Read Online The Fullness of Quiet by Natasha Orme - Free Book Online

Mum’s grave and sat for a while in the grass. I’d decided that it was time to let out all my emotions. I told Mum everything. I started from the very beginning and talked for hours, not in the way that I told Charlie. This time when I told it, I knew how it would end and I couldn’t help the tears. I cried and cried all afternoon.
    After that, I felt much better. It didn’t matter that Mum couldn’t help me, what mattered was that I’d said it all. Now that it’d been said, I could get over it all and move on.
    As I walked home, I enjoyed the beautiful sun, felt the light breeze on my face. I smiled the whole way, relieved and glad. Tomorrow would be a new day.

Chapter 11
    I was tucking Helen into bed. She snuggled down and lay back. I was expecting her to ask for a story but instead she asked me if I missed Joshua. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t thought of Joshua since I’d been to Mum’s grave and that was months ago. Joshua had been gone for almost a year now and life had just continued without him.
    “Yes,” I replied.
    “Where is he?” she asked me. Sometimes her innocence would strike me, render me speechless.
    “I don’t know,” I answered, honestly.
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why don’t you know?”
    “He never told me.”
    “That was not very nice.”
    “It wasn’t his fault, Helen.”
    “Whose fault is it?”
    “It isn’t anyone’s fault.”
    “How does that work?”
    “Some situations can’t be controlled. It’s like when Daddy tells you what to do. Or when you finish Primary School you have to leave and go onto Secondary School.”
    “I miss him though. He was nice to talk to.”
    “Yes he was. Would you like a story tonight?” Helen nodded eagerly. “Once upon a time in a far away kingdom lived a big, old, ugly Ogre. He believed that he was not really an ogre but a beautiful unicorn and nobody would believe him. Everyone he tried to tell would run and scream from him in terror because ogres ate people for their dinner.
    “The Ogre decided that he would travel across the land in the hope of finding someone who would listen to him. On his travels he met a lovely little Fairy. The Fairy told him that he had to find someone of royal blood to kiss him and then he would be transformed back into his original self but if he had been lying then he would be turned into an ugly boar and be hunted by everyone.
    “The Ogre said he would do it so he could prove to everyone that he had been telling the truth the whole time. He went straight to the King and appealed to him but on seeing him, the King had him thrown out the castle. Sad and lonely, the Ogre wandered in the forest. It was then that he heard a beautiful voice singing. He followed the voice to where a young Girl sat by a well. She was lowering a bucket into the dark hole. When she saw him she screamed and ran away.
    “The Ogre, feeling awful, sat by the well and cried. He cried and howled and yet the misery would not leave him. When he had exhausted himself he sat there and thought about what he was going to do next. He pulled on the rope that the young girl had lowered into the well and drank the whole bucket of water. He lowered it into the well again and drew up another full bucket. This one he left by the well for the Girl should she ever return for it.
    “As the Ogre got up to leave, he heard a small voice behind him. He turned to see the young Girl peeking out from behind the tree.
    “’Why do you cry?’ she asked him.
    “’Because I am ugly and I scare away everyone when I do not mean to. All I want is a peaceful life.’ The Ogre sat back down on the ground and began to cry again. The Girl came over and looked at the bucket.
    “’You cannot be that bad,’ she said gently. ‘You filled my bucket up for me.’
    “’It was in case you came back,’ he replied. The young Girl went to the Ogre and wrapped her arms around him. She gave him a single kiss on the cheek and in that instant he magically