Loner
Anthony stood at the fence and watched Lily go by, holding her mother’s hand. Lily’s smile was made of sunshine, but Anthony forgot how to smile sometimes. He waved, a little wave. There was something in the way she turned her head and peered back at him that told him she was sorry, sorry he wasn’t like her, sorry his dad didn’t look after him the way he was supposed to. Trailer trash, that’s what the schoolboys had said when they had seen Anthony standing at the fence that way. But it was alright. Lily didn’t wave to them. She waved to him, every Saturday when she walked with her mother. Anthony watched her hair swish from side to side and thought about the way her mother didn’t look at him, just pretended he wasn’t there; but Lily looked, Lily cared. If only she would turn around just once more. He kept watching until ten seconds after she had gone round the bend in the road before running back to the caravan. Next time he would not forget how to smile.