WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
A BEDTIME STORY
BY Laura Besley
Kim likes to line up all her soft toys on her bed along the wall. She says good night to all of them and gives each one a kiss. Then she climbs carefully into bed so as not to disturb any of them. If one of them is knocked over, it can result in tears. ' Story, Mummy,' Kim says, climbing into bed. I tuck her in up to her chin and she holds onto the quilt with both hands.
' Which one would you like?' I ask her. She has her favourites, of course, in amongst the vast selection of colourful picture books, but she also enjoys the stories I tell her. Some of them are fictional and others true. ' Can I have the one about the shoes?' I smile and reach for the pair of baby shoes sitting on her chest of drawers. They are bright red with pink flowers up the sides. I turn them over. The soft soles are for babies who are too young to walk and these are clean and white. They have clearly never been worn.
' Once upon a time there was a mummy and daddy who loved each other very much and they were very happy. They decided they wanted to share their happiness with a baby and started looking for a very special baby.' ' Where did they look?' Kim is grinning, knowing how the story goes. I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the bed.‘ Kim,’ I say,
‘ were you under the bed?’‘ No,’ she shouts. I walk over to the wardrobe and open the doors.‘ Kim, were you in the wardrobe?’‘ No,’ she shouts again. I open her bedroom door, put my hand above my eyes and look down the corridor.‘ Kim, were you out there?’ She nods.‘ Yes, Mummy, I was far, far away.’‘ Yes, darling,’ I say, sitting down on the edge of her bed.‘ You were a long way away. Daddy and Mummy had to travel by car, by plane and by boat to find you. You were so far away.’‘ I was hiding.’‘ You were hiding, but we found you, in a small village in Vietnam. And when we finally found you-’‘ I was a very special baby!’ I stroke her face.‘ You were a very special baby. And I picked you up and said to Daddy:“ Here she is, here’ s our baby.” And we brought you home.’ She yawned, big and unguarded.‘ But the shoes, Mummy?’‘ Because it had taken us such a long time to find you, the shoes were already too small, but we kept them because they were still your first pair of shoes.’ I reach behind me and put them back on the chest of drawers. I lean over and kiss her forehead.‘ Goodnight, darling.’‘ Goodnight, Mummy.’
7 | NOVEMBER 2017