Shed Of Secrets

At high school, I had many friends. In my school there were ‘groups’. Each person had a group, that is, unless you were one of the few students who were new or just found it difficult to make friends. That was what it was like for me when I first started Ocean Wall High School. I began in year nine. All the other kids had been here for a year longer than I had so they had already organised their friendship groups. I wasn’t one of the people who found it hard to make friends yet somehow I was (or seemed to be) the only pupil who’d sit alone at lunch. That was until I met James.

It was recess and I was sitting under a tree in the shade. It was a warm spring day and I was sitting alone as usual. I was munching on half of my sandwich when something made me look up. I looked around the yard and saw a boy, about my age, sitting alone as well. He was in the middle of the oval, about fifty metres or so away from me. I noticed that a few bags had been strewn around him in a messy pile so I thought that his friends had just gone off to buy lunch. I secretly began watching him. Because he was sitting so close I could get a good look at him. He had wavy light brown hair that fluffed around whenever the breeze blew. He seemed to have freckles all over his face and his eyes were a bright shade of blue. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with orange waves along the bottom and a pair of khaki coloured shorts. While I was studied him, I realised that a group of people had began approaching him. I watched all this closely. The group consisted of four guys. The orange-headed boy said something I couldn’t quite make out and they all begin to laugh with him. They all sat around him on the grass. I begin to examine all the guys now. One from the group, who seemed to be the leader, slid himself across to the pile of bags and dragged a black satchel out from the centre. I noticed that he moved slightly away from the rest of them and started to unzip his bag. I imagined that he would produce a sandwich like the rest of his mates but he acquired a simple apple instead. He turned away from his group and munched thoughtfully. He had pale skin and jet-black hair, which was dead straight. Even though he was sitting a fair way away from me I thought I could see what looked like a scar that stretched from his lips down, diagonally, towards his right shoulder. I place the other half of my sandwich into my bag. I casually looked around at the other people sitting in the group but they all looked like your average high school pupil. But that guy, with the black hair, was different. I could see that. I leant back and gazed up into the branches of the shady tree. I turned back to look at him, but he was no longer there! He had gone! The other boys were still there but he had disappeared. I immediately began scanning the school grounds for him but it didn’t take long for me to find him; he was walking across the oval to put his apple core in the bin.
‘At least he cares about the environment’ I thought silently.
I watched him return slowly. He looked around the yard has he made his way back to where he was seated. About half way back, he turned and saw me spying on him. He held up his left hand and saluted me with a friendly grin. I was so shocked that he had noticed me and so nervous that a guy acknowledged me that all I do is stare. I think he got the impression I was rude or something. I sighed and looked at my watch. It read 1:10pm. That meant that there is still another twenty minutes left.
I looked at my bright blue satchel. I lean over and unzip it. I rummage around and find a tennis ball I had grabbed that morning just before racing out the door. I held it up in my right hand. It was bright green and fuzzy. I was about to put it away again when I suddenly noticed the boy with the black hair sitting right next to me! I was so surprised that, the hand I was holding it in, shot up into the air! Gravity got the best of it and it landed near his feet. He leant over and picked it up. He wore a dark red shirt with black flames licking the bottom. He had long, black baggy pants on - even though it was quite warm - and red sneakers.
I noticed that his hands were moving oddly.
‘Hi!’ He exclaimed cheerfully.
‘Uh, Hi,’ I managed to mumble. I wasn’t used to talking to guys, as my previous school was all girls.
‘You’re new, aren’t you?’ He asked.
‘Er, yeah. Started last week.’ I replied.
I looked at his hands and they were still moving in an unnatural manner.
‘Many friends yet?’ By now I noticed his friends were watching us.
‘No, not really’ I answered slightly embarrassed. I turned to look at him. His face was so handsome. I looked at the mark that I had seen before. Yes, I thought, it is a scar. I began wondering what had happened. Then, I noticed his eyes. They seemed to be red! I then quickly told myself it was the light. He was looking directly at me. He had a smallish nose and slightly pointy ears. He was totally adorable!
‘Oh!’ He seemed surprised. ‘Well, we can’t have that now, can we?’
I continued staring at him.
‘Come sit with us!’ He offered.
I nodded. But then I remembered my tennis ball. I looked around for it but I couldn’t see it anywhere. He looked at me as I scanned the grass near his feet.
‘Oh!’ He said suddenly. ‘Was this what you were after?’
