217 Babel Street | Stairwell
The light overhead still hissed and blinked. Hurry, hurry. Alicia was grateful her trainers flashed pink light as she walked. She bent down to adjust a Velcro fastener and noticed something on the step - a string? She pulled, but the end didn't come. She blew the dust off the step, lay the magic box gingerly down, and pulled again until she held a fistful of... soft black yarn. But still it wriggled away, up step after step. Not good, she frowned. Anyone might trip. She would be sure to tell Vivienne.
She picked up the box again. Its gold leaves shimmered and shook in the effervescent light. With her baby finger she traced the pattern of dark lines cut into its sides. It reminded her of something... A page in her Activity Book. She reached into her backpack, and flipped past the puzzles and the pages she had coloured. 'Help Santa Claus find his reindeer.' Santa was at the top of the page. His reindeer were at the bottom. Between them lay a very confusing path. Her teacher said she'd need a pencil and a good eraser.
GRUNT, pant, pant. Alicia nearly dropped the box. Was it the ghost she didn't believe in? She slipped the box into her backpack as a man with a bike on his shoulder appeared. "Excuse me," he said with a big smile. He looked handsome even though he smelled sweaty.
"Don't trip," she said, pointing to the yarn. And she saw his smile go wobbly.