A Home Away From Home and Other Stories

shopping trolley became visible. It was an ordinary trolley with the name of their local garden centre printed on the handle in large red letters. The boys crouched uncomfortably in the trolley.

  'Take us home,' Jarek commanded.

  Nothing happened. 'This is hopeless,' Jarek muttered.

  'Maybe you need to ask it nicely?' Brad suggested.

  'Oh for goodness sake,' Jarek snapped. 'Please trolley, if it is not too much trouble, take us home.'

  Again, nothing happened apart from a small girl who wandered down the street eating an apple. She stood and looked at the boys crouching in the trolley.

  Brad frowned. 'It's not working so I'm getting out.' He began to climb out and Jarek did the same. The trolley overbalanced and Brad gave an anguished yell as he fell on the grass with the trolley on top of him.

  'Ow, my knee's grazed and I've banged my elbow. This is a total waste of time. Let's go.'

  'What about the trolley?' Jarek asked.

  'What about it? It was obviously your family's stupid idea so if you want it you'd better bring it.'

  'I don't want it,' Jarek said indignantly. 'But it must have been left here for me for a reason.'

  'Yeah right. Like maybe they thought you wanted to get some trees and plant them on the empty section,' Brad said scathingly. 'I don't care. I'm going home. Come with me if you want to.' Brad started to walk away. Jarek gave the trolley an anguished look then shrugged his shoulders and followed his friend. They walked to the footpath as a squeaking noise began behind them.

  The little girl cried out. 'Look' she said and waved her hands around. Brad glanced back.

  'We've got a problem,' he groaned.

  Jarek turned to see the trolley lurching and bumping its way across the grass towards them.

  'It must be on a slope,' Jarek said doubtfully. He strode over to the trolley and grasped the side. The trolley kept moving slowly but with great determination towards Brad.

  'It won't stop,' Jarek spluttered.

  'Maybe it will lead you home?' Brad suggested. 'Follow it and see where it goes.'

  The trolley sqeaked over to Brad then stopped.

  'What's up with the stupid thing?' he muttered.

  'It seems to want to follow you. Maybe that's because you found it,' Jarek suggested.

  'Oh great.' Brad shook his head in disbelief.

  'What shall we do with it?' Jarek asked.

  'I don't think we get the choice. I think we have to take it with us,' Brad sighed.

  Jarek grabbed the trolley by the handle.

  'Is it magic?' breathed the little girl, who had been watching intently.

  'Yeah. It's actually a death ray machine and it's programmed to eat girls,' Brad said unkindly.

  The little girl screamed and ran back down the street.

  The boys walked along toward the pedestrian crossing with the trolley. One wheel was badly buckled and it screeched with every revolution.

  'It’s a good thing we're not trying to be quiet or to not to attract attention,' Brad said bitterly, as people turned to stare at him.

  Jarek opened his mouth then shut it again. He had been about to say that it wasn't his fault when he suddenly realised that actually, it was.

  'So what do you reckon I should do with it?' he asked Brad as they approached the house.

  'Oh, I don't know. Just shove it into the garage, I guess. Hopefully nobody will notice it.' At Jarek's puzzled look he added, 'There are humungous fines for pinching shopping trolleys from places. Are you sure your parents didn't tell you anything?'

  Jarek ran his fingers though his hair in frustration. 'Look, I told you already that they told me heaps of stuff. But it was all so boring I didn't bother trying to remember it all.'

  'Maybe Fliss will have some ideas,' Brad suggested.

  Jarek scowled as he shoved the trolley into a back corner of the garage.

  'Let’s grab a sandwich.' Brad headed for the kitchen and opened the pantry. He was spreading his third piece of bread with peanut butter when he heard a metal squeak.

  'That sounds like the trolley.' Jarek opened the kitchen door then slammed it shut quickly.

  'It's moving by itself again,' he gasped.

  Brad opened the door a crack and the trolley lurched towards him with a burst of speed. He shut the door and there was a resounding crash as the trolley bashed against it.

  'I think it wants you,' Jarek giggled.

  'I don't care what it wants,' groaned Brad. There was another crash as the trolley hurled itself against the door.

  'Maybe it will stop if you tell it to,' Jarek suggested, trying not to laugh.

  Brad glared at him and opened the door. The trolley sidled slowly up to him and stopped.

  'Go to the corner,' Brad ordered. The trolley slunk into the corner of the kitchen, squeaking piteously.

  'It's like a dog,' Jarek spluttered. 'It probably wants to sleep in a basket beside your bed.'