He held up a greyish ball with spiky green tufts protruding from what looked like seams.
‘Uh…No, I was looking for my tennis ball, actually’ I replied.
He took my hand and placed the ball in it. His hands were like blocks of ice. I suddenly looked up at him, wondering how anyone’s hands could be so cold.
‘That is your ball,’ he said coolly.
‘But…’ I began. ‘It can’t be!’
Then, it suddenly hit me! This must be what a tennis ball looks like inside out!
‘How…?’
He ignored me and let go of my hand. He stood and gestured for me to stand with him. I didn’t really want to get up but if I stayed here I would look stupid. Before I could make any movements, he shot his hand out towards me. I grabbed hold and let him pull me up. When I was standing next to him I looked directly into his eyes.
‘By the way,’ he stopped, then started again ‘My name is James.’
I nodded.
‘What’s yours?’
‘Asuka’ I replied.
‘Hmm…I have never heard of that name before. But I like it! Where are you from?’
I sigh. I always have to tell people about my background.
‘Well, I am kind of mixed up,’ I began, then I noticed he was looking at me oddly. I quickly added ‘Background-wise’.
He nodded encouragingly.
‘I am Icelandic, Russian, German and Irish.’
He stared wide-eyed at me. Yes, his eyes were red! But, how could that be?
‘But,’ I continued, ‘My name is Japanese.’
James nodded slowly.
‘Okay, I see.’ He said finally.
‘How about you? I mean, what is your background?’
‘Alaskan, Korean, Scottish and Australian’ He answered me.
‘Okay, so you also have an interesting history.’
‘Heh, yeah, I suppose you could say that. Anyway, let’s go sit over there.’ He said, gesturing to his friends.
I nodded in agreement.
‘Do you have a middle name?’ He asked me just after I’d swung my bag over my shoulder.
I sighed again.
‘Yeah, my full name is Asuka Sol Jane Hafdis Mannion. You?’
‘James Toby Pat Finer’ He replied.
‘Pat?’
‘Short for Patrick.’
I nodded as we began to stroll across the yard.
Before long we reached the others. They all stared at me curiously. Suddenly I felt a rush of shyness pour over me.
Before any of them could open their mouths to question me James lifted his arms to silence them.
‘I should introduce you all to Asuka.’ James announced.
A couple of them sighed and rolled their eyes.
‘Everyone, this is Asuka Mannion. Asuka this is Felix,’ he pointed to one of the guys who had arrived with him. Felix gave a small wave.
‘Corey,’ he gestured towards the fluff-headed boy. Corey nodded.
‘Anton,’ before he could point, Anton had already begun to say ‘Hi’.
‘And, Sebastian,’ He waved his hand down in the direction of the last boy.
‘Um, hi,’ was all I could manage.
James had already seated himself where he was before and was encouraging me to sit next to him.
As I dropped my bag, I noticed all the boys, except James, were looking at my hand.
‘Hey!’ Corey suddenly began. ‘Is that part of some kind of new game or something?’
I looked down at my hand and saw the ball.
I looked at James and he grinned back.
‘Er, no, its just a tennis ball.’ I replied.
Everyone started laughing at me. Even James had to bite his tongue.
I should have known that this would be some kind of joke. And that they didn’t really want to be my friends. I threw the ball down in the middle of the group and, with hot tears of anger springing into my eyes I grabbed my bag and ran off towards the group of classrooms. I pushed one of the doors open and closed it behind me. I sat at one of the desks and crossed my arms on the tabletop. I rested my head on my arms and let my red hair fall across my wet face. I felt like crawling under the table and hiding there forever. I closed my eyes and relaxed. It was nice and quiet there.

It felt like I had fallen asleep and woken up. I looked around the room then at my watch. It read 1:20. I sighed as I realised I still have ten minutes left of lunch. I heard footsteps out side the door and I snapped my head to look in the direction of the door. I noticed the small doorknob quiver and turn. I held my breath and hid my head in my arms.
I finally heard the door squeak open and light footsteps fall inside. They stopped just in front of my desk. I thought I heard them move away. I looked up, hoping to just catch a glimpse of the door closing. But no, when I wiped my wet hair out of my eyes I saw James sitting on the desk with his back turned to me. I didn’t think he could see me.
‘Sorry’ He said suddenly. I was shocked because I didn’t know how he knew I was awake.
I sat in my own silence.
