Sarah Sparrow - A Guide for Murdered Children

An Asian woman in her forties raised her hand.

“Yes, Scooby?” said Willow.

“Will there be refreshments? Like we had on the train? Will there be cookies?”

Everyone tittered and Willow shouted toward the door in mock anger. “Bumble? Bumble!” The faithful sentry sheepishly appeared from the hall. “What on Earth happened to the refreshments?” Willow posed the question in a dreadful English accent, like a demented aristocrat in mid-tantrum.

“I was running late, sir—they’re in my car. I was just going to get them.”

“Chop chop!” said the Porter, clapping his hands. All of them laughed again. “Now,” he said to the group, “open your Guide s and we’ll begin. For those already familiar with the material, it’s good to listen. Because in the Guide , you’ll find everything you need to help you achieve your moment of balance .”

One of the newbies, a twenty-something with a weight lifter’s body, raised his hand.

“Sir? May I ask a question, sir?”

“Go ahead, Marie-Claude,” said Willow.

“What is a ‘moment of balance’?”

“A- ha ,” said Willow. “The question of the hour. Don’t worry, we’ll get to it. But first, let’s read from the Guide . Would someone like to start? Who’d like to read?”

Britney diffidently raised her hand. She was about thirty, with green hair and a pierced nose. She worked for a CPA. “‘Rule Number One,’” she said, holding the Guide in her quivering hand. “‘Be good to your new body. Treat it with respect and it will return the favor.’”

“We’ll have lots to talk about when it comes to your bodies,” said Willow. “Because they’ll behave in ways that you never had a chance to experience. You’ll get some help with that—in Meetings we sometimes say, ‘Leave your landlords at the door,’ but once you leave this room , it’s important to listen to them. They had their bodies a long, long time and can show you everything you need to know.” He nodded to a sweaty, overweight woman. “Abigail? Why don’t you read next?”

They went on like that and the mood grew less heavy, the child-tenants less frightened. When he saw that too many legs were tapping and glances were being stolen toward the table where Bumble was busy arranging things, he decided that a break would do them good. He rubbed his hands together and said, “Refreshment time!” They mad-dashed for the table and there was much hilarity as they jockeyed for sweets.

Clutching glazed donuts in both hands, Abigail got the courage to approach him.

“What’s your name?” she shyly asked.

“My name?” he said blankly, as if he’d forgotten it. “Good Lord, my name…”

He clapped his hands again, startling them. Everyone turned and froze.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please! I have been very rude and I beg your forgiveness.” The awful accent was back with a vengeance. “This audacious young lady”—Abigail smiled bashfully—“just asked me the most extraordinary question. She asked me my name! Abigail, I cannot thank you enough… And I hang my head in shame before you all. I’m appalled that I didn’t properly introduce myself at the beginning of our Meeting.” They stared at him in awed anticipation. “My name is Willow Millard Wylde.” The empty expressions of the more fragile newcomers persuaded him to add, “And I am the Porter.”

After a moment of utter silence, Abigail repeated, in a gently mocking baritone (with an accent equally bad, if not worse), “And I am the Porter!” Another said it—then another—then another—as if giddily passing a hot potato. When Marie-Claude burst out with “ My name is Willow Millard Wylde, ” the other men frenziedly joined the catharsis in a mass breakout of silliness. Willow let the rambunctious chorus go on for a minute, knowing the value of burning off nervous energy. With a little encouragement, they eventually stopped the horseplay and took their seats. Suddenly they looked wary, as if they’d be punished.

But Willow only smiled, resuming the lesson in his normal voice.

Sarah Sparrow lives in Los Angeles.

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Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Sparrow

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sparrow, Sarah, author.

Title: A guide for murdered children : a novel / Sarah Sparrow.

Description: New York : Blue Rider Press, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017022133 (print) | LCCN 2017031872 (ebook) | ISBN 9780399574542 (ebook) | ISBN 9780399574528 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781524743833 (international edition)

Classification: LCC PS3619.P3723 (ebook) | LCC PS3619.P3723 G85 2018 (print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017022133

p. cm.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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