THE BOY WHO STOLE HOLES

THE BOY WHO STOLE HOLES: a Stickleback Crescent story
by Lulah Ellender

Stickleback Crescent is a small road with five ordinary-looking houses and a green with a large old oak tree in the middle. It is a place where nothing is as it seems, a place where magic happens…

Cody Braithwaite is a ten year old boy with red hair. He lives in Stickleback Crescent with his mum and dad, in a creaky house where the wind licks your face in winter and the birds nest in the rafters in summer. One of his favourite things is squishing bananas between his toes, but he mostly spends his time alone reading or drawing. He does, however, have a very unusual hobby: he collects holes. And those holes were about to take him on a peculiar adventure...

It all began at seven o’clock on a wet Wednesday morning. Cody woke with a start. And a tart. A jam tart in fact, slapped into his face, followed by a shrill whoop as something karate-chopped the side of his nose. This felt to Cody rather like the playful flicks he imagined giving an annoying younger sister if he had had one. His mysterious attacker, however, seemed exhausted and collapsed on the floor. What was going on? Cody sat bolt upright and hissed bravely,
“Who are you? What are you doing?”
“I’ll ask the questions, my lad,” replied the creature. ”Now, tell me what you’ve done with my hole or I’ll really do you some damage!”
The thing clambered back onto the bed and Cody swiftly kicked the covers, leaving it dangling from the duvet. Cody wiped a blob of jam from his eyebrow and stared at the creature. Its skin was glowingly green and its head (which seemed too big for its body) was topped by wisps of wiry black hair, rising like a bunch of question-marks. Its arms seemed to wave constantly, like spaghetti washed out to sea, and its legs looked like two shrivelled parsnips with pointy shoes on. Cody’s fear turned into curiosity. In a surprisingly calm voice he said,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who- or what- are you? Why are you on my bed, flicking my face?”
“I’m a FAIRY you nincompoop! And it wasn’t a flick, sonny, it was a death slice. You’re very lucky to even have a a a a face left at all!” spluttered the fairy, obviously embarrassed. “He isn’t like the kind of fairies I’ve seen in books and yucky girly shops - all pink and fluffy, floating around on flowers sprinkling sparkly dust like cosmic sherbet” thought Cody. No, this creature was nasty, knobbly and rather smelly.
“I want my hole back!” the fairy-thing continued, climbing back on to the bed. “How do you expect us to travel between here and our world now that you’ve pinched all the good holes in the neighbourhood? What do you want with our spaces, hey?”
Cody realised that the fairy must be talking about one of the holes he had collected. He had been hunting for holes and empty spaces since he was about eight years old. Armed with a thick brown sack he searched under furniture, between floorboards, in the trunks of old trees, between the grates in the drains, even in chunks of cheese. Cody’s aim was to scoop up all the dark, empty places he could find and store them in a locked cupboard in his bedroom while he figured out a cunning way to get rid of them. He had borrowed one of his dad’s heavy chains that he used to secure his precious mowers and draped it across the cupboard door, fastening it to his bed frame with a huge padlock. He kept the key on a string around his neck. Putting in a new batch of holes was a risky business - Cody had to open the door very slightly and then shake the holes loose from his sack to prevent any darkness seeping out. He always felt terrified that he might somehow get swallowed by a hole, and that he would be left floating in nothingness for ever. So far Cody had collected about three hundred holes, each one marked by a tally on the wall. In his eyes, this was three hundred fewer empty spaces where bad things and nastiness can lurk, and three hundred small steps towards a fuller world. And now it seemed that someone (or something) wanted a hole back.