‘I didn’t mean to laugh with them. Honest. But it was the fact you were trying to convince them that ball was once used to play tennis.’
I sighed. Stood and walked out of the room. I felt rude because I hadn’t done that since I had a fight with my best friend at my previous school. I closed the door behind me. I looked for a way to go where James wouldn’t find me. I saw an old shed. The door was partially open so I decided to step inside and just sit there for a while. Just until lunch finished.
I opened the door a little more and looked inside. It was dark. I felt my way around and found a place to sit on the floor. I put my bag on my lap and rested m head on my bag. I fell asleep.

When I awoke, I couldn’t see anything. Then, I had a brainwave! I could try opening my eyes! But then I realised my eyes were open. I tried to look around but it was just too dark. I moved towards the door and pushed against it. But, to my surprise, it wouldn’t budge! I tried again. But still. It was as if the door was locked! But…it suddenly hit me! I remembered where I was! I was in the little shed I had found. The groundsman had obviously locked it but didn’t realise I was in here! I moved some pots and bags away from a window and peered out. I could see a scattering of stars and the street lamps. It was nighttime. I remembered my warm bed and wondered what my parents were thinking.
I began to move back to where my bag lay when my hand hit something. It was soft yet freezing. It reminded me of something I had felt once before. But what? I suddenly remembered. James’ hand! I moved back to it and felt it again. I felt the fingers. But I could only count one thumb and two fingers. I screamed but I began choking on the soil and dust from the shed. The hand moved and I heard a shuffling sound.
‘James?’ I whispered.
I heard a groan and held my breath.
But I had to know what it was. Whether or not it was James.
‘James.’ I said a little louder.
‘Mm’ The voice sounded tired.
‘James, it that you?’ I asked in full voice.
‘Ye-,’ He stopped.
I sighed.
‘Where am I?’ He asked sounding confused.
‘The groundsman’s shed’ I replied.
‘The WHAT?’ He sounded fully awake now. ‘But how? Why? When?’
‘Um, I’m not exactly sure,’ I began. ‘But my theory is that when I was running away from you yesterday, I hid here and fell asleep. You found me and fell asleep with me. We obviously slept through the bells and the groundsman locked the shed without knowing we were here.’
I could hear him sigh heavily.
‘Here,’ I rummaged through my bag and produced a muesli bar. I broke a small piece off and placed it in my mouth while offering the majority of it to James. He declined. I folded the wrapper around the rest and put it in my bag. I went through my bag again and found my drink bottle. It was about half full of apple juice. I handed it to him. It was dead silent so I could hear the liquid being swallowed. He returned it to me and I had a small sip. I replaced it.
‘What now?’ I asked.
‘There is only one thing to do.’ He replied.
‘Which is?’ I think he thought I was dumb.
‘Make ourselves comfortable and wait till morning.’
‘But, what will happen then?’ I was beginning to get worried.
‘You must be really tired! I don’t think your thinking straight! The groundsman will come and open the shed and we will be free!’
‘On Saturday?’
‘And we can -’ He stopped mid-sentence. ‘What did you say?’
‘On Saturday. I thought he only came on weekdays.’
‘Er’ was all he could say.
‘Exactly!’ I could feel tears pricking in my eyes at the thought of staying in a shed for two days. ‘And, what will we eat? And drink?’ I think he could hear the quiver in my voice.
‘Calm down!’ I could hear his movements and I knew he was thinking of what else to say.
I began sobbing quietly. I didn’t want him to hear in case he thought I was a complete wuss crying over everything.
Unfortunately for me, he heard. He moved towards me and placed his hands on my quivering shoulders. His hands were still icy. I began to feel cold. I didn’t acknowledge because I knew it was entirely his fault that we were here in the first place. I think he also knew it was his fault and he was doing his best to comfort me. He moved closer to me placing his arms around my shoulders. His arms were as cold as his hands. I could feel goose bumps springing up all over my body. My tears continued running down my face. He sighed and placed his chin on my shoulder. When he made this movement, his torso was against my arm. I could feel that his chest was warm. So far the first part of him I knew to be the slightest bit warm. He moved his body away from mine and, although I couldn’t see him, I could hear him going through his bag. After a while he came back to me with some sort of material.
‘Put it on’ was all he said.
‘What is it?’ Yes, I think I needed some sleep.
‘My jumper.’
‘Wont you get cold?’ He ignored me.
