INNOCENCE
It was fun to begin with; a game, almost an adventure. But now he’s had enough. He doesn’t like being on his own anymore. He’s hungry, he’s lonely and he’s scared. He wants everything back to how it used to be.
Dean McFarlane is seven years old.
The day before yesterday, as they were walking to school, Dean’s mother dropped dead.
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‘Dean,’ Mom said, sighing, ‘you’ve only been back at school for a couple of days, so how comes you’ve got yourself in trouble with the teacher already?’
‘She don’t like me,’ he said as he followed her at speed, late for school. He’d been dragging his feet all morning. Even though she was heavily pregnant, Dean’s mom marched along at twice his pace. ‘She picks on me,’ he whined. ‘She lets Gary and them lot get away with anything. I never done noth