“I didn’t steal your hole. I didn’t know they belonged to people – I just collect them “, Cody replied, staring defiantly at the fairy. “And you’re the weirdest looking fairy I’ve ever seen. I thought fairies were pretty and sweet. You’re just, well, ugly.”
“Oh, be quiet turnip face! Where’s the key for the cupboard? Come on, open it up. I know that’s where you put them. Give me what’s rightfully mine and I’ll be on my way” the fairy demanded.
“I’m not doing anything until I’m sure this isn’t just a bad dream. I did have cheese just before bed you know, and that gives me the strangest dreams. Once I dreamed I was a
spoon auditioning for a part in Oliver Twist...”
“I’m not interested in your crazed imagination, you oversized chump!” interrupted the fairy. “Look, if you don’t unlock that cupboard I’ll whoop you so hard you won’t know what hit you!”
“I don’t know what hit me!” muttered Cody, who had now retreated to the window. He began to giggle at the furious fairy (he often giggled when he was nervous).The fairy launched itself off the bed and flung its arms around Cody’s neck. It lost its grip and slid slowly down Cody’s left arm, like a melting ice-cream.
“Ahem, well, yes, I’ve decided to take a more peaceful route to regaining my stolen property. Mainly because I can see how terrified you are and I don’t want to do you too much damage at this stage” coughed the fairy, glancing sideways at Cody and suddenly seeming very fragile and small.
“I’m sorry for laughing. Really. Perhaps you are a real fairy- I’ve heard about strange things happening in this street but nothing exciting ever happens to me. Why don’t you tell me about your hole and where you live, and then maybe you could find it?” Cody said as he freed the fairy from his arm and placed it carefully on the windowsill.
“I can do better than just telling you, matey! Hold tight – I’ll take you there! We’re going inside one of those holes you’re so scared of!” The fairy jumped down, grabbed Cody’s ankle and pulled very hard. Cody crashed onto the floor like an old tree. The fairy ran, holding onto Cody’s pyjamas, towards a dark space between the bed and the wall. Cody shut his eyes, thinking the fairy was about to splat itself into oblivion, but instead he found himself spinning upside-down in a huge black hole.

He was overcome by panic. It felt like a liquid pouring over his head. He wanted to be sick but couldn’t open his mouth. He just knew this was It – nothing, for evermore, nothing. He would spend the rest of his life alone, spinning in this hole, getting wrinkly and old with no-one to talk to. His parents wouldn’t miss him, he thought. They never really took any notice of him anyway. Not that they were cruel or unkind, just too wrapped up in their own lives to be concerned with him. Cody’s mother was a writer who spent most of her time shut away in the attic, only coming out to shout at the dog and polish her shoes. Mr Braithwaite did his best to keep the house from falling down, inventing pulley-systems to carry rainwater from the leaky roof to his beloved garden at the back. He was a lawnmower fanatic and was currently designing a mower which fluffs the cut stalks so walking on the lawn feels like walking on feathers. Cody felt embarrassed about his parents and never brought friends home. But they were still his mum and dad, and right now Cody would have given anything to see them.

At last, and with a bone-shaking bump, Cody fell to the ground. At least he thought it was the ground, but it was difficult to see. The light around him was dim, like the last embers of a sunset. Shadows flickered around him. Where was he? And where was the fairy? The air felt damp and smelt of onions and wood smoke. As his eyes got used to the darkness Cody began to see that he was in a field. The sun actually was setting, casting long shadows. The clouds looked like red, witchy fingers. Cody couldn’t understand – it was morning in his world, so where was he now? The fairy was nowhere to be seen. Looking around nervously, Cody’s eyes got used to the semi-darkness and he could make out some shapes on the top of a small hill. As he crept closer he saw a crackling fire surrounded by about ten fairy-creatures sitting on logs. He crouched low in the grass and watched. Three of them were holding a long stick over the fire with what looked like a large pillow on the end. The pillow seemed to be melting, and Cody recognised the smell – marshmallow! Slowly one fairy pulled the molten sweet off its stick and then each of the others leapt up and greedily grabbed several sticky handfuls.
“Now that the mighty marshmallow has been shared, the meeting can commence. We have some rather exciting news from Bagsy who has been trying to retrieve our lost holes. First though, a small matter, but one close to my heart...” the voice trailed off, and as Cody crouched in the damp grass he saw it was coming from a plump green fairy with sticking-out teeth like a piano keyboard, wild silver hair and a crown made from willow twigs. She (it seemed to be female) paused to lick a large splodge of marshmallow off her top lip and then continued,
“I am talking about the noise levels in the community. To be perfectly honest I am fed up with all this peace and quiet! Where has all the singing, clattering, shouting and thumping gone? I know it has been difficult, losing all those holes, but this silence has to stop. I can’t concentrate and I can’t sleep. So I am proposing a party, tomorrow night. I want every fairy in the land to be there and to bring a musical instrument or pan or something LOUD. Good. That’s settled. Now, over to Bagsy.” The round-faced fairy (who Cody thought must be a queen or something important) sat down and Cody immediately recognised the creature which now stood on a log, clearing its throat: the fairy from his room.
“Right, well, after an extremely dangerous and life-threatening mission into the Big-World I have discovered the reason why our holes have been disappearing. There’s a boy, a lonely sort of boy really, but immensely fierce and frightening, who has been collecting our holes and locking them in a cupboard.” The fairy stared dramatically into the faces lit up by the fire. “This boy- Cody his name is – attacked and very nearly killed me. If it wasn’t for my great karate skills and my lucky jam tart I wouldn’t be standing here today...”