I sighed and slid it over me. It was about three sizes too big. I didn’t think James was that big! But, soon after I had put it on, I was warm and felt sleepy. I yawned.
‘Yeah, it’s a bit like that, isn’t it.’
I manoeuvred around the plant pots that were scattered around on the floor so I was lying on my back with my head on my bag. In the time, just before I fell asleep, I thought about many things. My bed at home, my parents, drum kits, cars, how funny it would be if a baby was born holding a slice of pizza, James, peanut butter, my cat and hiccups. Then, the next thing I knew, I was fast asleep.
When I awoke, it took me a while to work out where I was. When I realized I was in the shed, the sound of birds jumping around on the roof penetrated into my brain. I lifted my head up and looked in the direction of the window and saw the first rays of light filtering through the dust that floated aimlessly around in the shed. I rested my head back down and stared upwards. Then, I remembered about James. I was about to sit up when I realised there was something on my shoulder. I looked down and saw James’ head propped up right against my shoulder. His hair seemed blacker than ever and his skin paler than before. I wanted to get up and search around the shed but I didn’t want to wake him. So I lay there thinking about many things. I remembered the holidays were coming up. I couldn’t remember when though, but I decided that I would go to the beach with James. Then I remembered something that made my heart miss a beat. The school holidays had started! That meant that Mr Hobkins, the groundsman, wouldn’t be coming for the next two weeks!

I sat bolt upright and screamed.
The only movement James made was unintentional by him, which was that his head slid down onto my lap.
I could see his chest moving which meant he was in a deep sleep.
I thought it was bad before – the prospect of staying in a shed for two days. But now I had to face a whole fortnight in the same circumstances! I had to find a way out! I carefully lifted James head off my lap and placed it on my bag. I stood and moved straight to the door. I had wished that someone would have come and unlocked it in the night. But that didn’t even happen in the movies let alone in real life. Yet, I tried the door anyway. But it was still locked fast. I turned to the window but before I even took one step in that direction I knew it was no use because there were heavy metal bars across it. I imagined my self in prison with no escape. I looked down at James. His face looked so peaceful. Before I could turn my gaze away, I noticed the corner of his mouth twitch and then the corner of his right eye. I knew he was waking up. His eyes flickered open and he looked at me. He gave me a small grin. I smile in return.
‘Good morning’ He said.
‘What’s so good about it?’ I mumbled.
‘Sorry?’
‘Nothing. I don’t know how you slept through everything I did!’ I exclaimed referring to my screaming and making his head fall.
He sighed. ‘I am a heavy sleeper I suppose’
‘Yeah, no kidding! Anyway, I realised something I hadn’t thought of before.’
‘Hmm? Like, a way of escape or - ’
‘No,’ I cut him off. I made him sit up so I could access my bag. I retrieved my diary and flicked through the pages until I found a double page where I had written HOLIDAYS in bright red pen.
‘Uh-oh’
‘Precisely! I don’t know what were going to do! The door is still locked, it wont even budge and the windows are - ’ I pointed to the bars and he followed my gaze.
‘Barred,’ he finished my sentence for me.
‘Yep. Basically no way of escape’
He sighed.
I sat down next to him. ‘If only we had a phone’ I sighed.
‘That’s it!’ He said jumping up. ‘Do you have a mobile phone? We could ring your family and tell them our story and they could bring lock cutters and then they could take us both home and - ’ He stopped when he finally noticed me shaking my head.
‘Nope, sorry, I don’t have my phone. Ms Green confiscated it during computing when I was messaging my friend.’
‘Aha!’ His spirit was once again refreshed. ‘We could write a message and, and -’
I looked up at him despairingly.
He sighed heavily and slumped back down next to me.
I leant on his shoulder and he rested his head on mine.
I opened my bag and got the rest of my muesli bar and my apple juice. I offered both to him. He broke a small piece off from the bar and drank a small amount of juice. I replaced both without consuming either. While my bag was open, I took out a piece of blank paper and a pen. I drew up a rough grid of sixteen squares.
James’ curiosity got the better of him.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Drawing up a calendar of the school holidays’ I replied while writing the name of each day above each square.
‘Um, I don’t think our holidays are going to be that action-packed that we need to write what we are going to do.’ He said slowly.
‘No, stupid. Its so we can see how many more days we have left until we can go.’
He began nodding understandingly.
