![IMG_20220221_103710_20220417123828489_20220429081137693_20220515133439426.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/felt.buzz/23xVaGY5THK2JgCh6GVB3URRHesVYnYzGukaRL8LgsogBaLJEW7CvBdQQb6w5g9FnmNLq.jpg)

It is too hot for a hat, but Mummy says Ray needs to wear it to stop him from getting heat stroke like he did last year.

When they arrived at the beach, earlier this morning, Mummy pulled the hat down on his head so hard it made his ears hurt.

“Ouch!”

“Besides,” Mummy said, stepping back to get a good look. She bathed him in a warm smile, and continued: “You look so handsome in it.”

“I think he looks like a right lemon,” Judy said, laughing then sticking her tongue out before whispering something to her friend, Kaz. 

Ray doesn’t think he looks like a lemon. 

He isn’t yellow for one thing. 

And neither is his hat. 

But his sister always says funny things that aren’t true.

But that was hours ago, and his head is so hot. There is a lovely cool breeze blowing in from the sea. It would feel good blowing through his hair.

Ray sneaks a look over at Mummy. 

She and Daddy are lying flat out on the inflatable mattress. They are probably asleep - Daddy will be snoring like a drunk bear with a cold (when Judy said that once, Mummy laughed so hard she said she nearly wet her pants!) - so they won’t notice if he takes his hat off. 

Judy is nowhere to be seen. Ray thinks she said she was going to to the arcade on the pier with Kaz. So they aren’t here to tell on him, either.

Ray pulls his hat off and drops it in the sand beside him.

Suddenly, a shadow falls over him and Ray looks up guiltily, his hand grabbing for the hat.

It isn’t Mummy, Daddy, Judy or even Kaz. 

It’s a girl. Maybe a little older than he is. She is smiling at him and he smiles back.

“You’ve got the *sparkles*!” he says. Ray has never seen anyone else with *sparkles* apart from that old woman who lived up the road from them. 

And her *sparkles* were very faint.

The girl’s *sparkles* are bright pinks, blue and gold. They almost fizz around her head. Her smile widens and the *sparkles* leap from her hair like little bunnies.

“You can see them?” she says. “You have them too, don’t you. I call them *shimmers*.” She drops to her knees in the sand beside him. “But *sparkles* are better.”

“Mummy says she can’t see them, and Daddy thinks I’m making it up,” Ray says. “Judy says I should shut up because they might take me to the madhouse on the hill.” Ray points up to the clifftop. “She doesn’t believe me either.”

“Only special people can see the *shim*-” she pauses, then corrects herself “*Sparkles*. And it’s only really special people who *sparkle*.”

“My sister says I’m special,” Ray says. “But she says it in a mean way.”

“Your sister doesn’t sound very nice.”

“She can be nice,” Ray says. “But she sometimes says mean things to get a reaction. That’s what Mummy says. Judy’s much nicer when she’s on her own. She was allowed to bring a friend with her because Daddy said she’s older and it’s nice to have friends when you’re older because you get bored.”

“Don’t you get bored?”

“No,” Ray smiles, watching the girls *sparkles* dance. “There is always so much to see.”

“Would you like to see something really special?” The little girl’s *sparkles* turn dark red very briefly. In the blink of an eye, they return to their gold, blue, and pink colours. “There’s a place full of children like us.” She smiles and Ray feels something pull at his heart. She is very pretty. “Children who *sparkle*. Wouldn’t you love to meet them?”

Ray really wants to go and meet the other children. 

But Mummy said never to go anywhere with strangers.

“I’m not a stranger,” the girl says as if she can read his thoughts. “I’m your *sparkle* sister!”

Ray looked over at Mummy and Daddy. They are fast asleep. It would be a shame to wake them. 

And the *sparkle* girl is very nice.

“Is it far?”

“No,” *sparkle* girl says. “It isn’t far. You’ll be back before you know it.” 

Red sparks erupt around her head.

“You have pretty *sparkles*,” Ray says.

The girl giggles, her face reddening a little.

“Thank you. It’s over here,” she says, pointing at a hole in the rock.

“Mummy said I wasn’t to go into the caves. People get lost in there.”

“Not us,” the girl says, her hand reaching for his. “We are always where we are supposed to be.”

Her *sparkles* mix with his and any doubts he may have had fizzle out.

He takes her hand and she leads him away from his family.

...

This is #Not-A-ZapFic. At 794 words, it is way too long!

A change from my usual 50-word stories I thought I would take one of my Humpbuckle Tales and turn it into a longer story.

This is based on the [#ZapFic50 story #HumpbuckleTales 368 "candidate"](https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@felt.buzz/candidate--a-50-word-story-written-using-the-freewrite-prompt-humpbuckle-tales-368)

Check out @mariannewest's [Weekend Freewrite challenge](https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@mariannewest/single-prompt-option-the-weekend-freewrite-5142022)

You'll find all my longer #Not-A-ZapFic stories reblogged on the @not-a-zapfic account

...

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