Chapter Fifteen

As Jo stayed home and read her cookery book

 Joshua went to the park after school and fished

 He was even successful in catching a huge trout

 When he got home he spent some time chatting with Cosmo 

 Before getting stuck into the household chores 

 When Jo got home from work it was time for her birthday, not that much changed...

 They had autumn salad to celebrate

 And then Joshua asked his mother for some help finishing the cleaning

 Jo unclogged the toilet while Joshua washed the dinner dishes

 Then she read him to sleep 

 Joshua was up before Jo on saturday morning and spent the time before she woke up playing dolls with Cosmo 

 They had leftover salad for breakfast

 Before Joshua got everyone on cleaning duty again

 Jo got quite worried when she saw Joshua asking thin air for help with the cleaning

 Cleaning dishes seemed a never-ending task

 And Jo would swear the papergirl delivered far more than one a day

When Jo had to go to work in the afternoon, Joshua went down to the river behind their house to fish 

  There weren't any leftovers left so he had some ice cream for his dinner

 Sunday morning, Jo made more pancakes for the two of them  

 When she was done Joshua persuaded her to collect the laundry in the house and go to the laundrette

 Once they were done with that, Jo took Joshua down to the graveyard to tell him about his family and visit their graves

 After hearing the tragic tale, Joshua did his best to comfort his mother

 As Jo headed off to work, Joshua stayed there, fishing

 As night fell, he spotted a ghost hovering by the family graves, going over he greeted her

"You look almost exactly like my mother you know"

"That's because I'm her twin sister young Joshua"

 "How do you know my name?"

"Because I've been watching the two of you of course, Jo is my twin after all"

"So do you know what's wrong with Mama?"

"Oh child, your mother's broken, I've told you we're twins but we were always more than that, we were never apart, neither of us could ever cope without each other, we were always too much a part of each other.  When I died she lost part of herself and I don't know if she'll ever be whole again"

 After a long conversation with his dead aunt, Joshua went home and pondered everything she'd said as he ate his tea.

 The next day was his badging ceremony at Scouts, alas Jo wasn't able to make it as she had work  

 When the ceremony was over, Joshua went over to the graveyard again, his aunt Jasmine had promised she'd be there whenever he needed her

 He told her how much he hated school, and wished he didn't have to go, Jasmine listened patiently and when he'd finished she told him that he still needed to go, the government insisted upon it and would take him away if he didn't

 As Joshua realised that there were worse things than school, Jasmine began to tell him stories about her and Jo's youth and the things they got up to.

 When Joshua got home, Jo hadn't made it back from work, checking his phone Joshua found a voicemail message from her telling him that she'd been sent over to the Science Lab to cater for a party and wouldn't be back til late 

 And it was very late by the time she got home, Joshua was already in bed and asleep

 That night Jo dreamed about the promotion she'd been given at the end of the party, a reward for working late

 The next day was Joshua's birthday, so before work Jo went shopping for a present for him 

 She couldn't find anything suitable in the consignment store, but the bookshop had a beginners guide to gardening and Jo remembered Joshua saying he wanted to learn to garden.

 She still had plenty of time before her shift started so she read in front of the Bistro until it was time to start work.

 

 After school, Joshua decided to spend his last afternoon as a child at one of the local ponds

 He happily fished the afternoon away, catching lots of fish

 He was enjoying himself so much that he lost track of time and in the end didn't quite make it home in time for his birthday

 Instead he aged up by the side of the road

 When he got home, Jo was waiting for him with his birthday present

 Then as he began eagerly reading, she made some stu surprise for them, using some of the lovely fresh fish he'd caught that day