Season 01 - Episode 16

‘the scary door’

Ty is frightened but refuses to cry. He is gripping Ky's wrist tightly as they follow Mum and Dad through the crowd. The EnFo's came in the night. They woke everyone up. They said Mum and Dad owed too much rent. They said they had to leave.

Dad argued with the EnFo's but they knocked him down. Then they broke Mum's wooden chest. She cried and they slapped her so Dad got back up. The EnFo's knocked him down again. They stamped on him and beat him. They said they had to leave.

Mum cried and cried as she gathered their things. Then she helped Dad stand and they left. The EnFo's watched them go. When they walked on through the other rooms, they found most of them were empty.

Ty is carrying a bundle of their things under his free arm, Ky is whimpering behind. Dad can't stand on his own. He has to lean on Mum and sometimes he coughs up red. Mum keeps calling to Ty, making sure he's close behind.

Ty doesn't know where they're going but he knows he mustn't cry. He must be strong to help Mum and Dad. He must look after Ky. There is danger all around. His heart is beating very fast. He feels cold but also sweaty.

Mum and Dad stop and Mum talks to Dad. Dad doesn't talk but he nods. Then they push on and Ty sees where they're going. They are moving towards the scary door. He catches a glimpse of it, sees it's horizontal grey stripe. His bottom lip wobbles and his chest feels tight. Then the scary door bursts open and he can't hear Mum anymore.

The crowd is roaring, surging forwards, squeezing through the door. Ty drags Ky in front of him and pushes him on, trying to stick to Dad's back. They spill through the door out onto The Scapes. Ty trips and almost falls over but doesn't because there isn't the room.

There is sound all around, above and below, footsteps on metal, people shouting. More people than Ty has ever seen at once. So much motion and colour and terrible, terrible smells. Mum turns around and gathers them close. Ty sees her eyes, clouded with fear. She is lost and completely bewildered. Dad looks half asleep.

Ty grits his teeth and clenches his fists. He wipes the tears from his eyes. More and more people flow out through the door, pushing and shoving and cursing. Ty pushes Ky to cling to Mum's waist. Then he takes Mum's free hand and sets off.

He drags them all, on through the crowd. He doesn't know where he is going. He sees some stairs and heads for them, then stops and tries to listen. He peers down through the gaps, to the platforms below. They seem less busy but it's hard to tell.

Ty sets off again, dragging all three behind down the stairs. Dad can't move very fast, each step is a struggle. It seems to take all of forever. They go down and around and down and around.

Finally, Ty stops. Dad looks ready to drop. A rusty panel leans against the staircase, creating a dark little space underneath. Ty heaves the panel aside to open a gap and Mum, Dad and Ky all go inside.

Ty follows them in and all four of them hug, crying and crying and crying. Finally Mum stops, sniffs and straightens and starts to sort through their things. She takes everything soft and makes a small bed then lays Dad down to rest.

Then she grabs Ty and Ky, pulls them close and tells them that they'll be ok. She tells them over and over while rocking and squeezing. Ky cries but Ty doesn't, he's thinking. Dad has missed work which means his job's gone. They have no food and no water.

“Mum, Mum, I have to go,” he says, but she just grips him tighter.

“I'll be late for work,” he tries again and then slips from her grasp.

She cries for him to stay and her tears draw out his own. Ty grits his teeth and clenches his fists and squeezes back out past the panel. In the crowd once more, he makes his way back up, back to the scary door.

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