This was too much for Cody, who jumped up and said in a surprisingly loud voice, “That’s rubbish! I’m Cody and I’m not at all fierce. He just flicked me a few times and then pulled me into a hole by my bed!”
The fairies all either fell off their logs in shock or hid their faces with their spindly arms at the sight of a Big-Being. The queen hid behind another fairy, pushing him towards Cody, who said quickly, “Don’t be frightened, please! I really won’t hurt you. Let Bagsy explain the rest.” He turned to the embarrassed Bagsy and said sternly, “Just make sure you tell the truth!”
“What were you thinking, bringing a Big-Being into our world? Especially after what happened last time!” shrieked the queen fairy through a pair of trembling legs. Cody felt worried: what did happen last time? Did the Big-Being get stuck here (wherever ‘here’ was) forever? Perhaps the fairies had beaten him with marshmallow sticks until he couldn’t move, and then kept him prisoner in a dark dungeon which stank of onions. Or worse... Cody tried to stay calm, but he could feel his hands beginning to sweat.
Bagsy spluttered, “It’s alright your Highness. We can just hypnotise him. I’ve been practising and it should be a piece of cake. He’ll forget everything he’s seen, so we don’t have to worry about any more Big-Being visitors. Anyway, I thought if he came and saw for himself where those holes lead to and how much we need them to travel to and fro, well then he’d be more likely to give us back our holes. That and the fact that I didn’t want to hurt him more than had already been necessary.” He glanced sideways at Cody, who frowned. Bagsy hastily retold the events of that morning. The queen listened intently and then said,
“Hmmm. I see. So it seems, Mr Cody, that there has been a simple misunderstanding. We mean you no harm and I can see you are not a violent creature.” She shot a disapproving glance at Bagsy and continued, “I propose that you stay here with us and learn about our world – The Flipside. After the party tomorrow a group of our people will escort you home and help you get our holes out of that cupboard of yours. What do you say?”
Cody, who didn’t really have much choice as he had no idea how to get home otherwise, agreed. Bagsy passed him a dollop of marshmallow, and Cody sat down behind the circle of fairies. He suddenly felt very tired. His head flopped forwards onto his arms and he fell asleep.

