Little people (Short story)

While I was writing this, my mother gave me phrases every few minutes for me to fit in however I liked. Later on I edited it.



"Under the bridge, once lay a miniature city of gold, where the little people lived. They co-existed with humans, each living in peace and in their own way, though they both sealed a pact not to visit each other, in the fear that their ways of life and long standing traditions would be contaminated by the others'. This way of living did not last for long, as the curiosity of humans got the better of them, and a group of them made their way to the city of gold. The little people scattered. Since then there have been sightings of them, but very few, and lately people have been beginning to disbelieve the fact that the little people ever existed."

Augustus' grandmother sighed  after finishing the last sentence and stared into the fire, giving Augustus time to reflect on the story. It occurred to him that he ought to be looking in his back garden in case he should catch a glimpse of one of the creatures. A good excuse if his mother asked what he was doing would be to say he was picking out weeds as they didn't want to start life in their new home with an overgrown garden.

The fire crackled. Augustus jumped, shaken out of his thoughts, which was when he realised he was getting bored. He told himself it would be rude to leave his grandmother now, as he had only been sitting with her for a couple of minutes. Augustus glanced at her, but seeing that she was lost in thought, decided that it would be better to go next door to his house now, rather than interrupt her daydreams with useless small talk. Besides, they would see each other more now that they were neighbours.

The boy inched himself towards the door, taking care not to disturb his nan. There being nothing in between the doorway and the door itself, a draught was making its was into the house. Augustus felt it bringing in droplets of water that splattered his socks, and wondered whether or not to brave the weather.

The fire was starting to burn down, so he decided to stay to tend to it. Beneath the surface of this decision was a hidden desire to stay in the warmth of his grandmother's house rather than face the cold, even though his house was only next door.

As Augustus sat back down by the fire to resume his thinking, a new thought, a wonderfully cool and warm and orange and purple one floated into his mind, suggesting that at this very moment in time, the little people were not as far away as they were before.