State of Grace by Hilary Badger Read Free Book Online Page A

‘What?’
    I pick a newfruit, this gleaming silver orb, and for a while I just let it roll around in the palm of my hand.
    ‘I want to tell her how perfect things are. How much I love all creation and how I never want anything to change.’
    I put the newfruit into my bag and turn my back on Blaze.
    ‘Not that anything ever will.’
    ____________________
    Then it happens again. It’s the afternoon, not long after me and Fern get back from riding and swimming and everything. I’m in my hammock, out on my balcony. I’m not even doing anything, just feeling the breeze on my skin and waiting for the sun to dry my thick hair.
    Fern and Drake and Jasper are down on the grass outside their huts, close enough that I can talk to them whenever I want. I see Luna coming out of her own hut, sneaking down the stairs with a jug of water in her hands. When she walks up behind Fern she doesn’t make a sound. She smirks at me then tips the entire jug of water down the back of Fern’s sungarb. Fern squeals and suddenly I’m somewhere else altogether.

08
    I T’S GREEN LIKE Dot’s creation, but there’s no lagoon or gazebo in this other place. Not a single deer or monkey or any of the normal stuff you’d expect. There’s bits of bark on the ground, as well as grass. And instead of a fringe of trees there’s just black wire mesh with a door cut into it, which creaks whenever someone goes in or out. I find myself reaching for words without even wanting to. Words like park and gate.
    There’s no-one I recognise. Instead, the park is full of miniature people. They’re running around all over the place while bigger, normal-sized people stand around watching. The little ones swarm all over this hut-type thing, which is bright yellow. It’s hard and shiny, with stairs and bridges and ropes dangling from it. Across the other side of the park, there’s a tall wooden cross-bar with pairs of chains hanging down and this sort of seat attached. On each seat, there’s a small creature swinging back and forward, all gleeful smiles like it’s the best thing Dot ever created. I feel like I’ve seen that kind of seat before. If I thought hard, I could probably think of the name for it.
    Then I’m looking at the creature I saw last time.
    Julius?
    Straightaway, I recognise the curly hair, which in the light I can see is the exact same reddish-brown shade as mine. I’m lifting him up onto my shoulders, laughing as I hoist him high into the air. There’s a bar across two vertical wooden poles and he grabs it. He swings there, arms above his head. He’s wearing prenormal sungarb again, this time it’s a blue-and-yellow thing with the outline of a rearing horse on the front. On the back, the number sixteen. As he swings, the top part of his sungarb rides up and shows off his soft white tummy.
    I’m looking the other way when he falls. I hear him calling out and when I turn he’s landed in a crumpled heap on the ground. I rush over and scoop him up.
    ‘Are you okay?’ I croon. ‘Poor sausage. Poor little guy.’
    The zigzagged crown of a tooth has pierced the wet, pink skin of his bottom lip. Blood is trickling down. His mouth is now wide open and he’s really howling. This isn’t a noise like anyone else in the park is making. Everyone’s looking at us. Big creations and small ones, the whole lot of them are staring at us as Julius screams, the trail of blood mixing with the tears.
    Outside the park, beyond the gate, a group of people about my size is watching too. I see them in a series of quick, bright images. Long, glossy hair. Heavy lashes sweeping pink cheeks. Open mouths, giggling at me. Familiar unfamiliar names appear in my head. Alice. Kristin. Gemma. Penny. Oh my god , they shrill, so embarrassing.
    And in the middle of them, another face. A guy, maybe the most gorgeous I have ever seen. Hair all swept to one side, golden brown. Shirt with the collar twisted up. He’s not whispering to the others, at least, but he’s