“The stars are nice tonight.” Shaun said wistfully as he lay on the moonlight lit grass beside their tent, with his arms behind his head. He was looking up at the night sky’s blanket above him with a smile. It wasn’t his usual bright smile though, no. It was the one where his eyes gave away the problems he was currently facing. Or the ones he was thinking back on. Often this smile appeared on the nights like these, the boys alone together under the peaceful sky. “Don’t you think?” 

“Yeah.” Finn nodded. He always agreed with Shaun when he was in this kind of mood, it was safer. Shaun struggled with stuff a lot because of his home life. His mother had never taken a liking to him, the words 'postpartum depression’ had always been said about her when Shaun was brought up. It was just like she never clicked with him. It never seemed to her that he was her son. He was just someone sent to torture her. Along with his mother, his father had been a raging drunk. Empty bottles upon empty bottles had littered their house for years until Lisa finally moved out and Barry began taking himself seriously again. It hadn’t been a great improvement at first, Barry still drank. Just not as much. He was starting to get into Shauns hobbies as well. Taking an interest. Shaun was confused on how Barry could be such a good dad now when he hadn’t all those years. It hurt him more than anything else. 

“It’s weird isn’t it?” Shaun asked. He was in a talking mood, which was thrilling for Finn who wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. It was well past midnight at this point and as much as Finn adored his friend, he wished he would shut up for one minute. 

“What’s weird?” He entertained him anyway. 

“That they’re so far away. The stars I mean. And how big the universe really is. How little we all matter.” He trailed off and left an uncomfortable silence. It was one of those moments where Finn had to carefully consider what he was going to say next. One more existential thing and Shaun would spiral, something shutting him down would only make him angry. There was a small range of things he could say that would go over well. 

“I guess.” Finn hesitated. He was ninety-nine percent sure that he had come up with a sentence that would work.  “But don’t we matter?” He noticed the confusion on Shaun's face when he suggested this. He may as well have suggested that they should run away to Spain on the backs of dragons. He did consider it. 

“What do you mean?” Shaun asked. “We’re only alive for a short period of time in the scale of it all. How could those few moments really matter?” 

“Well… Sure, we don’t matter in the scale of things. Nothing really does.” Finn could feel the conversation getting too existential, it was time to brighten it up again. “But we matter now, y’know? To the people we care about?”

“But do we? Like, if I died right now, you would forget in a while anyway.” Shaun shrugged with a saddened laugh. Finn frowned and rolled onto his side to face his friend. He looked at the far-away look in Shaun’s eyes as he thought and spoke. It was a look that would have been a good one in a movie. Something about it was just so mesmerising. 

“No I wouldn’t. And you wouldn’t forget me if I died.” Finn pointed out. “I wouldn’t forget you if you died because you’re my best friend in the world. My only friend.” They both laughed. “And I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else. You’re the best guy I know.” 

“You’re just saying that.” Shaun said but Finn could tell by the grin on his friends face that Shaun didn’t think he was just saying it to say it. They both knew that he meant it. Shaun knew that the opposite was the same for him as well, Finn was his best and only friend. He was glad that Finn was the same as him. It would suck if Finn had loads of other friends and Shaun had no one but Finn. Luckily that could never happen. The reassurance was nice.  

“We all matter in some way. Even if we don’t think so.” Finn said wisely. He hadn’t meant to be funny when he said it but somehow it was. Shaun burst out laughing and Finn quickly followed suit. 

“You should be a therapist.” Shaun poked him playfully on the arm with a grin. 

“Oh sure.” Finn laughed back. “I already am. You just don’t pay me.”

“True.” He smiled and faced Finn. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” Finn nodded. “Just be glad I don’t charge.” 

They were out camping, a hobby they enjoyed together often on the warm summer nights. This time they were up in the forest park campground with just their trusty tent and a few supplies. All around them were campervans with busy families or other random adults. It wasn’t often that they stayed in a campground, normally they just found a nice piece of forest to hide out in for the night. It was getting dangerous around their town lately though, there had been quite a few missing people on the news. Because of this their mothers made them promise to stick to the campground where there would be others to keep them safe. 

“Goodnight.” Shaun murmured as he lay closer. 

“Goodnight.” Finn echoed. 

It was a peaceful night, practically perfect in every way. The only thing they could complain about was the freezing cold but even then they had blankets and each other so there was nothing really the matter with that either. 

