The last time I went to see them, the stepfather was trimming a hedge. He looked at me through the garden shears and when I caught his eye, he snapped them shut.
I said, ‘Hi, I’ve come to see how you’re getting on with little Alison.’
I know that most people are not happy to meet me in my line of work but as long as I can help the children I don’t care. There was no gate, so I walked past him up to the open front door. The mother appeared, looking pale and thin.
The opening of Case Notes: Alison by Stephen Moran
An early version of this story was published in “Magazine” (New Zealand) edited by Raewyn Alexander.
Stephen Moran's Museum of Illusions 