Free Budding Star by Annie Dalton

for Heaven?”
    I felt all the tiny hairs stand up on my arms. “Reubs! I think these kids are—”
    Then I broke off. A small boy was creeping closer, clutching two enormous stones against his skinny little chest. He stared up at me with an awed expression. “You’re so pretty,” he said reverently. “You must be from the Pure Land, like Jizo.”
    He was exactly like a normal child, except for his haunted eyes and the cold blue skin that showed through the dirt like mouldy lemon rind. He stretched out a grimy blue hand. I jerked away with a squeak. I don’t know why I was so freaked. Limbo is full of dead people. It’s virtually a dead people convention.
    Luckily Reuben is made of stronger stuff. He crouched down beside the little dead boy. “Those stones look heavy. Maybe you could put them down for a minute?” he suggested.
    The little kid let his stones slip to the ground without a word then he leaned very wearily against Reubs, and put his thumb in his mouth.
    Reuben patted his shoulder. “Are you sure the big boys have got their facts straight?” he asked softly. “You’ve really got to build a tall tower before you can get into the Pure Land?”
    “Yes, it’s a law.” The little kid had to take his thumb out to talk.
    “I don’t think that can be right,” Reuben said in the same calm, gentle voice. “Heaven is for everyone. All souls go home to Heaven just as soon as they’ve finished with their bodies.”
    The boy shook his head. “No, only some souls can go. We’re not allowed because it’s our fault.”
    “What’s your fault?” Reuben looked bewildered.
    “When you die young, it causes trouble for everyone,” the little boy looked deeply ashamed. “That’s why we have to be punished.”
    “For being dead?” I said in horror. “In what sick world does that make sense?”
    The little boy tried to smile. “Don’t worry. Soon we’ll build a really good tower, and the gods will forgive us and open the gates into the Pure Land.”
    He glanced hopefully at the children, madly piling on stones. Clack . Clack. Clack . To anyone over ten, it was heartbreakingly obvious what was going to happen.
    Poor mites, I thought, living out here in this horrible place, building towers that are totally doomed to fall down.
    I crouched beside him. Even I couldn’t be scared of a dead kid who still sucked his thumb. “Maybe we could help you build it,” I suggested.
    I heard him suck in his breath. “No! That’s like cheating. We have to do it on our own. If we cheat he’ll know.” He darted another terrified glance towards the cavern. “It’s getting dark. He’ll be here any minute.”
    I had a sudden unpleasant suspicion. “Are you sure these are gods, sweetheart? Are you sure they’re not, um, demons?”
    The little boy clapped his hands over his ears. “Why did you say that?” he screamed. “You’re not supposed to SAY that!”
    The ground began to tremble. The children scattered, screaming in terror. A gust of foul-smelling wind surged out of the cavern. The wind swirled up to the tower, toppling it to the ground with a mighty roar. A hideous figure lumbered out of the cavern, brandishing a blazing torch, and howling with rage.
     

Chapter Five
    H ere’s a little Limbo-type quiz for you. A drooling three-eyed demon is staggering towards you, saying something deeply uncomplimentary in demon language. Do you:-
    A :Run for the hills screaming like a girl?
    B : Shin up the nearest tree and hope he’ll be gone by morning?
    C : Screw your eyes up tight and pray to wake up?
    Um, not if your name’s Mel Beeby!
    For no reason, I fell on my knees among the pebbles, and started grovelling in the bag, frantically trying to locate the peach stones. What’s weirder is that Reuben actually seemed to know what I was up to! At the exact same moment we yelled, “Catch!” lobbing some of our peach-stone stash to the older kids, who also seemed to understand exactly what was going on. We all