The Storyteller by the Sea by Phyllida Shrimpton

Author:Phyllida Shrimpton [Shrimpton, Phyllida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803281384
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

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An hour later, before her story had finished, Melody was riding in an ambulance with him, blue light flashing and siren blaring. For his whole life, Milo had been leaving her in stages, his body playing the cruellest of tricks on him and, as she clutched his precious sea snail shell in her hand, she begged him to stay with her. For two whole days he had.

Now, on his third night in hospital, his breathing was shallow and rapid, interspersed by increasingly alarming bouts of silence. Melody placed Milo’s shell to his ear.

‘Listen, darling boy,’ she whispered. ‘Inside the shell – can you hear the sea?’

Milo opened his eyes again and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Melody then held the shell to her own ear and smiled widely as if, inside the shell, there were an abundance of wonderful things. ‘Inside is the rise and fall and crashing of the waves,’ she told him. ‘And, if we listen extra carefully, Milo, we can hear the call of a seabird.’

She put the shell back against his ear and paused for a moment, allowing him to join her with her story. ‘This seabird is beautiful and very special,’ she continued. ‘Its feathers are of pure white and its wings are so big they could carry you over the ocean.’

Melody wiped at her nose and took a breath. ‘And, somewhere, far away in the middle of the ocean where the water is blue and warm, there is an island edged with white sand and full of palm trees so tall they touch the clouds.’

She cupped Milo’s hand and his fingers moved within her palm. ‘This island, Milo, is a magic place. It makes people strong again and it’s full of adventures to be had. Nobody on this island has to lie on a bed or sit in a chair, here you can run across the sand and swim in the sea or climb the trees to eat sweet coconuts.’

She kissed him on the cheek and he stared directly at her with eyes that were dull and had red veins crackling through the whites of them and she missed the mischievous shine that, until now, had always been there. Milo forced two sounds from his throat and she knew what they meant. ‘I know you’re tired,’ she answered gently. And as Milo’s breathing became rapid again he forced three more sounds from his throat.

‘I love you, too, darling boy,’ she whispered. She squeezed his hand and leant closer to him, pressing the shell to his ear, doing her best to make her words sound as if she were smiling through them. ‘If you would like, Milo,’ she said. ‘The white seabird will carry you on his wings to the magical island. I can’t come with you this time but it’s OK if you want to go. You can let go of my hand and climb upon his back.’

Melody continued to speak to Milo with a smile in her voice even after the nurses had rushed to his bedside and his hand had slipped away from hers.

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