I never stopped thinking of you, though. Wherever I went, you came with me. It’s been like that my whole life. That’s why I was able to hide in the dungeon of a castle, or float out to sea in an old dinghy, or move to New York. Because I knew you were always there, keeping me safe. I was never the brave one. It was always you.

Oh, how I’ve missed you, Liv. I miss seeing your face. Hearing your voice. And then I was walking through the hotel lobby last week and suddenly I heard your voice and there you were: on the TV. My little sis and her dog called Harry. Imagine what Granddad and Grandma would say! Our Liv on the telly!

I knew then that I had to write. I hope you can forgive me. I wanted to call, but my nerve failed me. I’m on WhatsApp if you want to call me – my number’s at the bottom of this email. Or you can come to Mexico, if you feel like a holiday? There’s plenty of room and the weather is lovely this time of year. And they make the best margaritas, though I don’t drink any more, but you can have one for me too.

We’ve got a lot to catch up on.

I love you, little sis.

Josie

Stanley

Today at school they had art and Miss Hattersley, his teacher, asked the class to draw a picture of one good thing that made them happy. She said they could use paints or crayons, or cut things out of magazines and make a collage. She said it was the last week before they broke up for Christmas, so to let their imaginations ‘run wild’.

So he drew his trampoline, and Harry and Dad and Auntie Holly and the fireman who rescued him, and the bright-red fire engine that he got to sit in when he went to say thank you. Because he was in a fire and he got to climb out of a window with a fireman. Which he told Maya was really cool, when she came home from university and visited him. And they saved Harry, who showed him how to be brave so that he didn’t get that funny feeling in his tummy any more – that made him very happy.

Stanley liked drawing, but he wasn’t very good at drawing people. He was better at animals. He drew Liv too, but he made her head all wonky. She brought them a chocolate cake when they moved back into their old house, and Dad looked really happy to see her. Stanley used a red felt-tip for Liv’s mouth, because when she arrived she was wearing red lipstick, but it must have rubbed off somehow, as she wasn’t wearing lipstick when she left and he didn’t see her eat any cake.

Stanley liked living at Auntie Holly’s, but he loved his new bedroom. He had lots of new things now. A new duvet. A new train set. A new pair of binoculars. A new school. New friends. Even a new granddad. And they all made him happy. That was the problem: there were so many happy things in his picture that he couldn’t fit them all in. The piece of paper wasn’t big enough. It got him a bit stressed.