She's Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel

Author:Hans Koppel
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780748129034
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2012-01-04T16:00:00+00:00

There were balloons tied to the postbox and the front door. Ylva watched the guests arrive on the screen. Sanna’s classmates were there, all dressed up and ready to hand over the wrapped presents. The children were welcomed into the house. Mike stood in the doorway and chatted with the parents.

Ylva thought they all looked uncomfortable, stiff and uncertain. She guessed that the fact that she was missing was still at the forefront of their minds. It would be strange if it wasn’t.

The sun shone and the balloons danced and bobbed on the wind. Ylva realised that they wouldn’t have been able to set the table with paper plates and plastic glasses outside. Anders and Ulrika stayed to help, and so did Björn and Grethe. Mike’s mum had come over the evening before. The other parents were probably doing their own thing in the meantime: going for a walk, heading into town, to the cinema or something like that. If there was time. Parties normally didn’t last more than two to three hours.

When all the guests had arrived and the door had been closed, Ylva couldn’t see what was going on inside, but didn’t find it hard to imagine. The noise from previous children’s parties was still ringing in her ears.

For the next hour or so, nothing much happened other than Mike coming out with the rubbish. Then the terrace door was opened. The children spilled out in an organic mass. Mike and Anders divided them into teams and they did some kind of relay with oranges under their chins. Then they played hide and seek.

Mike and the other adults disappeared into the house. Fifteen minutes later, he stuck his head out of the door and shouted something. The kids stopped in their tracks and then rushed indoors.

Lucky dip, Ylva guessed.

The party would be over soon. The parents would be back any minute now to rescue them from the noise and mess. Some would stay for a glass of wine in the kitchen and keep them company as they wound down and caught their breath after the timed chaos that was a children’s party.

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