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An extract from 'CREEPERS'
by Keith Gray
I walked slowly looking at the houses. I didn't think I looked at Derwent Drive the same as most people did. I didn't really notice how much consideration number 6 had put into choosing the right flowers for their borders; I didn't notice how number 11 had a new company car and were leaving it out front for next door to admire. And I didn't have to consider for one second how hard number 12 had to work to keep up with the mortgage. That was what was good about being fourteen years old.
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I looked at Derwent Drive and I saw a complete chain of houses, twenty-five in all down the left hand side, and knew that each and every one of them had back gardens. They all had fences and hedges and obstacles. They all had challenges. I wondered about how much Cover each garden had to offer, how many Blinds, how many Dashes? How much excitement? And that was what was good about being a Creeper.
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The houses looked pretty normal on the outside; neatly-met red brick walls, trimmed lawns with the odd gnome or two, Sierras, bay windows and picket fences. It was weird to think that I'd seen all of this from the back. I knew that, although number 16 may have had pretty rose bushes in the front, they had a beaten-up and rotten VW Beetle propped up on bricks and rusting away gently in the back. I even knew that behind the huge brown gates of number 22 were some of the best pear trees in the village. And I'd scrumped a few of them in my time too. It was like everybody had a secret, but I was lucky enough to know what it was. And that meant I had an even bigger one.
Jamie was only a heartbeat behind me. Running stealthily, quietly, quickly. We made it to the fence. I gave him a foot-up, he couldn't reach the top of the fence by himself. I was lucky. I was tall.
The next garden was split by rows of vegetables, but there were no dogs. We hopped clear of the carrots or potatoes or whatever. The house was dark and quiet. I was puffing out great clouds of steam as I Dashed. Again the fence was high. Again we dropped Blind. I didn't see the pond; the water splashed loud and icy against my shins, my trainers filled up. I nearly sprawled face first as it sucked enthusiastically at my ankles. I was slowing down again, Jamie had to wait for me by the fence, half hidden behind a rabbit hutch. I got him over into the next garden. It took me all of my energy to get myself over. Automatically I looked for Cover. I needed to rest again, properly, behind a shed or a greenhouse or something. I could see a shed, but the light was on. Someone was in there; I could hear a radio playing. I hesitated, scared to go on. But Jamie grabbed my arm and gave it a sharp yank. We sprinted across the garden, I side-stepped a bird table almost hidden in the shadow of some trees. The fence banged a little too loudly as I hauled my backside over the top.
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Copyright 2001
© Actis