Shaun woke up earlier than Finn, as he always did. Finn was, as Shaun often called him, a ‘lazy-bones’. He never woke up before at least eight o’clock. Shaun was the opposite, he never woke up later than seven. Right now it was probably about six forty. At least that’s what it felt like. He had gotten used to figuring out roughly what time it was just based on how it felt. He was pretty good at it. Often he was within ten minutes of the actual time. 

He got out of the tent slowly and carefully, so as to not wake up the sleeping Finn. When he had taken in the nice morning, he decided to go on a walk. The walks this early in the morning were always better than the ones later in the afternoon, especially when alone. He knew he shouldn’t go alone, safety and all that, but he didn’t mind. He could defend himself anyway. Better than Finn could anyway, Finn was a bit of a wuss. Or at least he thought so. Sure, most people thought he was the wuss and Finn was the brave one, but they were just wrong. 

It started to rain halfway through his walk, to his dismay. It wasn’t light rain either, it was a complete downpour. The tree that Shaun had run to hide under offered him little protection. It was a big tall willow tree, basically nature's umbrella, but nature had decided to throw in wind as well. The leaves blew all over the place. 

“Oh come on.” He sighed. He had hoped to be back at the tent before Finn woke up but the rain would probably wake him up now. Knowing Finn, he would freak out at Shaun being missing. More proof that Finn was the wuss in their friendship. 

After five minutes or so, with no difference to the state of the weather, he decided he had to brave it and run. It would be fun anyway, like running around outside as a kid. He remembered the time that his dad had been out at work, leaving him with Lisa. Lisa had grown tired of Shaun badgering her to play a game with him and she got mad. It was raining pretty hard outside, a storm warning had been issued, but she sent him out anyway. 

“I need some time to myself.” She had said when she opened the door. “Go play.” 

He was outside for the two hours until his dad came back and realised what had happened, then he got mad at Shaun for bothering her, then at Lisa for locking him out, then he got a drink and went to bed. Shaun laughed at the memory. 

“Look mum, I’m playing in the rain again.” He chuckled as he stepped out of the protection of the tree. He ran out and jogged, skipped, and danced all the way back to the tent with a smile on his face. It was the most fun he had had in a while. 

“Where did you go?” Finn rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up when Shaun climbed back into their tent. It seemed as if he had just woken up. It was a wonder that the rain and wind hadn’t got him up but then again, nothing ever really could. “Swimming?” He laughed at the state of his friend. He looked similar to a drowned rat.

“No, just a bit of rain. I went on a walk.” He admitted. “It was great.” 

“Oh, it’s raining?” Finn looked outside in surprise.

“You didn’t notice?” Shaun laughed.

“No.” Finn laughed along. 

They got on with the rest of their day; packing up their supplies, going on another walk, and talking about everything and nothing all at once. 

The walk they went on was just around their usual route, the one with the small glittering river. They liked this one because they could find animals along it if they went at the right time of day. This time they saw a few birds, a rabbit, and two squirrels. There were lots of dog walkers as well, which they both loved. Most of the time they were allowed to pet the dog, to their delight. 

Eventually it was the afternoon and it was time to go home. They walked back to the car park, bags in hand. There they saw the good old fashioned ford fiesta that Sandra drove. Sandra was Shaun's step-mum, a kind woman who married Barry the year before. Shaun had taken a liking to her right away, she was that brilliant. She was so much better than Lisa had been. It was hard to trust her at first, despite his love for her. She was still trying to take a place in the family which she hadn’t earned. His problem with her had quickly been snuffed out though, she had reassured him that she would do nothing he didn’t want. Ever since then, things had been getting better. She also was slowly making Barry improve, he was almost completely sober. 

“How was your night, boys?” Sandra asked as she took the bags and packed them into the boot of the car. 

“It was good.” Shaun said as he jumped into the backseat of the car, followed by Finn on the other side. 

“That’s good. Nothing scary?” She pulled a spooky face.

“Nope.”  Shaun laughed. 

“How about you sweetheart, what’d you think?” She turned her attention to Finn when she got into the driver's seat. 

“Yeah it was good. I slept all morning, he says. Through the rain and everything.” Finn laughed. 

“Don’t listen to a word he says, Finn! Up with the birds as usual I assume then, Shaun?” Shaun never seemed to sleep. She began to drive, the radio playing pop songs quietly below the conversation. 

“Yep.” Shaun grinned. 

“We went on a walk.” Finn said.

“Oh lovely! Were you careful about the trolls?” Sandra asked.

“What trolls?” Shaun raised an eyebrow. 

“The trolls! They live near the river.” She said earnestly. 

