AustLit

I miss his arms the most. I miss being inside the magic turtle-shape Massi would make to protect me, a golden-armed green-jumpered turtle. I was safe then, his little rabbit sister, and now I will climb up the headland with Ruby and ask Gamera the Mighty to bring Massi back. I wrap Ruby in a silk scarf and tuck her tenderly in my backpack, look briefly around my bedroom, my burrow. There are no posters on my walls, no silverchair, Thorpedo or Johnny Depp, whom I secretly adore, no idols hanging on my walls, where they would have to squirm and try not to grimace at the sight of my twisted smile. Every week I send Johnny Depp a bouquet of silver invisible roses, tied with a frothy organza ribbon, but if Massi suspects that I do this, he has never said anything; he has kept my secret, as he keeps all my secrets and sorrows, safe beneath his shell. I close the door, go downstairs...

(Source: Informit)