The People on Platform 5

by Clare Pooley

She’d always believed that adults knew all the answers, and that only she was trying to navigate through life without the requisite instruction manual. But it was becoming increasingly obvious that they were often as lost as she was. She wasn’t sure if she should find this reassuring or terrifying. Was everyone bluffing?

Deborah took a Jaffa Cake from the plate David had placed in front of them, took a neat bite, then put it back down, unfinished. Iona marvelled at the superhuman display of control and restraint.