“There aren’t trolls in the forest mum, they aren’t real. We’re twelve now, you can’t tell us baby stories!” Shaun liked to believe he was all grown up. In reality he was a wuss, and he knew that everyone liked to tease him about it. He would take every opportunity to try and prove that he wasn’t. 

“Baby stories! They aren’t baby stories, Shaun! Trolls are real! You believe me, don’t you Finn?” She asked the other boy. 

Finn laughed and nodded. 

“Tell us about them then!” Shaun’s eyes lit up. He loved her stories. 

“Alright, let me get out of the car park first.” She loved to build up the anticipation. The boys were silent as they waited. The radio was still playing but no one was really listening to it. It was just playing some boring new pop song.

“Okay, now, tell us!” Shaun cheered excitedly when they got onto the road. 

“Alright, alright!” She laughed. “So, the trolls. They live near small rivers in forests. Trolls are small creatures with green skin so that they can blend into the grass when they feel threatened. They take anything they think of as pretty; shiny rings, hairbrushes, bracelets. All that stuff. They aren’t good though. No, no. They can be very bad.” She suddenly paused. 

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Bad?” Finn asked, eyes wide. 

“Very bad.” She said gravely. 

“Bad how?” Shaun asked. 

“Well they take what they like. And sometimes they take people.” She said matter-of-factly. 

“No!” Finn exclaimed. 

“Yes!” She responded. “They like boys mostly. Little blonde boys with brown eyes.” She looked at Shaun. “And tall brown haired boys.” She looked at Finn. “Do you know when they strike?”

“No.” Shaun giggled. 

“At night. They crawl around campsites looking, searching, for their treasure.” Her voice had morphed into a slow crawl of its own. It was terrifying. 

“No they don’t! They aren’t real!” Shaun laughed again, though he felt scared. 

“Yes they do! They especially like little boys who don’t believe in them! So watch out Shaun, you could be next…” Sandra looked into the mirror at the two boys. They seemed petrified. She laughed. “Got you boys!”

“No you didn’t! We weren’t scared!” Shaun leapt to his own defence. “Right Finn?” 

“Not at all!” He nodded. 

“If you say so…” Sandra chuckled. “Now Finn, honey, are we taking you to your home or ours?” 

“I think mum wanted me home.” Finn said sadly. 

“Aw.” Shaun groaned. “No, stay with us!” 

“That’s alright. You got plans today?” Sandra ignored her son. 

“Yeah, it’s my granny’s birthday so we’re going to her house.” He said. 

“That’s lovely. How old is she now? It’s granny Dottie, yeah?” She asked. 

“Yeah. She’s seventy-three.” Finn informed her. 

“That’s very nice. Send my regards, would you?” 

“Of course.” 

“Thanks hun.” She nodded before singing along to the radio. In the backseat the two boys laughed. 

The rest of the drive was filled with Sandra singing and the boys talking away. The time seemed to fly by so quickly that they almost teleported.

“Here we are boys. I’ll carry your bags.” Sandra turned around when she parked the car outside the small semi-detached house belonging to the Lowry’s. She wanted to gossip with Grace. They had become fast close friends thanks to their son's friendship. 

“Sandra! How are you hun?” Grace grinned when she opened the door. She still had rollers in her hair and was still in her dressing gown but she didn’t mind being seen in such a state by Sandra and the boys. It wasn’t like they would care anyway. 

“Not bad Grace, darling! Yourself?” Sandra stepped out of the car and hugged her friend with a smile. She decided to let the boys carry Finn’s bags. 

“You know how it is.” Grace grinned and folded her arms. “How are the boys?” 

“Alive and well.” Sandra said as she leaned on the doorframe. The boys came trudging over slowly, bag in Finn’s hand. 

“Let’s walk slowly, that means we have more time together.” Shaun had suggested before they got out of the car. It was a plan they followed after every trip and it never worked, yet they attempted. 

“Finn, what are you doing?” Grace looked over at the two practically tip-toeing across the lawn with a laugh. Sandra did too. 

“Nothing.” He smiled sweetly. 

“Hurry up a little sweetie, granny’s waiting.” She pointed to her watch. 

“You aren’t ready yet.” He grinned smartly. 

“Don’t be a smart alek. In you go.” She said with a pointed look.

“Fine.” He groaned. “Bye Shaun.” He hugged his friend before going into his house and up the stairs to his room. 

