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Twenty-Nine

Poppy was sitting at the kitchen table, Norah’s drawing in her hands. She’d been there a while now, transfixed.

The drawing was beautiful, capturing her likeness with incredible detail. But it was more than that—it was how Norah saw her. The eyes were filled with warmth and strength, the smile genuine and full of life. Poppy didn’t know what to take from it.

Was it just Norah’s talent? Could she make anybody look like this? Or did it mean something?

Luna came in. ‘Can I have juice?’

Poppy got up. ‘Sure, kiddo.’

While she was pouring Luna a glass of apple juice, Luna noticed the picture on the table. ‘Is that you?’

Poppy put the carton back in the fridge. ‘Yeah.’

‘Who drew it?’

‘Freddie’s mum,’ Poppy told her.

‘You look pretty,’ Luna observed.

‘Thank you, sweetheart.’

Luna's curiosity was piqued. ‘You must like her.’

‘Why?’ Poppy asked, slightly shocked.

‘It looks like you’re happy while she’s drawing you. Really happy,’ Luna said thoughtfully.

Poppy nodded, stunned at her daughter’s perceptiveness. ‘Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?’

Luna hopped onto a chair and leaned in closer to the drawing. ‘I didn’t know Freddie’s mum could draw so well.’

‘Yeah. She’s good.’

‘I wish I could draw like that.’

‘Yeah?’

‘But it looks hard,’ Luna frowned.

‘If you keep practising, you could be this good,’ Poppy told her.

‘Could I?’ Luna asked hopefully.

‘What, you? You’d be great,’ Poppy told her daughter sincerely.

Luna looked up at her mother, eyes wide with excitement. ‘You think I could be an artist when I grow up?’

‘Of course you can,’ Poppy said, touching the top of Luna’s head.

Whatever she wanted to be, Poppy encouraged. Last month, she wanted to be a chef in the daytime and an astronaut at night. The world was open to her, and Poppy wanted her to enjoy that for as long as she could. Whatever she ended up landing on, Poppy just hoped she chose it for the right reasons.

As Luna bounded off to play, Poppy returned her gaze to the drawing and admonished herself for being stupid. She was seeing what she wanted to see. Norah was just good. She could have brought this out of anyone.

This developing crush was stupid. Giving it any brain space was stupid. She’d only recently gotten into Norah’s good graces, and that was by the skin of her teeth. She couldn’t risk all that by bringing up the one thing they couldn’t talk about. Keeping it buried was the only way this worked. It was a deadly zombie they’d knocked down once, and if anyone was dumbenough to dig it up, it was gonna bite everyone in the arse. That’s what Poppy and Norah’s past was. A monster lurking, waiting to destroy. She would have to let it go.

Poppy took a deep breath, forcing herself to push the thoughts away. She carefully placed the drawing back on the table and went to check on Luna. The little girl was engrossed in her colouring book, her tongue poking out in concentration as she carefully filled in the lines.