MORNING SERIAL
SHE kicked off her shoes, chasséd down the hall, jetéd up the stairs and split-ran across the landing while our mothers spoke together. They were clueless of their surroundings and the show this girl with pigtails was suddenly putting on for me, whose hair fell more like rats’ tails upon my shoulders after just waking up…
She nosed in and around the rooms of our ivory house, in and out of my bedroom, and I began to panic as she seemed to gravitate towards the final room, my special room, the dance room. That was when I really felt my blood boil.
‘No, please. Don’t!’ I said, trying to flatten my morning fringe with one hand, but this stranger was turning the doorknob, pretending not to listen.
‘No––! My–Mam’s – dolls’ house is in there!’
‘A dolls’ house?’
I wanted to kick myself for saying the wrong thing. The girl’s glassy eyes lit up as she threw open the door and faced the white four-storey home in all its ornate glory. ‘Oh my God, I love dolls’ houses!’
And I’m not sure why I stood so still while she breathed it all in, harassed the delicate, painted faces of each figure, examined the bottoms of each little table and chair with its spindly legs, and crouched in absolute awe of the miniature creation. ‘This is so good. I’ve never seen any like this before.’ Her eyes were wide as she turned to me, but I sent her the sullenest face I could, hoping that if I closed my eyes for long enough, she’d leave. The longer she crouched there, the less the dolls’ house belonged to Secret Haven, to me – or Mam. ‘It’s not to be played with,’ I mumbled, ‘just looked at. It’s my mam’s… ’ but she just laughed in disbelief, tugging at its sidewindowsills, and stroking its black roof.
‘Why would dolls not be played with? That’s the whole point! You’re so silly… ’ Her eyes rolled.
It felt like she was playing with me, and it hurt; it hurt more than any of the week before, or maybe it was because of the week before, I wasn’t sure.
> Unspeakable Beauty by Georgia Carys Williams is published by Parthian at £10.99. parthianbooks.com