Epiworld by Tracey Morait

tickets, four pounds for the bus, and six pounds for a one way sailing. I only have the allowance the home gives me, but I’ve just spent some of it on a cinema ticket. I’m interrupted by Sandy, who puts her arm through mine.
    ‘Come on, Travis, we’ll miss the start of the film,’ she says.
    Sandy is a nice girl. I wonder if Demi is upset about me leaving Crianvarich, and has been to the cave since. She hasn’t been to visit, although Mrs Fraser did say she would.
    I decide to steal the money for the tickets. It’s the only thing to do. It makes me laugh to think I could be killed for stealing an apple in twenty ninety-nine. Here I’ll probably just get told off.
    It’s ridiculously easy to get the money. One of the day carers leaves her coat and bag hanging on the banister in the hall before going home for the day, so while she’s busy saying goodbye to someone in the common room, I quickly rummage in her purse.
    There’s nothing less than a twenty pound note inside. I only need about ten pounds, but then I think about buying food, so I decide to take all of it. It’s wrong, she’s a nice person, but there’s no time to leave a note saying I’m sorry. I leg it back upstairs before she comes back out, picks up her stuff, and leaves. I wonder guiltily when she’ll notice the money has gone.
    I’m up very early the next morning before daybreak. The house is quiet and still. I pull my hood over my head, and run out into the rain. I have about half an hour to catch the bus.
    ––––––––
    A s soon as I arrive at Crianvarich I walk the three miles towards the beach. I bounce down the dunes, happy to see the cave is still there. The sun is rising, there’s no one around.
    I feel safe as I climb up to the cavern. I shake my hair loose of the raindrops, take off my wet shirt, and collapse on my bed, staring up into the dark cavern roof.
    All sorts of thoughts start rushing through my head.
    Barrasay, the cave, and two thousand and ten are better than the institution and the children’s home, but I don’t want to stay here forever; I want to go back to my own time eventually, back to what I know. I want the chance to stick one on Chase, escape the institution, and get back to my friends. I don’t know how I’m going to return to my own time, unless a really bad seizure sends me back.
    The only real problem is the probe. I’ll be a sitting duck once they start tracking that again. Maybe I shouldn’t wish myself back too soon. Maybe I should explore a little more of this world, have a bit of an adventure. I’m free to go where I please; I should grab the chance with both hands, leave the island tomorrow, and the cave, but I’m sure I’ll be back here one day.
    I make up my mind. I’ll sneak back to the farm when it’s dark, while everyone’s asleep, and collect some of Cameron’s old clothes. I don’t want to steal again, but I’ll need more money; I haven’t much left out of that twenty pounds. I’ll need matches to light fires with if I have to live rough. There are plenty of boxes and candles in the kitchen drawer. The Frasers won’t miss them if I take a few, and when I run out I’ll buy more.
    I’ll need more medication soon. Perhaps I could get some from a hospital. The nearest one is in Oban on the mainland.
    My eyes fix on a small stone jutting out of the wall until it becomes blurred. I don’t know whether I’m dozing off, or having a staring fit. The top of my head is warm, and there’s that golden light again which keeps following me around.
    ‘I wish I knew what it means!’ I murmur.
    Faraway the sea pounds against the rocks. I have pictures in my head, of a clean, white room, and I imagine Dr Alexander and Hudson talking to me, but I don’t hear their words. It’s like they’re willing me to return. I think I hear Demi calling my name, too. I open my eyes suddenly, shaking myself out of my daydreams.
    The swishing of the sea has died away; the tide is out. I wonder