Tommy Glover's Sketch of Heaven by Jane Bailey

Author:Jane Bailey [Jane Bailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780332376
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2011-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

On the last morning of term I have a sudden urge to ask Aunty Joyce a question as she sees me out of the door.

“Can I have a cuddle?”

“Pardon?”

“Will you give me a cuddle?” I look up at her earnestly. “I haven’t had one in ages.”

She stops tying my ribbon for a moment, and with a look of mild exasperation she kneels down and puts her arms around me. I cling on as tightly as I can. I can smell the soap in her housecoat and the deeper woman-smell, and I can feel her softness. I squeeze and squeeze and just can’t bring myself to let go. She is a familiar scent to me now, and I want more of it. Eventually Aunty Joyce wrenches herself free and begins to do up my shoelaces, which I usually do up myself. She is biting her lip and fumbling furiously with them.

Then she packs me off to school, and when I turn to wave I see her sheltering her eyes with one hand, and I could swear she is crying. But she couldn’t be, because Aunty Joyce never cries.

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