Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The loud repetitive noise had now stopped; the only sounds now were the distinctive crackling of burning wood, the gentle popping noise of bubbling tree-sap, her own hollow footsteps and the comforting rhythmic sliding sound made by the sledge. 

The walk up the corridor came to an end, and she realised that it opened out into a large circular room, like an underground dome.  In the middle was a mountain of rubbish, but at that moment she didn’t care; a lovely fire crackled calmly along one of the walls, and it wasn’t until the warmth wrapped around her like a blanket that she realised just how cold she was.  She sat down cross-legged in front of the fire on a heap of jumbled rugs and leaned towards the heat, mittened hands outstretched. It felt so nice! Of course, it would be better if she was at home with mommy, her teddies, a blanket around her, cake and a nice cup of bubble tea, but here would have to do for now . . . wherever ‘here’ was. 

With that thought, she realised she should probably try to put her mind to working out where she was.  Looking through wisps of her own hair over her shoulder, she took in just how massive the pile of junk was; it almost filled the room, except for the little pathways that were clear of clutter which snaked through it like the raspberry ripples in vanilla ice cream (yep, I was fancying some ice cream at the time). 

To one side, she could see an old tattered arm chair; the back of it was facing her. She was beginning to feel a bit sleepy, but came to the conclusion that this place was some form of rubbish tip, and the fact that there was a well-kept fire and little paths suggested people came here every often, so someone would be along soon to show her how to get out (. . . what? I did warn you that Lyla-Mae was one clever little girl). Of course, she didn’t like this idea much at all, at having to be rescued.  Oh yes, she takes after her mommy far too much at times.

Realising that there was not much to do but wait until someone visited the underground scrapyard, she thought she may as well get some rest in front of this cosy fire.  So there she sat with her toys, adjusting Teddy Radson’s jacket so he looked his usual elegant self, and having a comforting crinkle of Esther’s ears. 

So pre-occupied was she in exploring the room, she almost forgot that a pile of blankets was right next to her.  It would be nice to wrap one around her, she thought, and so pulled at the sticking out corner of a pink and blue polka-dot blanket in the middle of the pile.  She grabbed it and pulled, and heaved, and put all her might into it, but it didn’t budge at all.  With a sleepy sigh, she decided to just settle on the blanket on the top.  She reached out with her little hands once more . . . but it wasn’t a blanket she pulled at, and everything happened all of a sudden.