I lifted my head from his shoulder and he moved his head away from mine. I looked around the shed. It was extremely dirty. I stood up and wiped the dirt and soil from my pants. I moved over to the table standing in front of the window. You could only see half of the window, as there were bags, pots, tools and other things piled up in front and around it.
I moved across to it and began sorting the pots. I took the biggest ones and placed them inside each other. I found a group of the next size up and placed them inside each other. I continued this until I had stacked all of the pots inside each other. I went through all of the bags and found the biggest one of which I placed to one side. I scrunched the rest up and put them inside the large one, which I then tied a knot in.
‘What are you doing now?’ James was wondering how my mind worked.
‘Well, seeing as we have to live here for the next two weeks, we might as well make it clean and safe.’
Once again James began nodding. He stood and looked around for something to do. He spotted a broom in the corner and lunged and it. He began sweeping the dust and soil off the floor and out through a crack under to door. I think, while he was cleaning, he was continuously trying to think of an escape plan.
I found an old yet extremely large hessian bag that I placed in the corner with James’ and my bag. I wiped the dirt off the table and onto the ground.
I heard James sigh and I turned to look at him. He was staring at the pile of dirt I had put on the floor.
‘Heh, sorry’ was all I could manage through trying to suppress my laughter.
James took a deep breath, grinned at me and said ‘Nah, don’t worry about it’.
I continued to search through the utensils on the table until I found a small cup. It was dirty and full of nails. I put them with the bags in the corner. I found more bags of which I put inside the big bag. I found a hammer amongst a large pile of gardening tools. I took this and went to the bags. I grabbed the cup and went to a wall. I looked at the wall for a long time. Then, I found an area of the wall that was thicker than everywhere else. I hammered in about three nails about fifteen centimetres apart from each other. I noticed that James was watching this intently but said nothing. I went back to the table and took an armful of tools. I moved back the where I had inserted the nails. I chose three tools to hang up first. I put the rest on the floor and nailed about five more nails in. I then hung up another five tools. I continued this until I had hung up all the instruments.
I noticed James, out of the corner of my eye, nod in approval.
At midday I sat down in the middle of the floor. James sat next to me. He lay down so I lay down too. I nuzzled up against his right shoulder. I looked at his scar.
‘What happened?’ I asked while lightly tapping my finger against his scar.
It was his turn to sigh. ‘Uh, let me think of a good place to start.’
‘The beginning is generally pretty good.’
He looked down at me and chuckled softly.
‘When I was a kid, I was an extremely curious chap.’ He began.
I hadn’t heard the word chap for a long time.
‘In fact, once, my dad was mowing the lawn and had gone to get some oil for the mower. I was left alone on the grass. I went over to the mower and decided to find out what was spinning around underneath.’
I breathed in deeply. I could guess what was coming.
‘And you can guess the rest.’
‘You stuck your fingers underneath and felt the wrath of the blades?’
‘Spot on’.
He held up his right hand and I noticed he only had three fingers; well, two fingers and one thumb.
I sighed. ‘Okay then. But, how did you get the scar?’
‘Well, it involved a ladder, a roof and some guttering.’
I began massaging my eyebrows with my forefinger and thumb.
‘My dad was trying to fix a couple of roof tiles that had been smashed in a storm the day before hand. He let me up on the roof with him. He started working away. I wanted to get down so I decided to try it myself. I lifted a leg over the guttering to place on the ladder. I slipped on the still wet tiles and grabbed hold of the guttering. It had become flimsy after the storm and tore away from the house. My weight made it twist and bend. Before I knew what was happening, I had swung on it like Tarzan and had collided head-on with our garden shed. The guttering went straight into me.’
I grinned up at him.
‘What?’ He asked.
I shook my head.
‘Okay, so I was an independent little man. But so what?’ He grinned down at me.
I looked at my watch. It read 1:47pm. I sighed and closed my eyes. Sleep had come early that day to take me away to the Land of Silence. This time I didn’t scream or cry, I simply went to sleep. No thoughts. No hope. No nothing.

When I awoke it was 11:17am on Sunday.
‘As if I slept that long!’ I said in a croaky voice to James, as I hadn’t completely woken up yet.
James was over the other side of the shed sweeping some cobwebs out of a corner.
‘Well, I didn’t want to wake my little sleeping beauty up now, did I?’
‘Um…I don’t know.’ I began rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
I crawled across to my bag and produced all the provisions we had for the next two weeks. A packet of chips, an orange, half of a bag of lollies, the other half of my sandwich and a fruit box.
