Short Story: Barnaby's Power

Short Story: Barnaby's Power

"Attention all units. I have the suspect in sight. On my command, fire with intergalactic energy blasts."

Six year old Barnaby stood tall, arms raised in a shoot-out stance, "I have THE POWER," the last couple of words were shouted for extra effect as he jumped down from the desk. He landed as quietly as an elephant on roller skates and flung himself onto duvets and pillows. He began to crawl across the floor commando style. A self made run-way had been dragged from his sisters' beds since the weather had made playing outside impossible.

The thunder rattled the old window frames and the rain slapped the window so hard, it sounded like nails from a hammer. Elfrida and Blossom had made a tent in the corner of the bedroom with an old fashioned wooden clothes airier and a blanket. The triangular space in the middle was big enough for both girls and they sat cuddled in beside each other. They had made the tent before the thunder, when they were pretending to be camping and had brought storybooks and their dolls with them but both of them were too frightened now to try to read. Elfrida couldn't keep still.

"Stop wriggling, the blanket will come off and then the lightening will get us." Blossom was the older of the two but her usual boldness wasn't so loud against thunder. She wished they'd played with Barnaby now, at least he was a boy, girls were supposed to be frightened.

"I can't," Elfrida squirmed again. "I need the toilet."

A rolling growl of thunder shuddered around the house and both girls screamed. Elfrida decided that she would stay under the blanket for ever and never ever go to the bathroom.

Barnaby inched across his room and out into the hall, he scuffled across the carpet and pushed open the girls' bedroom door. At floor level he couldn't see very much and reluctantly he had to stand up.

"All units this is Captain B. Hold back until you get my all clear. Over and out."

Using his mothers hair clip as a radio, he clipped it back onto his jumper and took a couple of steps to the side of the road. "All units you are clear to attack the invaders. Go. Go. Go." He jumped onto Blossoms bed, arms and legs stretched to his full height to maximise the effect of a Barnaby special. Punching into the duvet with terrifying speed, he came to the conclusion that either Blossom or Elfrida weren't in the bed or he'd flattened them to a crush. He dragged what was left off the duvet to the floor and sighed to find the bed empty.

"Elfrida, Blossom?" He spotted the make-shift tent on the other side of the room and as another flash of lightning shuddered across the ceiling, shadows of the two little girls showed beneath the blankets. They looked like a macabre caricature of a storybook monster; a large misshapen splodge rising and falling against the cream woollen blanket. He dropped down to his stomach again and rolled across the room, his laser arm outstretched. As he reached the girls hide-away, a flash of lightening hit the side of the house with such force that the old windows rattled on their frames and blew one of the small top windows wide open. The rain whipped through and the wind blew all of Elfrida's picture across the room, the crayoned masterpieces rocked and rolled with each other until they hit the wall exhausted.

Even an experienced intergalactic warrior such as Barnaby could, in extreme situations become frightened and regardless of the power of his super-duper electro-charged cosmogizer laser, he scrambled to his feet and dived under the cover. he crouched down in front of Elfrida and Blossom.

"You can't come in here." Blossom poked her finger over Elfrida's shoulder. "There's no room for boys."

"I've come to protect you. I have my super-duper electro-charged cosmogizer laser to deflect the lightening and clear the way."

"It's a coat hanger, stupid." Blossom was happy to assert her older sister sarcasm, while in the safety of the tent.

Another bang outside had the three children sticking together like sellotape to paper, but now with the addition of Barnaby, the wooden clothes airier was struggling to keep the blanket in place. As Barnaby wriggled further inside, it fell over them completely. The window latch crashed and there was a frightening sound of glass breaking. The three children screamed and frantically climbed over each other's arms and legs to get out of the heavy blanket that threatened to suffocate them. Elfrida, being the tallest managed to hold up the blanket high enough to slot it through the airier again. Dissonance was quick to erupt.

"Get off me."

"You're sitting on my feet."

"Move that coat-hanger."

"It's not a coat-hanger."

"I don't care what it is."

"Get out."

Barnaby was forcibly ejected with his sister's feet on his back until his was out of the blanket. As he stood in the bedroom with his super-duper electro-charged cosmogizer laser, Barnaby wasn't deterred, he still had THE POWER. He walked to the door before unclipping his radio hair clip. "Attention all units. On the count of three, unit one will fire energy blasts and form protective force shields around the prisoners.”

He opened the door and counted to three before closing it firmly behind him. He slipped the super duper electro-charged cosmogizer laser through the door handles and started down the stairs.

"Hi Mum." He jumped into her arms as she reached the landing.

"I was just coming to check on you," she said as she ruffled his hair, "I thought the girls might be scared with the thunder. What are you doing with your dad's coat hanger?"

"The girls are fine Mum, you don't need to go in, their pretending to be camping, and they want to be by themselves. You know what girls are like." Barnaby took her hand to lead her downstairs again. "And that is a super-duper electro charged cosmogizer laser."