He liked his room. It was homely. He had clothes that he had yet to put away on his desk alongside his homework for the next day that he hadn’t even looked at yet. He had a nice, soft, white rug in the middle of his room on his wooden floor. His duvet was a deep navy blue that he had had for about five years. His mum asked him every year if he would like a new one but he always said no. He loved it. He often had sleepovers with Shaun in here, one on the bed and the other on the camping bed on the floor. 

He went over to his white wooden wardrobe and pulled out a nice pair of jeans and a cool white t-shirt. This was his normal attire so it wasn’t anything special. His mum always nagged him to dress up a little when going to his grannys but he could never think of anything nice to wear. It was easy for his mum; she could put a pretty dress on, curl her hair, and put some make-up on. Not for him or his dad. All they could do was wear decent clothes. Which he did. 

“You ready Finn?” His dad called from outside. 

“Yep.” He called back. 

“Alright. We’ll leave in fifteen minutes. Do you want food before then?” 

“Yeah, I’ll get some now.” 

“Alright.” His dads footsteps retreated. 

The party at Granny Dotties was boring. If it could even be referred to as a party, which Finn didn’t think it could. It was just Finn, Grace, Michael, Dottie, uncle Thomas, aunt Dolly, and uncle Bill. Finn was the only one there under the age of thirty-five and was very aware of it. The adults were all talking about boring stuff like bills, church gatherings, and Dotties shopping lists. 

“The bill on the house, don’t even get me started.” Uncle Bill rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah the same with-” Uncle Thomas tried to speak but was interrupted.

“The bills at the club are mental as well.” Aunt Dolly nodded. “How about you, Grace? Not too bad at your place?”

“No, Dericks got some big plans with it. He won’t tell us but apparently it’s not much.” Grace worked at a hairdressing salon downtown. Her boss was Derick Lougherty, a well-liked man in the area. 

Finn was nearly bored to tears. He was asked no questions and invited to join in with no conversations. He was desperate for any excuse to leave. 

Eventually the adults moved into a conversation of some interest, the recent attacks in town. There weren’t many in the town, but there were lots in the surrounding areas. A few men, a handful of women, three or four kids. There were a few bombs, some with no one injured, some with a few injured, some killed. A few gun fights, same effect as the bombs. 

“It’s the Irish, keep coming here for no reason.” Bill shook his head. “We don’t go to them. If they’d stop then all this could be over.”

“That’s not true, Bill.” Dolly argued back. “We aren’t all innocent either-”

“Yeah, like-” Thomas tried to speak but, like always, was ignored. 

“So what? Do you agree with them now? Is that it Dolly?” Bill raised an eyebrow. Bill was a pretty political guy and took every comment to heart. Dolly was somewhat of a hippie, she just wanted everyone to be friends. They didn’t get along, hadn’t since they were kids. 

Grace gave Finn the signal to leave the room. It was a signal that she often had to give when the twins were together. It seemed that Dottie had learned the signal too, or maybe just thought that she should take Finn out of the cross-fires as well. 

“Finn, come help me get food sorted.” She stood up and walked over to the door. Finn looked to his mum for approval. Grace nodded and turned back to her siblings who, at this point, were two minutes away from hitting each other. None of the Sweeney siblings, apart from Grace, had brought their partners with them. Dolly and Bill were the twins, they were both forty-three. They had been close when they were toddlers, never going anywhere without the other, but it all went to disaster when Bill started to hang out with the other boys in school and Dolly hung out with the girls. Ever since then all they did was argue, each believing they were better than the other. Thomas was the black sheep of the family, he had been born when Bill and Dolly were eight and Grace was five, and because of that none of the children took a real interest in him. He raised himself in a way, Grace did spend time with him occasionally but he never enjoyed hearing about all the boys and friends in her life, he would have preferred to play pirates. Even now, the family took no interest in him. He didn’t seem to mind though, he got on with life. Not that anyone knew what he was doing with it. 

In the kitchen, Dottie started taking food out of the fridge. “Finn, get the bread please. We’re going to make sandwiches.” 

“Okay.” He did as he was told and they got started with their sandwiches. While they worked they could still hear Bill and Dolly yelling, though now they could hear Grace and Thomas trying to keep them both calm. An indication that the twins had started to hit each other. Dottie shook her head sadly. 

“They’re always fighting.” She said quietly. 

“Yeah.” Finn couldn’t think of anything else to say. 

“Ever since they were little.” A shake of the head. “I could never get them to stop.” 

“Yeah.” Still no words. Finn was beginning to wish he was back in the living room. That hell would be better than this one. 

“Mum?” Thomas walked into the room. “Where’d you put the first-aid kit? It’s been moved.”

