Roger and the nurse

One day Roger was in school playing with his friends. It was a warm sunny day and teacher suggested everyone go outside to play in the garden.

Roger played on the swing, and the slide, and the bouncy ball. But he'd played with those things many times before. So he suggested to his friends Hannah and Billy that they take a walk in the field next door. Billy agreed, but Hannah was afraid to leave the garden.

Roger and Billy climbed over the fence when teacher was looking the other way. They'd often seen the field but never actually walked around it before. They started playing a game of tag.

All of a sudden the sky became dark and the sounds of their friends in the garden next door disappeared. Roger looked at Billy and they both looked back towards the school. But the garden was empty. Their friends were gone, and so was the swing and slide.

Then they both looked straight ahead. There was a big old house that hadn't been there before. Standing in front of them was an old lady. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and she looked very stern.

"What are you doing here?" she shouted. "This is a hospital. Children are not allowed here. This supposed to be a very quiet place. Go away. Go away now."

Roger and Billy turned and ran. They found themselves back in the school garden. The swing and slide were just as they were before and so were their friends.

Roger and Billy started crying.

"What's wrong with you two?" asked teacher kindly.

They explained about the nurse, and the hospital. Teacher took them up to the fence they'd climbed over. The other side was just a field. There was no nurse, and no old house.

That night Roger told his mother what had happened. She took a big old book off the bookshelf and thumbed through the pages. "Is this what you saw?" she asked, there in the book was a picture of the big old house. The caption read, "Whey Hospice, demolished 1889." It was just like Roger and Billy had seen in the field.

Next: Roger's game of hide and seek