It was funny, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy as they all played, giggled, and even cried with complete and utter commitment – no distractions to their purpose, none of the stresses that came from being an adult playing on their minds. They lived in and for the moment. She could remember her and Felicity playing inthe same way in the playground, and on the field at school. So much had happened since then.
Feeling like she had exhausted herself more than Fred, Lisa decided she deserved a cup of tea and thought they should head off. Fred, on the other hand, had other plans. He was desperate to go on the big slide and was adamant he didn’t want to leave until he had done it, stamping his Gruffalo wellyto make his point clear. Not wanting to cause a scene now they had blended in once more, Lisa took Fred by the hand and led him over to the big slide; her plan was to show him that he was just too little for it. He wouldn’t be able to get up to the top and as she had let him try it would not be her fault.
As Fred began to try to heave himself up the vertical ladder, with rungs too farapart for his legs, Lisa could see her plan was going to work. All she had to do was suggest they come back and try when he was a bit bigger, and she would be on her way to her cup of tea. What she hadn’t accounted for was the group of children, still donning their superhero capes, seeing Fred’s plight and deciding to make it their mission to lift, shove and haul him up to the very top of the ladder.Lisa could only watch in horror as the whole situation was taken out of her hands.What would Flick think?
‘Please be careful!’
Once Fred reached the top and stepped over onto the summit of the wooden tower leading to the slide, the mini-superheroes cheered, their mission complete. Fred beamed with excitement and teetered around looking over the edge far too precariously for Lisa’sliking.
‘Sit down, Fred.’
But no amount of imploring on her part was working. Feeling torn between climbing up herself and judging when he might choose to come down the slide Lisa asked the superheroes to help. Gladly accepting their new mission, they sprang into action. Thankfully, with them encouraging him, Fred sat ready for his descent.
Lisa positioned herself in readinessto catch him. There was about a foot drop at the end of the slide onto a rubbery surface and she didn’t want him landing bottom first on that. The slide was steep, but she expected his wellies would slow him down and so wasn’t too worried. But as he went to launch off the experienced, older children shouted for him to lift his feet. Fred complied, the action resulting in him whizzing towardsLisa on his back, his feet in the air and his bottom facing her.Oh God!She prepared herself, but with the angle at which he was hurtling at her she didn’t know what to catch. Grabbing at him as he reached her, she was pleased to gain a purchase, only to find that what she actually grabbed was his wellies. Fred flew past her and landed with a thump on the ground at the bottom of the slide andburst into tears.
Lisa panicked and picked him up. Sure that he would have a bruise to match the pattern of the rubber matting on his back, she stroked her hand up and down it. Poor Fred was in a state. The parents in the park were all looking in their direction, while the mini-superheroes promptly made themselves scarce. Lisa wanted the ground to swallow her up. To make matters worseas she rubbed her hand across Fred’s back she could feel a lump, a large hard lump.Oh no!With no parents coming forward to offer help or advice and no phone to call Felicity, Lisa decided she had no other option. She would have to take him to a doctor and she would have to get him there fast before he ended up looking like the hunchback of Notre-Dame.
