Monday 26 September 2011

Chapter Fourteen

After the field trip Joshua decided to go to the park before he went home
He spent an enjoyable afternoon playing alone on the playground equipment there 
 When he got home that evening, he told a ghost story to Cosmo
 Seeing Joshua talking to thin air while she ate her dinner worried Jo, Joshua didn't seem to have any real friends, playing alone or with this imaginary friend...
 She went to bed worrying about it 
 While Joshua happily dreamed of aliens and monsters 
 Next morning he ate some leftovers and did the washing up
 While Jo read in bed
 In the kitchen he told Cosmo how he worried about his mother and how stifled and shut in he felt at school - he didn't know anyone there and didn't feel like he fit in
 Cosmo suggested that he skip school if he hated it that much, so Joshua pretended he was leaving for the school bus but instead went exploring, he found a moth at the corner of the road by their house
 But decided that was too close to home and he was too likely to be seen, so he wandered off to explore the fields and woods instead
 After a while he found an old abandoned house, with no modern amenities, but a wonderful garden and a fish pond out the back, Joshua decided he wanted to learn to garden when he grew up, it seemed like such a peaceful occupation and he wouldn't have to deal with other people
 He spent the rest of the morning fishing and, although he struggled at first, enjoyed himself
 He even caught several frogs 
Meanwhile Jo had eaten breakfast, still in her dressing gown
 And spent the day reading as it was her day off
 After a while, Joshua grew bored of fishing and decided to do some more exploring 
 After a while he found himself at another pond where, after some frustration, he caught some goldfish
 When he got home, Jo was waiting for him 
 "I had a phone call from the school Joshua, where were you all day?"
 "I felt so shut in at school and Cosmo suggested I skip for the day so I did, I needed time and space to think and you don't get that at school"
 "Oh Joshua, you need to go to school, you can't just run off and do what you want, I was so worried about you"
 As Jo pretended to read (but really worried about Joshua, blaming herself for everything), Joshua disposed of the old newspaper
 Cleaned the dishes (again)
 And scrubbed the toilet
 When he was finished with that, he dressed up as an astronaut and acted out his dreams from the previous night before Jo read him to sleep
 Next morning Joshua talked things over with Cosmo, he needed to go to school but his mother needed looking after, she hadn't done anything yesterday and she'd still been in her dressing gown when he got home!
 Eventually they agreed he should leave Jo with a note...

"Dear Mummy, I've gone to school today like you said I should, there's no food left in the fridge (I hope that means you cleared it out last night cos it was going off) so you need to make some more.  You also need to shower and dress and get out the house for a bit.  Lots of Love, Joshua"
 So Jo did what Joshua had told her, making some autumn salad and putting it in the fridge (she hadn't cleaned it out last night - she'd eaten the last of the pancakes despite them having gone off....)
And she went down to the Consignment Store and bought a couple of new toys for Joshua
  After school, Joshua played on the swings in the park 
 When he got home he asked his mother how her day had been
 And they ate dinner together
 After which Joshua did the dishes
 And cleaned the sink
 Before playing with his new dollshouse while Jo curled up on her bed

Thursday 22 September 2011

Chapter Thirteen

  Monday morning came around, and Joshua had to start school, before he left he gave Jo strict instructions on what needed doing that day before she went to work
 He couldn't unclog the toilet, and he couldn't clean it until it was unclogged so she needed to do that
 And the laundry needed to be picked up off the floor and taken to the laundrette 
 Despite several breakdowns during the morning, Jo managed to follow her son's instructions
 The laundrette wasn't far from the Bistro, so she left early for work and stopped there to get the piles of dirty laundry clean 
 After putting the washing in the machine, Jo sat down to read while she was waiting
 And did the same thing again once she'd transferred the clean laundry to the dryer 
 Once she'd done that it was time for work and she had to run to get there in time 
 Meanwhile, Joshua had decided to sign up for scouting after school 
Having signed up, he spent some time in the main park, playing in the sandpit 
 Jo hadn't been able to fix the sink, so when Joshua got home he started cleaning again, telling Cosmo they had to clean before they could play
Since Jo had managed to unclog the toilet that morning, Joshua got started on cleaning that 
 Before mopping up some of the water from the floor in the kitchen 
 When Jo got home from work, Joshua pestered her into trying to clean the oven  
Albeit her attempts met with little success 
  She did manage to read him to sleep though
As Joshua went to catch the school bus the next morning he worried about his mother, she needed so much pushing to get anything done and she just seemed to give up so easily
 Back in the house, Jo was trying again to mend the sink 
 And she finally succeeded in fixing it and getting the oven cleaned up
 She even managed to get the counter cleaned up 
 But then broke down in hysterics again, the place was such a state it would be better to burn it down and start from scratch, they'd never get it liveable in... 
 Joshua had had a field trip that day to the Bistro and as Jo arrived for work she passed him and his classmates leaving