I placed these items next to each other on the now clean table.
‘This is all we have for the next two weeks. It has to last us.’
James nods. He moved across to his bag. He brought out an apple, a sandwich, a piece of slightly squashed cake and a little container of salad.
I nod. I look at my calendar (that I hung up on the wall with a trusty nail). I realised it was Sunday and that I haven’t crossed off Saturday. I get up and take my green pen from the table. I put a big cross over it.
James and I shared a bit of food and drink. We both went to sleep at around 12 o’clock each day.
This went on each day for the next eight days.
James would wake up about an hour before I would, we would eat and drink small amounts, we both would clean a little, then we would go to sleep.
I looked at the calendar one day it told James and I that it was Tuesday. This meant that we both had five more days before we would be able to leave.
I took the hessian bag and cut it in half with a hand trowel. I took a ball of twine (that I had found a few days earlier) and dipped wrapped duct tape around the tip. This I used for a needle. I sewed the halves into two separate sleeping bags. Yet we still slept next to each other. Each night, James felt colder than the previous night. I began to worry about his body temperature.
On Wednesday, just before we were about to go to sleep, I asked him about his family.
‘So, do you have any brothers or sisters?’ I asked him.
‘N-no. I was going to have a baby brother but he died along with my mum at birth.’ He looked away. I think he started crying.
I hugged him tightly. He hugged back.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’ Was all I could manage.
‘Never mind.’ He was brief. ‘Anyway, how about you? Do you have any siblings?’
‘No. I am an only child. But I have a greyhound named Bert. He is like a brother. But I have a mum and a dad. Although, they split up about two years ago I still see each of them.’
James nodded.
‘What about your dad? How is he going?’ I dared to ask.
‘He is no longer alive’. Once again, James was brief.
‘I’m really sorry. Maybe we should drop this subject.’
‘No, it’s okay.’ James paused ‘He killed himself.’
I gasped.
‘I suppose it was because he felt so bad about what happened with my fingers and my neck.’
I thought about this. But, whom was he living with for this amount of time? It was as if James could read my mind.
‘I lived by myself.’
At first, I didn’t believe him.
He sighed.
‘Dad committed suicide when I was about seven or eight. I relied on my neighbours now and again. But I learned, from trial and error, to grow my own vegetables.’
I fell asleep that day with tears in my eyes.
On Thursday, four days before our freedom, we had almost finished cleaning the shed. We had used the cleaning chemicals inside to make it clean. We ate a little more food just before going to sleep.
Just before I slept, I began wondering if James could live with me when we escaped. I had really grown attached to him. I wanted to kiss him.
On Friday, we shared a little more food and read each other’s reading novels. We found some tins of paints in a corner we had missed. I went in search of some brushes. We decided to paint the inside of the shed. I took a tin of red paint while James took black. On one wall I wrote JAMES and on another wall James wrote ASUKA. We painted patterns, pictures and poems. I had cut pictures from some magazines, I found in my bag, and pasted them to the table. I varnished the top. When we had finished, the whole shed was beautiful. That noon, I stared up at a picture of the sun James had drawn in yellow and orange paint in the centre of the ceiling.
Saturday had come. Only two more days until we were to be set free. James was as good as frozen. Many times I had offered him his jumper back but every time, he declined. As soon as we got out of here, I would make my mum take him to the doctors.

On Sunday, we decided to stay awake all-day and go to sleep at night. We packed out belongings back into our bags. We swapped phone numbers even though I had decided to persuade mum into letting him live with us. I never wanted to part with him. I think James was almost sad that we would have to leave the shed. I also was a bit down about the situation. It would be the last time we could sleep in our hessian beds. The last time we could share rations and the last time we could be locked away from civilisation. As night drew near, James’ actions became slower and more drawn-out. I wanted to give him half of my energy. We ate almost all of the rest of our food before getting into our bags. We lay next to each other and listened to one another breath. James was taking long breaths while mine were average. I almost began crying as I realised that James was seriously ill. I finally got the chance to kiss him James. I was lying waiting for Sleep to take me away when he leaned over me and kissed me goodnight. Or that’s what he said it was anyway. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
I woke up at 7:00am. Finally Monday has come. The day when James and I would sit in front of the door until Mr Hobkins came to our rescue. I felt James’ head on my chest. I leant towards him and kissed his head. I put my hand on his chest but to my surprise it was cold! The only part of his body I knew to be warm was now like ice. I touched his hand. Ice. I put my hand on his throat. Nothing. My hand began to beat faster. Is my dear James…Dead? No. I dismissed the thought from my mind. It was impossible! How could he be dead? He had survived this long! We were only about two hours away from freedom. I was trying to fight the tears that were springing in my eyes. I sat up and put James’ head on my lap. I stroked his thick black hair. My tears were streaming down my cheeks and landing in his hair. I knew he wouldn’t like it if he knew that I was crying over him but I couldn’t help it. I took hold of his hand and tried to warm it. It was impossible. I hoped that, if I could give him my body warmth, he would be revived. But no, this was real life.

