To read the story from the start go to: https://the-inkling.com/catch-up-with-the-inklings/
As Syafika walked home she couldn’t decide what kind of mood she was in. She felt excited and exhausted at the same time. She broke into a run a couple of times but had to stop because when she ran her head hurt.
Syafika kept playing her conversations with Anthony over and over in her head. She was proud of some of the things she’d achieved, like how she’d successfully hidden the bug in Anthony’s coat, but she was not proud of other things. Syafika was still embarrassed that Anthony knew she’d been snooping around in his study, but what made her most uncomfortable was that Anthony had been interested in her story about Rose giving money to the lady in the park. Syafika was beginning to feel scared that Rose really was up to something and that Anthony had been spying on Rose. It made Syafika cross to think that her mum was hiding things from her, but what worried Syafika most was that the information she’d given Anthony might end up causing trouble for Rose. Syafika had considered discussing the matter with D’arby but she hadn’t because she suspected that D’arby had been keeping things from her – Syafika thought that D’arby had been using her to find out things about Anthony for his own purposes.
When Syafika got home there was nobody there. Syafika felt lonely in the empty house and realised she’d been looking forward to hugging her mum. Syafika didn’t know what she should do next. She knew she needed sleep but was feeling so agitated that she thought it would be waste of time to try sleeping. Then Syafika realised she probably needed food so she opened the fridge to see what she could find. When Syafika took a bowl of yoghurt to her room she discovered a note on the floor and realised that Ousman must have slipped it under the door. The note said “Frogs and eggs in pond!”
Syafika smiled and realised that, that day, she trusted Ousman more than anybody else. Syafika decided to eat her yoghurt by the pond and as she walked into the back garden she listened out for sounds from Mamadou’s shed but it was silent. Syafika wondered where everyone was and tried to remember what was going on that day. When she remembered that it was the day Penny was due home from hospital Syafika decided it was likely that everyone was helping with that.
After eating a few spoonful’s of yoghurt Syafika was surprised to hear a funny sound coming from the pond.
“Bop… bop… bop” went the frog in the pond.
Syafika tried to stay still and looked carefully at the pond until she noticed a little frog face sticking out of the water near the far bank. She also noticed some froth that must have been the frogs eggs Ousman had mentioned. Syafika smiled when she realised that seeing the frog had taken away her feeling of loneliness.
When she finished eating Syafika yawned and realised it was probably a good time to have a nap.
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Syafika woke in fright. She didn’t know where she was, what time it was or even what day it was. It took her a few seconds to realise that she was at home and that she’d been woken by the sound of people coming in the front door.
Syafika stayed where she was and listened. She could hear Rose and Mamadou talking and walking to the kitchen then she heard the kettle boiling.
Syafika rushed to the kitchen to make sure that there was enough water in the kettle for her to have tea too.
“What are you doing here?” asked Rose.
“Didn’t Ousman tell you I was sick?” asked Syafika, sounding annoyed.
“No, but I didn’t see him this morning. I left before he got up” said Rose. “What’s wrong?”
“Last night I was vomiting, but I feel ok now” said Syafika. “I left you a phone message saying I wasn’t going to come home because I was vomiting too much to travel. Didn’t you listen to it?” said Syafika.
“Sorry, no. I was too preoccupied with all the other stuff going on” said Rose. “Where did you stay? Why didn’t you ask me to come and get you?”
“Lucky I didn’t ask you to come and get me, you mean” said Syafika. She felt sad that while she’d been going through her ordeal, nobody in her family had been thinking about her.
Rose gave Syafika a cuddle and said “Sorry darling. Let’s have tea”.
Syafika felt much better after a cuddle and happily sat down at the table where Mamadou had put out three cups and a pot of tea.
The Inkling 