towards Kyle.

“Here…” He whispered, his voice sounded much more grizzled.

“What?” Kyle replied.

“Here… Take it.” The old man began to shuffle forward.

Kyle woke up abruptly. He shot up and looked around. It was dark. Very dark. It was dark enough that his eyes may have been playing tricks; through the darkness there were silhouettes of strange creatures dancing through the shadows, leaping from dark patch to dark patch. The dim orange ambience from outside reflected in glints of light bouncing off of any reflective surface they could, but it was not enough light to scare away these night ghosts from their sanctuary in the shadows. The toys and models and posters that were friendly and reflected Kyle’s fantasies and fandom became malevolent manifestations. Glaring eyes stared through the blackness; Kyle could feel he was being watched… The boy jerked back, knocking the wind out of his pillow. Then he grabbed the duvet and pulled it over himself, right over his head, then closed his eyes tight.
“There are no such things as ghosts and monsters, why am I letting my imagination run wild?” He thought. “There are spiders and jellyfish, centipedes and earwigs but no monsters.” He reached down the side of his bed, feeling and fumbling for something.
“Let’s see… Pointy… No. Sticky… No… Ah, here it is.” He whispered as he dragged his torch from the gap. ”This should be good enough to spot what’s in the darkness.”
With his right hand gripping the torch, Kyle put his head back on his pillow and felt at ease again. After all, every boy knows that malevolent creatures of the night can’t stand light, especially light from a silver torch. Kyle’s eyes slid open once more. Looked to his digital alarm clock, a small black box with red L.E.D. numbers indicating the hour at hand. “One twenty three am.” Kyle sighed, and then tapped the top buttons to set the alarm for eight in the morning. With the alarm set Kyle returned to the comfortable cocoon of the duvet, warmed gently by his own body heat. His eyes closed, he felt himself sink into the mattress, slowly drifting into sleep.

The alarm sounded with a loud harsh series of buzzes. Kyle awoke, his eyes scrunched up as sunlight shone through the blades of the blinds into his eyes. He fumbled around to find the alarm, his hand hitting the bedside cabinet gently as he searched blindly for the source of the noise. His fingertips brushed the smooth plastic of the alarm; on his next attempt his hand covered the top. The boy curled his finger under his palm and pressed firmly on the “Alarm Off” button and then turned his head towards his protruding arm and opened his eyes. “Eight, and so it begins. Yes!” A cool, electric tingle ran up his spine and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, excitement crept up from the tip of his toes. Kyle jumped out of bed, suddenly his vision faded into blackness, slowly returning to normal.

“Hmmm… I wonder if anyone’s awake yet?” Kyle pondered.

He walked across his room to the door, and pulled it open. The smell of toast flowed up his nostrils followed by hints of coffee, Sarah’s door, just next to Kyle’s room was still closed though there were sounds of clattering and muffled footsteps. Mum’s room door was open, the light pink carpet pile shone in the sunlight. There was a subtle scent of a sweet fragrance.

Kyle looked out of the upstairs hall window; outside was a small patch of scrubland with rough looking bushes and straggly trees over ran with weeds and creepers weaving through bramble bushes. This area was poorly enclosed with an old iron rails that had been bent and became rusted over many years of neglect. To the right of this, if you leaned out, would be the road. The sun’s light made the scrubland sparkle, the morning due transformed into diamonds. “Hmm…” He thought “Perhaps the fox lives there…?”. As he looked out into the patch of wasteland he remembered all the games he used to play on it, after the council workers would come and clear the area, or at least cut back the sprawling growth during the summer months.

“Why did they stop coming…? He wondered. “It used to be great, but now there are too many nettles and thorns.”

Sounds began to evolve from downstairs… The radio was talking excitedly about the morning music charts... “And coming in at number 7 is The DIY Boys with their latest release ‘I love my flat-pack love’ and in at number 6 is January Strings with ‘Hollow Tree,’…

Kyle ran down the stairs, the bottom of the staircase was multicolored as sunshine came through the stained glass in the front door. He walked into the kitchen, Dexter’s head was deep in a bowl of dog food, the dog’s muzzle was pushing the bowl around with the rest of Dexter following suit. The radio on the worktop chatted away to itself as Kyle yawned and stretched, he then proceeded to turn the volume down a few levels.
“Mum!!!” Kyle shouted.

Mum shouted back from the living room… “Yes Kyle.”

“Any tea in the pot?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, but put another bag in and add more water. Aunt Flora would like a top up.”  Mum said.

“Okay. It’ll just be a minute.” Kyle yelled.

The boy, now a day older than yesterday, took the kettle and flipped the lid up then ran the tap filling it to the ‘5 cups’ mark. He then placed it on the hub to boil. While he waited, Kyle turned to the bread bin and slid open the wooden shutter, to his horror – the most abhorred bits of bread welcomed him… The thick end pieces. Whenever a loaf is brought into the Coffer household, the family would work their way through the middle of the loaf – end pieces were not popular as they would never quite be as nice as the middle slices when used for sandwiches or in this case, toast.

“No… No. No. This cannot be!” Kyle frowned. “The end piece.” He sighed. “Dexter.” He whispered. Dexter raised his head from his bowl.

“Want some bread…?” Kyle held out his hand with the offending piece of granary loaf dangling between his thumb and index finger. Dexter immediately trotted towards Kyle and quickly disposed of the slice, licking his lips with his wide pink tongue.

“Good boy…” Kyle patted the dog and kissed him on the head. “You’re always there when I need you most. Who’s going to take you out this morning?” Dexter kept licking Kyle, his rough tongue rasping at the boys face.

With a click, and a quiet rumble the kettle had boiled, water vapours condensed as it plumed from the hot hostile environment inside the kettle to the cold air of the kitchen. Kyle slid the teapot along the worktop until it was sitting next to the kettle; the ceramic handle was warm to the touch.