Page 29 - LonnyQuicke

lifeling urges.
He needed to be taken away, for his own good, for
his own preservation – but all Mr Sinkly did was drag him closer.
They reached the swollen, weak Gordon – about to perish at any moment.
There was no option – the buzzing was strong, death was near. Daniel touched the boy’s cheek and the life flowed through – out of Daniel, into Gordon.
And all was calm.
All except Lucy.
She threw herself past Freida, past Gordana, past
Louis. She grabbed her son, held him at arm’s length so she could see him proper.
The boy was gone.
In his place was an old, wrinkled man. Her son. She hugged him close.
Mr Sinkly lifted his own son in his arms and carried him back home with not a second look at Lucy or Daniel. Not a second look.
And that’s why we live in the forest now. To keep our lifelings safe.
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