Search for the Sunlight

Bashing and crashing and tugging at one another’s jackets, the brothers raced across the lawn and scaled the steep wooden steps, two at a time. It was always a privilege to be invited into Basil’s home and today was no exception.

In their excitement, they both managed to squeeze through the narrow front door at the same time and inside, like rowdy school children, they pushed and jostled for a chair and sat down at the big oak refectory table in the centre of the room.

Struggling for breath after his uncharacteristic sprint, Herbert leaned forwards on his elbows and rested his body on the waterlogged surface of the table. As his breathing slowly returned to normal, he began twizzling his eyebrows, teasing the coarse twiggy hairs out at length between his forefinger and thumb while Harry, disregarding all he’d ever learned about good manners, removed his sandals, placed both feet on the table top and with the aid of a long thin twig began poking flaky deposits of lichen out from between his toes.

Under most circumstances a filthy act such as this would have provoked all sorts of rebellious reactions from the others, but in their present lacklustre state of mind only the table seemed bothered.

Normally a happy and sociable piece of furniture, it groaned out loud and roared expletives at the brothers, while it’s worn out legs creaked and buckled under the unwelcome strain of a pair of knotty elbows and two smelly root bound feet resting full weight on its tired neglected surface. Startled by the table’s unexpected outburst, Herbert sat bolt upright and began gazing vacantly around the room. In his dopey and confused state, he had no recollection of how he had arrived at Basil’s house, or why.