  'Oh great just what I wanted. A pet trolley.' Brad rolled his eyes. 'At least it won't need feeding – hey! What happened to my sandwich?'

  'You left it on the bench.'

  'Well it's not there now,' Brad said accusingly.

  'Well don't look at me. I ate my own one.'

  They both turned to look at the trolley.

  'There's a bit of peanut butter on the front,' Jarek pointed out.

  'You mean that thing's actually alive? It follows me around and eats my sandwiches? I don't believe it!'

  'I think it's funny,' Jarek grinned.

  'Well I'm sure your parents didn't leave it here just to give us a laugh,' Brad snarled. 'I don't find it funny at all. Why isn't it following you?'

  'Like I said before, maybe it's because you were the first one to touch it. Maybe that activated it.'

  'We need to find a way to make it take you home. But in the meantime, I'd better stash it in the bedroom so Mum doesn't see it.'

  The rest of the day proved to be very frustrating for Brad. He found that the trolley didn't like being left alone for more than a few minutes. More than that and it started to trundle around looking for him. Jarek had the bright idea of filling it with something heavy to keep it in place. The boys dumped a pile of books into it, followed by two boxes of construction sets and the clean clothes Brad hadn't got around to putting away. The trolley stood solidly and the boys heaved a sigh of relief as they went outside to kick a ball around.

  'I think better when I'm doing something,' Brad explained to his friend. However he didn't have any bright ideas at all and by bedtime, when Fliss arrived back, he was simmering with frustration. Tea was a frustrating meal punctuated by occasional thumps coming from the bedroom. The trolley had obviously decided it was being left out of things and made unsuccessful attempts to batter Brad's bedroom door down. Brad was forced to turn his CD player up high to drown the noise. This had the effect of annoying his parents. Mrs Franklin was trying hard to be polite with a guest present and kept requesting Brad to turn the music down. Mr Franklin ignored it until he finally snapped.

  'For goodness sake, Brad. Go and turn that fearful racket off. Are you trying to turn us all deaf? We don't all appreciate the noise that passes for music these days.'

  Brad slunk off to the bedroom and bribed the trolley into keeping quiet with a packet of chocolate biscuits that he snatched from the pantry on the way past.

  'I don't know how long they will hold it,' he muttered to Jarek as he came back. 'One of us will have to stay with it until we can get Fliss in there.'

  'I'll go,' Jarek offered, 'but try and bring Fliss as soon as you can.'

  Once Jarek left the room a row erupted. Mr Franklin went on at length about inconsiderate children who landed uninvited friends on their doorstep. Mrs Franklin complained about the mess the boys had made in the kitchen and the scraped paint on the back door.

  Fliss mad a halfhearted attempt to stick up for her brother then gave up in disgust. 'I'm going to my room,' she said. 'At least it's peaceful in there.'


  'I'll come with you,' Brad said eagerly.

  'Not before you wash the dishes,' his mother said sternly.

  Brad knew when he was beaten. An eternity later, when the kitchen was in a state his mother considered acceptable, he galloped off to get Fliss.

  It took the boys a full ten minutes to explain to Fliss what had happened.

  'You were right after all,' Jarek told her. 'My parents did leave something for me. It's just that we don't know what to do with it.'

  'You say this trolley moves?' Fliss said incredulously. She stood and looked at it. 'Come to me,' she commanded.

  The trolley stood still, looking like a perfectly normal garden centre trolley.

  'It only works for me,' Brad explained. 'Come here,' he said. The trolley obediently trundled towards him.

  Fliss waved her hands around the trolley. 'I give up,' she said. 'How did you do that? Are you using magnets?'

  Brad shook his head. 'Turn around,' he told the trolley. It immediately began turning in a circle, screeching and lurching as it went.

  'What a racket. Okay, I get the picture. So what does it mean?'

  'We were hoping you could explain that,' Brad told her.

  'Of course. I'm the resident expert in magic trolleys. Don't be ridiculous. I have no idea what to do with it. I suppose you've done the obvious and asked it to take Jarek home?'

  'I tried that,' Jarek said sadly, 'but nothing happened.'

  'Well no, it doesn't work for you, does it?' Fliss said pityingly. 'Have you tried asking it, Brad?'

  "But I already live here,' Brad said. 'Oh, I see what you mean. I should ask for it to take Jarek home.'

  'Exactly. But do us all a favour and leave it till the morning. I don't know how you'd explain pushing a trolley around at night.'

  'I should have thought of that before.'