When he awoke the fire was just a pile of glowing embers. The fairies had gone. Cody stood up and felt thirsty and stiff. He couldn’t understand how it still seemed to be sunset, but he could see more easily now. The field was a long rectangle shape with the hill in the middle. Around the edge was a tall hedge full of twinkling glow-worms, lighting up the leaves and twigs like thousands of tiny stars. A river ran along the lowest part of the field, and beyond that was a gloomy, thick forest which looked very unwelcoming. Cody walked down to the river and cupped some water in his hands. As he drank he was amazed to discover it wasn’t water but molasses. Eurghhh! He spat out the gooey liquid and turned back towards the hill, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. At the other end of the field he noticed a structure like a large tipi made of wood and large leaves. Cody decided to investigate. He was feeling surprisingly adventurous. He was even beginning to feel brave, for the first time in his life. Perhaps being in the Flipside wouldn’t be all bad...
As he got nearer he saw a group of the green fairies busily decorating the tipi, scurrying about with flowers, paper stars and rolling what appeared to be two large hubcaps into the middle of the space.
“Aha! The dance floor! Excellent! Now let’s get the playing platform sorted out and we’re ready to party!” said one fairy, who was carrying a clipboard and looking important. Four fairies stumbled into the tipi carrying one of those wooden boxes you see in greengrocers’ shops. They half dropped, half placed the box next to the hubcaps, wiping sweaty brows and shaking achey arms.
“All set then. Good work chaps. Let’s stop for lunch and then finish off the decorating” barked the important-looking fairy. The others collapsed in a green crumpled heap on the floor, like a plate of frogs’ legs.
“Can I help?” enquired Cody nervously.

And so it was that Cody Braithwaite spent the happiest few hours of his life, carrying, tying, plucking, pulling and laughing as he worked alongside the fairies. Occasionally he let the creatures run up his legs and swung them round as they clung onto his pyjamas, squealing with excitement. After three hours they were all exhausted. They walked back to the fire and pilled on more logs, toasting marshmallows (Cody was allowed one all to himself due to his size). Cody was bursting with questions. The fairies explained about The Flipside: how the time was always sunset, how they made use of things that humans threw away, and how the holes were their only way to get out and back home from the human world. One fairy even admitted that the fairies often got up to mischief in the Big-World, saying “We don’t do anything really bad. Just a bit of fun really. Things like shortening people’s trousers in the night, or swapping their cereal for cat food.”
Cody began to think that instead of the chilling emptiness and horrors he had always believed lurked inside holes, maybe there were just other worlds, other beings getting on with their lives. He felt ready to go home, and even considered opening the cupboard.
But first it was party time. There must have been hundreds of squiggly, wiry fairies in the field that night, all carrying pots and pans or musical instruments. On the playing platform stood four fairies, dressed in what looked like his dad’s socks with the ends cut off, leading the music. The noise was deafening. But Cody was having a great time. He was too big to fit into the tipi so he stood outside and danced and whooped and yelped like a wild thing.
Suddenly Bagsy took his arm and led him back towards the fire on the hill. The music stopped and the fairies parted like blown grass to let him through. A group of fairies stood in a circle, holding what looked like huge paper bags. Two of them grabbed Cody’s arms and tied the bags onto his wrists and ankles. Cody’s happiness evaporated as lots of not-very-brave thoughts raced through his brain: “They must be capturing me. Oh no! They’re going to put a bag on my head so I can’t see where they’re taking me!” But, to his great relief, as he looked more closely Cody realised they were paper lanterns, made from fragile cream-coloured paper with a candle resting on a stick along the bottom. Taking a burning log from the fire the queen fairy lit the lanterns, which were now attached to each of the fairies in the group. She called out,
“Fires of The Flipside carry these travellers back to the Big-World. Find a hole and travel safely. Good luck young Cody – and no more hole collecting, you hear me?”
Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then Cody noticed his lanterns filling with air. He felt his feet lift slowly off the floor, and before he knew it he was floating above the field. The partying fairies shrank until they were just pea-sized dots with crazy hair. It was a magical feeling, gliding across the sunset in a raggle-taggle line of lights. The lanterns lit up the sky and Cody’s face, which was glowing with happiness.
But after a few minutes the candles began to flicker. Cody felt frightened again. What if
the candles burnt out? Would he go plummeting down to the ground? How could he steer? Suddenly, each candle fizzed and went out with a pfffttt sound. The sky went black. Cody couldn’t see the other fairies. He felt like he was falling, and clamped his eyes shut. Once again he was spinning in the darkness, although this time he was able to talk himself out of his fear.
“It’s all going to be ok. They know what they’re doing. I just need to believe and trust that I will end up where I need to be....” he thought.

