twinkle 5

Tobe started upright from his bed. Something was wrong.

"Tobe? ... what's going on? ... Tobe? Tobe!"
"Something's wrong."
"What is it?"
"My machine. Something's wrong."
"There can't be anything wrong. Don't worry about it, you can fix it tomorrow."
"Lina, somebody's turned the machine on. Something's wrong."
"Oh, go to sleep, man."
"I have to go find out-"
"And who would be in there at this time? Who would bother to go into your stupid shed and touch your junk? Tell me that!"
"But somebody's in there..."
"Go back to sleep!"
"I have to go save them."
"You're just imagining things. Go to sleep."
"But-"
"Just go back to sleep. Come on... Look. There's no one in the shed. You closed it behind yourself, didn't you?"
"I never lock the shed."
"Because of your little elf that goes in every night and cleans the place up for you?"
"Yes, but... I have to make sure..."
"Can't you do that tomorrow?"
"But they're in danger now."
"Fine. Fine. I'm awake now. We'll go take a peek. And if nothing's happened, can we come straight back to bed?"
"Yes, yes."

The door was locked.
"I thought you said you never locked the shed."
"I don't."
"You must have forgotten. Here, let me try."
"I never forget. It's not locked from the outside."
"Probably some homeless person sleeping in there for the night."
"What? No! It's too dangerous. We have to open the door and get them out before something happens!"
"You mean before they touch your machine or steal your brilliant ideas on recycling old junk?"
"No, no. Nothing like that. We have to get them out before they get hurt."
"So... How do we open the door?"
"Shh! Wait."
"What is it now?"
"Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Look, the windows. Someone's turned the machine on. Turn it off! Hey, turn it off!"
"Tobe, you'll wake the neighbours."
"We have to break in. We have to stop the machine."
"What sort of a machine is it that it's so dangerous?"
"Open the door! Open the door! Turn off the machine!"

A wisp of air escaped out the bottom of the shed door with a hiss. There was a click and a thud. The door swung open.
"Lina, you stay here. Don't come in."
"Tobe, what's going on?"
"Stay there. I'll go in and turn on the light. Keep the door open. Don't let it close. I'm serious."
"Ok, ok. I'll keep the door open."

Feeling his way with his hands and feet in the dark, Tobe made his way to the light and turned it on.

twinkle 4

Sparks flitted up into the fluorescent tube lights. Fleur squinted in the direction she'd heard the noise before hesitantly picking up the glass and nails. The feeling that something was creeping up on her didn't help.

What was wrong with her? She wasn't normally this jumpy and nothing in this cluttered shed had ever caused her to feel so frightened. It had to be nerves. She was tired. It had been a long day, after all. Just her imagination.

A soft swish of moving air made her start again. Fleur gritted her teeth and finished cleaning up the glass and placing all the nails in another jar. It was just her imagination... but a cold feeling was creeping up her back. Was somebody breathing down her neck?

Whirling around, Fleur stared at... nothing. It was nothing. Surely. But again, the breath on her neck denied the fact that she was alone. Fleur made for the door, only to find the creaky old thing shut and she couldn't pull out the rusty bold. She hadn't locked the door. It had been left ajar.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

Silence mocked her wavery demand.

"Show yourself!"

The lights went out.

Fleur backed her way around a bench and into a corner, where she hoped whoever or whatever it was wouldn't be able to see her. A soft wind blew by her, so that a lock of hair tickled her nose. Tobe's machine started up and Fleur crouched in the dark trying to remember which side of the machine she was at.

Sparks of light flickered throughout the shed, giving a soft blue glow here, green there and yellow elsewhere. Something metal twinkled. Assuming that whoever it was had possibly forgotten about her by now, Fleur edged out a little way. She looked first to her left and then to the right - into darkness.

She couldn't scream. Breathe came in hyperventilating gasps as panic overtook her and the darkness enveloped her.

... ... ... ...

It was warm. It was comfortable. Warm air brushed across her face. The sound of moving water murmured in a rushing gurgle not far away.

"Tagun? Lomi-ella?"

Heavy eyelids felt gummed together. Swollen. Tight. Her lips felt dry and she shivered, despite the warmth.

"Rakakeki. Si-poler-inimi."

A large gentle hand cupped the back of her head and lifted it up. Cool liquid swelled against her lips, from the rim of a cup.

"Lama-lama... Yiyi... pola lama-lama."

Having taken a few sips of the sweet clear drink, Fleur presumed was some sort of juice, a wet cloth was brushed over her eyes.

Bleary, blurry colours merged and fuzzed. She couldn't see properly. What was wrong with her? Struggle as she might, she still couldn't speak and she was tired. So tired.

Sleep...

And the beckoning darkness returned. Why couldn't she scream?

twinkle 3

Lina was so patient. Fleur wiped up a slippery oil spill as she thought about it. In spite of Tobe's forgetfulness, pre-occupation and abrupt manner, Lina still stuck by him. Why was uncomprehendable. He was so selfish, but Fleur had to admit, he did have his moments.

A sound startled her and she jumped back, tipping over a jar of nails. It crashed to the ground.

twinkle 2

Flishing, sparkling, flashing, twinkling. The dancing light drew her.

Stepping into the shed with a backward glance to make sure Tobe wasn't returning because he'd forgotten something again, Fleur stepped cautiously toward the light switch. Why Tobe had chosen to place it in such an awkward position was beyond her. To get to the light switch, one had to duck under a heavy pipe, climb a step onto a table and reach a full arm's length behind the heavy metal panel at about eye height, ignoring all the spiders potentially hidden in the small space and balancing precariously over the edge of a rail. If you fell, you would almost certainly break more than one bone, and that was excluding the neck.

The yellow lights flickered on and took their time warming up to a brighter white. Fleur stared around at the mess Tobe had left behind again. Everyday. Everyday, she would clean up after him and every morning when he returned, he wouldn't notice a thing. Tobe was a weird one. Whatever this great contraption that looked like a junk sculpture was meant to do was probably nothing to do with recycling junk.

Shrugging her shoulders up hard and then letting them relax with a sigh, Fleur began picking up discarded tools and replacing them in their long ago designated places. Greasy rags were folded and laid over a pipe in order and little bits and pieces that were scattered around on the oil-stained concrete were left in little plastic margarine containers with fading flowers smudged over with dirt and age.

twinkle 1

So the stars they dimmed and sparked when the items were applied. The gas pressure rose, bordering on red. Tobe poked and prodded at the nearest gauge, hopping from one foot to the other. Today was not a good day to be blown up. Not when he was about to receive the biggest paycheck he could imagine. If. If he could only get it to work right.

The shadows crept across the floor and it was only when the automatic lights flickered on did he realise exactly how late it was. So. He wouldn't be getting his paycheck today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow, but he said that every night. Tobe kicked at the foot of the stubborn contraption and checked his watch. Lina would be expecting him now. Like usual, he was late for dinner.

Slipping on his coat, Tobe stomped his way out of the shed, muttering equations to himself. The main problem had been the small safety margin left when the stokes were inserted.

Fleur watched him recede beneath the trees and then peeked inside the creaky door. The glow of the street lamp reflected off something. It twinkled.