Abnormal

Prologue

"Sweetie we've been over this – you're not old enough to sit in the front." She commented, opening the car's rear right door.

"Mike's mum lets him sit in the front!" I complained, crossing my arms and pouting.

She sighed. "Well what have I said about Mike's mum?"

I thought for a moment. She's said quite a few things. That she 'Seems nice', she 'means well', she's 'disrespectful', she's 'irresponsible and lazy'... "A lot of things." I replied, shrugging.

She smiled, crouching down to my eye-level. "Well maybe you can sit in the front on the way back, mm?" I smiled and nodded. "If you promise to be good on the way to Granny's – that means seatbelt on, and no throwing things out of the window – then you can. Deal?"

She held out her hand for me to shake. I shook it.

"Deal!" I hopped in the back seat, and put my seatbelt on with expert speed. "Ready to go!"

She laughed. Her lovely, joyful laugh.

"Then lets go, cowboy."

We were on our way to Granny's house – my favourite place in the world. It was filled to the brim with cool stuff! There were even suits of armour and swords – which my mates were always jealous of.

And the car we were going in was her little red car. I can't remember the brand, I just remember the logo having some sort of animal on it... nonetheless, it was a comfy little thing with just enough power to make the journeys fun.

The radio was playing the whole way there, playing the best tunes. I think it was the Top 40 that week. It was a Sunday, which is when they usually do that, right?

Most of the drive was just a blur. English countryside rolling by, a few landmarks here and there, you know how it is. Green and brown blasting by your window, cars going by, cyclists slowing the traffic.

Driving could never be boring with her though.

About halfway there I heard her phone ring. She picked it up.

"You shouldn't have your phone while you drive!" I pointed out.

"I know baby I know." She said, chuckling lightly. "I'll tell them to call back."

She didn't.

She answered the phone with a simple "Hello?"

Then she went quiet.

"It's been four years." She said, quietly.

Another long pause. "You can't just leave him here – money isn't an issue obviously... but he needs a father-"

We were going down a country road, a slope led downwards into a big forest. She was driving quickly, faster than usual.

"You promised me, Markus. You said-" She shook her head. "You said you would come back."

She was picking up speed as the road wound downwards.

"You're such a liar! You said you loved me you fucking asshole!" She yelled.

"That's bad language!" I cried out.

She turned to me. "I know honey, mummy is just a bit-"

She didn't see the other car coming the other way.

There were a few moments of deafening noise - metal crunching and screeching, and then... I think I must have fallen asleep.

After that, I remember waking up with a funny feeling in my head. Like I was lying on the sofa in the opposite way you should – legs up on the back of it, back on the seat, with your head lolling down over the edge.

"My God, this looks rough." I heard a man say.

"They must have rolled down here after hitting that other guy." Someone else said. "Shit... there's a kid..."

"I'll check the kid, you check the driver." The first man said again.

I heard what I think was the driver's door open.

There was a pause.

"She's gone."

I opened my eyes.

Out of the window I could see that the car was upside down, somewhere in the forest. I could also see two pairs of legs, presumably the two men's.

My door opened and one of the men looked at me.

"Hey little guy. I'm gonna get you out of there, ok?"

"Ok." I said, forcing a small smile

He undid my seatbelt and pulled me out, slowly.

"You alright? Does anything hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." I said. The man walked over to his friend and started whispering to him. I recognised the uniforms – paramedics. They'd visited the school once I think. "My name's Stanley, what's yours?"

The man who'd spoken to me before looked at me. "Dave," He gestured to his friend, "this is Ron." He looked down at the driver's seat. "Who's this?"

"That's my mum."

He looked down, and removed his hat.

"Listen, Stanley... about your mum..."

"What?"

"Do you even like grapes?" He said, his voice suddenly changing.

"Eh?"