Page 2 of Keeping London (Flawed Heart)

“Do you have to go back? Can’t you stay here until we can move there with you?” I love when Nan and Granddad visit. I will be sad when they leave.

“We can’t, but we’ll see you again soon, dear.”

“It’s not fair. I want to go with you now. Why can’t we just move now?”

“Well, love, your mum and dad have stuff they have to work out here. Your dad has a good job. Your mum has her doctors here. But I know, someday, you will all come. We just have to be patient.”

Daddy works a lot because Mommy’s baby doctors cost tons of money. I think, after the baby comes, we will move. I just can’t wait.

“Tell me about the flat and the cottage, Nan.”

Nan chuckles. “Oh, my boy, what can I tell you that you don’t already know? Between your dad and Granddad’s stories, you probably know more about our properties than I do.”

“You can tell me again. You tell the stories differently.”

“You mean, I don’t tell you a load of codswallop?” She laughs.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“My stories are different from the ones you hear from your daddy and Granddad because, I’m afraid, theirs might be a tad exaggerated.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that they love to tell stories to make everything sound more interesting than it is.”

“Daddy doesn’t lie.”

“No, I’m not saying that he does. He just has a way of making things seem magical than they really are.”

“But London is magical.” I’m so confused.

“Perhaps, but magic isn’t found only in England, my dear. It can be found anywhere.”

“Not here.”

“Oh, but it can. For instance, take that over there. What do you see?”

She points to a large box that’s about half the size of our refrigerator. Mommy got it in the mail a couple of days before Christmas.

“It’s a box.”

“Is it though?”

I stare at the box before looking at the Nan again. “Yes,” I answer slowly.

“You see, I don’t see a box. I see a submarine, and this submarine’s on a mission. If I lived here, I would decorate that submarine. You could get your daddy’s help to cut out a spy hole.”

“A spy hole?”

“Yes. You’ll need one if you’re going to track the group of humpback whales during their migration. You see, the group has some young humpbacks among them, and they could be in danger.”

“Why?” I ask, my eyes wide.

“Well, you know, orcas, or you might know them as killer whales—the white-and-black whales sometimes held in amusement parks?”

I nod.

“On occasion, orcas have been known to attack baby humpbacks in the wild. So, if you see one coming when you’re in your submarine, you can scare them off. Also, every now and then, the humpbacks will get stuck in fishing nets or in garbage in the ocean, and you will need to free them. Of course, you will see other amazing creatures on your journey—stingrays, eels, or maybe a giant octopus. I don’t know about you, but I think being the protector to a group of whales is pretty magical, and you would be wonderful at it because you’re so brave.”

---