each side of the fence
By:
Ella ( [email protected] )
Chapter One: Brian
The house had been empty for such a long time, thought Brian. It was such a good
thing that none of the fans knew there was a free house next door to a
Backstreet Boy, because then there’d have been swarms of girls camping there!
Cute thought, but highly impractical. Well, from Brian’s point of view anyway.
He lay back on the chair in his garden enjoying the peace. Any minute now, his
two-year old son Ben would be up, wanting to play or … paint things … or
make a mess. Brian smiled to himself, enjoying the last of the Florida sun and
the last of the silence.
“Any minute now,” he mumbled, waiting for Ben’s awakening noises.
Silence.
Brian waited patiently. And then it came. “DAAAAAAAAD!” screamed a tearful
voice from inside. Brian opened one eye. And then the other, slowly levering
himself up out of the chair and padding barefoot across the patio.
“Coming!” he said loudly so that Ben could hear him. “Hold on a second,
buddy…”
He crossed through the sliding glass doors and into the back room, dodging in
between Ben's scattered toys until he reached the lounge. Ben was standing up in
his playpen, looking frantically over the edge for Brian. He gave a toothy smile
as he laid eyes on his daddy.
“Hey little guy,” greeted Brian, sweeping Ben up in his arms and receiving a
loving hug in return. “Had a good sleep?” he asked, pushing his little
son’s straight blond hair from falling into his eyes.
Ben nodded happily – still too groggy to speak properly. All he could muster
was a half-hearted “Play,” before wriggling free of Brian and waiting
expectantly for an answer.
“You wanna play, kiddo?” Brian asked, sitting on the floor and rooting
through a box of toys. He pulled out a plastic house, with half the animals and
people spilling untidily from the inside. Brian gasped overtly. “Oh no!
Everything’s fallen out. We’d better put it back in again, hadn’t we?”
Ben nodded, scooping up the people and shoving them back inside. Brian
suppressed a smile as his son clapped himself proudly. “I put people back!”
he stated, pointing to the plastic house, before shutting the front door. It
tinkled loudly.
“Perfect!” Brian praised. “Now everything’s all ready to play with!”