Iain Lawrence - Deadmans Castle

On my twelfth birthday, when I leaned forward to blow out the candles on my cake, I actually wished for the Lizard Man to find us. I wanted it all to end, one way or the other. The flames bent and stretched like they didnt want to go out. But they did, and my little sister laughed and my parents clapped, and I saw all of us sitting there in our stupid paper hats and thought I might cry.

I hadnt had a real party, or even a friend, since kindergarten. I had moved so many times that I couldnt remember how many houses Id lived in. And to top it all off, as I lay in bed that night trying not to sleep, I suddenly realized that Id forgotten my real name.

It was a very cold night in the first days of winter. Through a tiny gap in the curtains I watched the bare branches of our chestnut tree moving in the wind. Like skinny witchs fingers, they clawed at the side of the house. They tapped on the glass. With blankets pulled up to my chin, I kept staring out through that gap as I worked backward through my list of names.

Alan Hess. Jordan Taylor. Darryl Edwards.

Some seemed like old friends Id left behind. Others were more like strangers because Id known them for only a few months, or a few weeks, or even a few days sometimes.

Gordon Labella. Bobby Bates.

I wanted very badly to get right to the end, or actually right to the beginning, back to the time when Id never heard of the Lizard Man. But I fell asleep at some point, and the next thing I knew someone was leaning over me, pushing me down on the bed.

I tried to scream. A hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to kick. I tried to punch. But the person pressed even harder.

Then I heard his voiceand it was my fathers voicetelling me in a hoarse whisper to lie still, to be quiet. Shh, he said.

I let my arms go limp, my legs go limp, and I lay like a dead man. Then Dad took his hand from my mouth and told me, Were leaving.

His voice was trembling. He stood up and closed the curtains all the way across. Get your kit and come downstairs, he said. Im going to get the car ready.

He walked away through the faint pool of yellow that the night-light splashed across my carpet, out to the dark hallway and down the stairs. My little sister appeared in the doorway, holding the scrap of red blanket she called her grumpy, though none of us knew why. She had it bunched in her fist while she sucked her thumb.

Behind her came Mom, carrying a bag in each hand. She leaned into my room and whispered so Bumble wouldnt hear. Dad says hes found us.

I felt a tingle inside me. Had my birthday wish come true?

Hurry, said Mom. She stuffed one of the bags under her arm, took my sisters hand, and told her as cheerfully as she could, Lets go downstairs, Bumblebee.

I threw back my blankets and grabbed my clothes from the floor, everything except my socks. I always slept in my socks. Automatically, I checked to make sure my emergency money was folded inside. My lifeline, Dad called it.

As I pulled on my pants, I heard a creak of wood from the hallway. It was the sort of noise the house made all the time, but I thought about how I was now alone upstairs and my imagination went a little crazy. I pictured the Lizard Man hiding in my closet, watching me through the slits in the louvered panel, and I was afraid he would come leaping out at me.

Slowly, I turned the handle. Then I yanked the door open, snatched my old Nike bag from the floor, and backed away. I stuffed my schoolwork inside it and hurried downstairs.