Mr Mumbles by Barry Hutchison

Author:Barry Hutchison [Hutchison, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-00-735827-4
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2009-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

I opened my eyes with a start and found Ameena staring down at me, her face a mask of concern. I heard her sigh with relief when she saw that I was awake.

‘Don’t do that to me!’ she gasped. ‘You’re such a freak!’

‘D-do what?’ I muttered, trying to get to grips with my surroundings. I could feel cool, varnished wood at my back. Overhead, a chandelier swung gently back and forth on a current of invisible drafts. I was in the church. The real church. Thank God.

‘Wander off like that,’ she said. ‘I turn my back for one second and what, you run off and hide? Took me nearly ten minutes to find you.’

I glanced around and realised I was lying between two long pews, my body half-hidden beneath one of them. I was only a few paces from where I’d been standing, but from the aisle I would have been almost impossible to spot.

‘I…I didn’t hide.’

‘So I see,’ Ameena nodded, and I thought I could detect just a hint of concern in her voice. ‘What happened? You pass out or something?’

‘Must have.’

‘Well…at least you’re OK. Now tell me,’ she said, ‘how did you do that?’

‘Do what?’ I frowned. I sat up and immediately wished I hadn’t. The world lurched and spun, and I spent the next few seconds swallowing back at least three mouthfuls of sick.

‘You blew up the donkey! It was amazing!’

When I could focus properly, I looked up at the nativity display. The donkey was gone, replaced by a mound of dust and chunks of stone.

‘The donkey,’ I whispered. ‘I blew up the donkey.’

‘You did. You really did! One minute it was there, the next it was like Ka-boom!’ She was bobbing excitedly from foot to foot. ‘How did you do it?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t mean to,’ I replied. I hadn’t meant to blow it up, but that didn’t change the fact that I had. A shiver travelled the length of my spine.

‘Are you OK?’ Ameena asked.

I felt for the scratches the beast had dug into my back, but found none. ‘Fine. I think I just had the weirdest dream,’ I said, at last.

‘I get that a lot,’ Ameena nodded. ‘One time I dreamt I was an egg. Just, like, a big egg, but with a face and arms and stuff. And bees kept chasing me. Big, angry bees. What do you think that means?’

‘Run,’ I hissed.

‘I tried,’ she shrugged, ‘but it’s not easy when you’re a giant egg.’

‘RUN!’ I shouted, scrabbling to my feet. I caught hold of her arm and pulled her with me towards the exit, barely letting her feet touch the ground. At the far end of the church, a dark figure hung limply from the statue of the cross, arms outstretched in the classic crucifixion pose. As we fled, it raised its head, scowled, and spat at us through swollen, stitched-up lips.

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