“Hang on, I’ll get it.” She sighed and shuffled off in the direction of the utility room. While she was in there, Thomas stood awkwardly waiting. He looked over to his nephew and gave an awkward grin. 

“How’s school?” The only conversation he could think to talk about.

“It’s good.” Finn nodded, just as awkward. “How’s work?”

“Good.” Thomas nodded as well, seeming desperate for his mum to come back so he could leave again. 

“What happened in there?” Finn let his curiosity get the better of him. 

“Dollys scratched him with her nails, those acrylic things. He’s got a cut on his arm. Just making sure it doesn’t get infected.” Thomas said calmly. He was well used to his siblings' fights. 

“Oh.” Finn wasn’t so used to it. 

“Here you are Tom.” Dottie returned and handed her son the small green kit. “What’s he done?”

“No, it was Doll this time.” He informed her. “Just a small cut.”

“Alright.” Dottie nodded. “Food will only be a minute, try to get them settled.” 

“Will do.” Thomas gave a nod as he left.

A few minutes later, everything was set up. The food was on the table, the knives and forks as well, the glasses filled with water beside the plates. Dottie turned to Finn with a smile. 

“Go and get them would you?” 

“Okay.” Finn agreed and set off to the living room. When he opened the door he saw Grace sitting beside her sister on the big sofa, and no one else in the room. He addressed them anyway. “Mum, aunty Dolly, foods ready now.” 

“Alright Finn, we’ll be in now.” Grace smiled before attending to her crying sister again. When Finn closed the door he overheard Dolly say “He just never listens to anyone but himself. I don’t understand.” 

The search for the other members of the family was short, his dad was in the bathroom, his uncles were outside in the front garden. 

When he went outside, he saw Thomas sitting on the bench watching his brother pacing around, cigarette in hand. Finn stayed quiet for a second, wanting to listen in. 

“She’s such a bitchy hippie.” Bill grunted as he drew from his cigarette. 

“Yeah.” Thomas nodded in agreement. Finn couldn't see his face, but assumed that Thomas didn’t actually agree. She was his sister after all.

“It’s like she doesn’t care about any of this. She’s betraying our side-” Bill began to get worked up again. Thomas must have shot him a look because he calmed down again. “She scratched me, look at this.” Motioned to the plaster on his arm. “And then has the audacity to say I’m hurting her?” 

“I know.” Thomas nodded. 

Finn decided now was the time to let them know he was there. He knocked on the open front door and both men jumped to face him. 

“Granny Dottie says food is ready.” He said timidly. 

Thomas stood up and put out his cigarette. He smiled at his obviously terrified nephew. “Alright, thanks Finn. We’ll be in in a sec.” 

“Not if she’s in there.” Bill grunted. 

“Come on Bill, just try. For mum?” Thomas frowned at him. Bill sighed. He had always liked his mum more than his dad. He felt bad for his mum about the arguments. He could see how it hurted her. 

“Fine. But if she starts an argument, I won’t hold back.” He reluctantly put out his cigarette as well.

Thomas laughed. “When do you ever?” 

Finn awkwardly went back inside to the kitchen, followed by the two men. He found Grace, Dolly, Michael, and Dottie all sitting around the table. Dolly tensed when they walked in but Bill didn’t say anything, just took his place at the head of the table. It had been a place reserved for his dad but ever since he died, Bill was the head of the house on his visits. 

There were no more fights for the rest of the evening, Bill and Dolly stayed calm. They didn’t really talk to each other, just to the people around them. Finn wondered why they didn’t try to be good to each other, surely it was sad to not be able to talk to each other? He kept his opinion to himself though, not wanting to start another argument. 

“We should get home now.” Grace said at five in the evening, it had been four hours since they arrived there and each hour had been just as painful as the last. 

“Already?” Dottie asked. “Here, take some sandwiches with you, there’s too many for me to keep them all.” She stood and shuffled to the kitchen. 

“Mum’s complimentary sandwiches.” Bill laughed. 

“Don’t laugh, you’ll get some too!” Dolly giggled. 

“No, I plan on dashing before she gets to them.” Bill joked.

“You tried that last year.” She pointed out with a grin. 

“Practice makes perfect, eh?” 

“Practising what?” Dottie asked with a smile as she walked in holding tinfoil covered sandwiches. 

“Nothing, mum.” Bill smiled innocently, causing her to laugh. 

“Well, bye then.” Dottie gave the Lowry’s a hug each. “Come back soon, you hear.”

“Yes mum.” Grace smiled.