1. Snowglobe

1. Snowglobe

In the snowglobe, 10 small figurines dance under the fall of glittering snow.
There is a dark green forest, painted with utmost care, so that tiny little branches can be seen. On the opposite side sits a hut, orange-yellow window glowing as though there is a warm fire inside, waiting for the children to walk in and shed their winter clothes.

It's the perfect winter wonderland.

Shake it, and the snow will come down.

Haley is 7. She walks slowly, bowing her head to the wind. Her hat is blue, her coat is green, her mittens are red, her school bag is pink. In the bag she packed a blanket, some food, some money and a change of clothes. She doesn't know where she's going.

She is running away from home. She doesn't think her mother will notice. Her daddy died when she was small, so her mother starting looking for other men. She found one a few years ago. A big man with a scowling face. He was mean. He hit Haley's mummy when they fought and made her start drinking. Last night, when they were screaming at each other, Haley walked into the kitchen because she wanted a snack. She thought they were in their bedroom. But he saw her and hit her, and mummy didn't do anything, so she went back to her room and cried.

This morning, when she woke up, she made sure that he was gone then packed her bag and walked out.

She's been walking all day and she's tired. Nobody stops. She's just another girl on her way back from school.

She looks up and is surprised to find herself near the park. It's as good as place as any, and it's comforting to be in a place she knows so well. Maybe she can live with the swans.

She sits on a bench, shivering, her bag by her side, and it takes her a while to remember that the swans don't come out in winter. She pulls her knees up to her chest and tries not to shake as she starts to cry.

She won't go home, she doesn't want to go home, it's not home if he's there. He made mummy different. It's not home is she's not mummy.

An old man with a kind smile sits down next to her. He doesn't say anything for a long time.

She can't stop crying.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

She shakes her head.

“Here you go,” he hands her a handkerchief, “don't cry. Where are your parents? Are you lost?”

She hiccups as she shakes her head again. He pushes the handkerchief into her hand and she has to take one mitten off to hold it properly.

“Do you need help getting home?”

Her hiccups slow down.

“No. I can't go home.”

The old man raises his eyebrows, “Are you sure? Why not?”

“I can't go home.”

His eyebrows move close together. They look like grey caterpillars.

“Come on, I'll make you some hot chocolate.”

She gives him back his handkerchief and feels a little bit bad, because it's wet, but he just stuffs it in his pocket without saying anything.

He does buy her a hot chocolate, and a biscuit as well. He has a cup of tea.

They walk back to the park, then circle the pond. He introduces himself as Martin. She talks about school and her favourite teacher. He talks about music and whistles, tries to teach her.

The sky starts to darken.

He asks again, “Do you need help getting home?”

She watched her breath come out white, “No, I can't go home.”

He nods slowly, “Right. Well, I have a spare bed, my daughter lives in Wales. I suppose you could stay with me tonight.”

Haley knows it's not a good idea to make friends with a stranger, and even worse to go home with one, but where else could she go?

He's still lovely. He cooks her some dinner, lets her watch television, tucks her into bed and reads her a story, makes her promise she'll go to school tomorrow. She smiles a lot, more than she has at home for ages. He says goodnight, turns out the light and walks away.

When Haley falls asleep, the house is taken over by shadows.

Haley wakes up. It's warm.

She gets dressed and walks into the kitchen. Martin isn't anywhere in the house. She eats some bread, then gets dressed and puts on her backpack. She promised she would go to school.

She walks out the door to find everything covered in a layer of snow. It's all white and pretty, and the path from the house to the street is completely covered.

She sees other children playing and thinks that she should go to school, but they're laughing and she wants to play too.

She runs up to them.

They stop laughing.

One boy shakes his head sadly at her.

“You should have gone to school.”

She ignores him and picks up some snow. She plays with them until she gets tired. When she tries to stop, she stumbles to the ground and watches the others fall. Snow starts falling. They get up and start again.

In the snowglobe, 11 small figurines dance under the fall of glittering snow.