I looked at my watch. It read 7:30. Time can go so fast at times.
I wish it would be 9:00 in a few seconds. Then, I could leave here. I would take James with me and we could live happily ever after. But, James is dead now. I had to come to terms with this. He had been my first friend at Ocean Wall High School. I had spent the last two weeks with him in this confined space. But now, he is no longer with me. I know he has gone to Heaven. He ate and drank next to nothing so I could survive. He gave his life for me. I closed my eyes and bent over him. I kissed him one more time before lying down with him for the last time. I knew that when the door opens, Mr Hobkins would find James and me. He would get scared and call the police and the hospital. Everyone will be questioning me. Should I end it all now? Before it gets all too much? Like James father? No, James wouldn’t want me to do that. I will stand up and fight for him. I fell asleep for the last time next to him.
I awoke to the sound of the bell ringing for the start of school. I knew the time was nigh for me to leave my new home. I would have to go to my old home. I will need to attend school again. I had lived the past two weeks with out washing myself. Without brushing my teeth. Some how I will need to get back into my old routine. But, I know deep down I will miss James’ and my primitive way of living.
Before I knew what had happened, the door swung open and James was standing there. He smiled at me. I wanted to cry. There was two James’s and I didn’t know what was going on.
‘Hi Asuka. How are you?’ The new James asked me as if it was completely normal to have stayed in a shed for the past two weeks with a dead copy of him.
‘I….’ I began.
‘Don’t understand?’ He finished the sentence for me. ‘That,’ he said pointing to the dead James lying next to me, ‘was my spirit.’
I just stared blankly at Living James.
‘When I got home, I had a feeling you were locked here. But I couldn’t come because I had accidentally locked myself inside my own home. I knew you needed help so I send my spirit. He stayed with you and would have done exactly as I would have done.’
I choked down a sob.
‘On the nights when you were together, did you notice how cold he was? You thought he was seriously ill. He wasn’t. He didn’t have soul. I kept that. He was very happy to be with you. But I couldn’t keep him alive any longer than two weeks. Do you understand?’
I nodded even though I didn’t really.
‘Here.’ He said holding his arms out for me. I stayed sitting. I reached for Dead James’ hand but I couldn’t find it. I looked around and saw his body slowly fading. I tried to touch him but my hand just went straight through him. I began crying again.
I jumped up and raced across to the real James. I leapt into his arms and cried on his shoulder. Mr Hobkins came to his shed. He took one step inside and stood still. He was surveying the extent of the decorations.
James and I decide to leave him to it. I grabbed my bag and left holding James’ hand.
James was coming home with me. We got to the bus stop just as our bus was pulling in. We got on board and validated our tickets. We sat together, still holding hands.
‘Did you read the poems my Spirit wrote?’
‘Yes. They were so sweet!’
‘There was one you missed.’
‘How do you know?’ I looked at him.
‘My Spirit is writing it there now. All Hobkins can see is a pen rising and falling. He can’t see what my Spirit is writing.’
‘What does it say?’
‘I’m always with you,
Where ever you are.
When the sun goes down, I’m your shining star
What ever you do don’t ever forget,
I gave you my life
Which I will never regret.’
I looked at him as my eyes filled once again with salty tears. He looked back at me and grinned. I leant over and kissed him. He took my hand and squeezed it.
‘I’m sorry Asuka.’
‘Why?’
‘You are on your own now.’
I was about to ask him what he meant but before I could open my mouth, he stood up. He turned to face me. He looked deep into my eyes and saluted. Then he began fading. He faded into my shadow that was stretched out across the bus. I didn’t cry though. I knew he would always be with me. I would always be able to talk with him.
From then on I was always making friends.
And, for some reason, since then, I have never waved to anyone. Instead I have saluted.