Little Urchin Sister shivers. 'S cold, she says. Eyeball Kid takes off his woolly hat and gestures her to come close. His ears are crimson and twice their normal size, and they radiate. Sister blinks as the wall of heat crashes into her, her big indigo eyes watering a little. Eyeball Kid has a heating problem, he is top-heavy, and his feet are clumsy lumps of ice. They crunch and crack in his shoes when he walks. His eyeball strings are slung over his shoulder, and his left optic ensures the siblings aren't the victims of an ambush. He fights the temptation to put his fist into his eye-hole, just to see if it fits. He's scared he won't be able to get it out again.
Tell me a story, Sister says.
She's annoying, Eyeball Kid decides. She's dumb and she's little and she's always asking me things.
Okay, he says.
There once was a rabbit named Amos. He grew up in the deepest, darkest burrow in the land. On the surface, an army of marching Jaws, snapped and gobbled up any rabbit who ventured up. All the rabbits were very frightened, and got hungry and cold and very sick.
What did they do? Sister sniffled wetly then wiped her nose with her long, crinkled sleeve.
Well, all the rabbits tried to burrow their way up, but they couldn't find any safe place, so they were trapped. But Amos went the other way. He kept digging and digging downward, and all the other rabbits thought he was crazy. Then one day, a long way from the other rabbits, Amos broke through the soil. He hopped out onto the surface, and at first it felt funny, upside-down funny, but after a short time it felt perfect. It was nightime, and the moon was so big and close, Amos could feel its soft, warm breath. And the other rabbits eventually made their way down the tunnel too, and they were delighted they had found a safe place to live.
Did they say thank you to Amos?
No, because when they got there he was gone. Only the warm, yellow moon was there, smiling at them.
What happened to Amos?
He wasn't a rabbit anymore. He found the way. So now he rides across the sky in a chariot and making sure the Moon keeps the other rabbits safe. And now he's called Soma, the upside-down Amos. As long as he's up there the Moon will look after them all.
Is Soma up there now? Sister asks, peeking around the bridge overhead.
Eyeball Kid shivers, his ears grow even hotter, and he tells her Soma is up there, looking out for them.
Maybe we can go home, if the Moon is good and won't eat us up? Sister asks.
Okay, says Eyeball Kid.
They move out from underneath the bridge, and Eyeball Kid screws his woolly hat onto Sister's head. The Moon is good, he tells himself. The Moon is good. He plucks his Eye-wires with tense fingers as a trillion angry stars stare down. They glower and grow closer and he can feel the violence coming soon, the shards of exploding crystal ready to fall and cut and tear them to pieces.
The Maternity Hospital is now miles to the left, the Cemetary miles to the right. Eyeball Kid takes Little Urchin Sister's hand and squeezes, and his feet crunch and crack in his shoes as he walks.