And sure enough, after feeling as though he was a tube of toothpaste being squeezed to get the very last bit out, Cody burst through the hole behind his bed. He was back in his room. Bagsy and the other fairies were standing on the windowsill, but Cody said,
“Actually, it’s ok. I can do this by myself. I’ll let your holes out. And all the other holes.”
Slowly, Cody sat up. His room looked different. He could see every speck of dust that had spread like a silver snowfall across his shelves, he could see the leaves that tapped on his window - he must have seen them a thousand times yet they had never looked like this. Every vein and tiny spot seemed so clear, and he felt like he had discovered a whole new rainbow of colours. Outside, the morning in Stickleback Crescent was unfolding as usual: there was Jem Rogers putting out the recycling boxes, and Mrs Hopple shooing a cat off her doorstep. But somehow everything had changed. The cupboard full of holes, which used to tower over him like a wooden bully waiting for a fight, seemed smaller and shabbier.
Cody trembled with a mixture of fear and anticipation as he approached the cupboard. As he touched the cupboard door he felt a sudden chill and sense of panic. What would happen if all that darkness escaped at once? Would he be forever wrapped in a dark cloud of nothingness? Pulling the key from the string around his neck he unlocked the padlock, letting it crash down onto the floor. He took a deep breath and flung open the door. Inside he found....a pair of shorts. Nothing else. No scary wave of doom and darkness. Just a mouldy old pair of shorts. Cody was massively relieved. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Grinning, Cody glanced across at Bagsy, who was standing on the windowsill and wiggling his fingers in a very strange way.
“What are you doing?” Cody asked nervously.
“I’m hypnotising you. Remember what we agreed around the fire? It’s one of our rules: humans must never be allowed to recall meeting one of us. Unfortunately when I hypnotised the last Big-Being who came into our world I somehow made him think he was a chicken. Still haven’t worked out how to stop the clucking. But don’t you worry – I’m sure this time it will all go smoothly. Thanks for the holes. Hope you have a happy life Cody.”
The fairy stared into Cody’s eyes and began to hum,
” Hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm. You are feeling sleepy, hmmmmmm, you are feeling sleepy...”
Cody, who was not feeling at all sleepy, began nodding his head as if dropping into a deep, powerless sleep. After what seemed like ages but was in fact one minute and thirty eight seconds, he opened his eyes. The fairies had gone. The door of the cupboard swung gently on its hinges, as if it was enjoying the movement. Cody sat still, thinking. Then he jumped up, ran downstairs to the kitchen and turned on the radio as loud as he could. He pulled out all the pots and pans and began bashing them around the room. Within seconds he heard a shriek from upstairs,
“Do something Harold! We’re being burgled!” his mother screamed.
Tearing down the stairs in his dressing gown, like a skinny boxer but with glasses and rabbit slippers, came Mr Braithwaite. As he reached the doorway he stopped dead.
“Cody, what on earth are you doing?” he asked in amazement.
Cody looked up and smiled, “Filling the house with noise. With my noise Dad! I’m fed up with all this peace and quiet! It’s not ok to ignore me any more. I don’t want to tiptoe around hoping no-one will notice me. Do you know how much fun it is to make a noise? ”
Mrs Braithwaite appeared, clutching a cricket bat, and screeched, “Good grief Cody, what’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing’s the matter with me – I’ve never felt better! This is me. Really me. I’m a brave, funny boy who you’ve managed to ignore my entire life. Well, now you’re going to have to take notice. This is a new day. Get used to it! “

Cody never saw the fairy again, but he did tell the other children in Stickleback Crescent about his magical meeting. Of course, they weren’t surprised - they knew that this was a very special place and, after all, they had all had an enchanted adventure of one kind or another. Sometimes, if he listened closely at a hole, Cody could hear the fairies partying and singing. He knew his world would never feel empty again.