There Were Always Guests at Home—Guests Were Practically a Permanent Fixture. Everyone Drank and D…

There were guests at the house. Truth be told, there were nearly always guests around.

Everyone was drinking and drinkingempty bottles were piling up, but there was hardly a scrap to eat. Youd be lucky to find even a crust of bread yet on the table were just cigarette stubs and an empty tin that once held sardines. Leo cast one more searching look across the table, but there was nothing.

Alright, Mum, Im off, he muttered as he slowly tugged on his battered old boots.

He always half-hoped his mum would call him back, tell him, Where are you off to, love? Its freezing out and youve not even had anything to eat! Stay home, Ill make us some porridge, clear out the guests, and tidy up. But words like that never really came from her. Instead, her words were always prickly, like thistles, making Leo want to curl up and hide.

This time, he decided he wasnt coming back. Leo was only six, but he thought of himself as rather grown-up. His stomach rumbled with hunger, and he dreamed of earning a bit of money to buy a bunmaybe even two, if luck was on his side.

He didnt really know how to make any money, but just as he was passing the little corner shops, he spotted an empty bottle poking from a drift of snow, tucked it away, then found an old carrier bag someone had tossed aside, and spent half the day gathering bottles.

Soon enough, his bag was jangling and heavy with glass. Leo could almost taste a soft, fragrant bun with poppy seeds or raisinsor even some icing, although he figured hed need more bottles for that, so he kept looking.

He wandered closer to the platform where blokes waited for the commuter trains, drinking beer and leaving their empties behind. Leo put his heavy bag beside the shop, then dashed off for a bottle just left behind. But as he rushed back, some foul-mouthed, scruffy bloke had come along. The man grabbed Leos bag, glared at him so fiercely Leo felt too scared to say a word, and just turned and walked away.

The dream of a bun slipped away like steam on a chilly morning.

Collecting bottles is proper hard work, thought Leo, pulling his coat tight and trudging through the sticky, slushy snow. His feet were soaked and freezing. It was getting dark now. He couldnt even remember quite how hed ended up in some strangers stairwell, but he collapsed near a radiator and tumbled into a deep, warm sleep.

When Leo woke, for a moment he thought he was dreaminga pleasant, soft warmth had replaced the numbing cold, and there was the smell of something delicious.

A woman came into the room with the kindest smile hed ever seen.

Well, young man, she said gently, warmed up yet? Had a good nap? Lets get you some breakfast. She told him she had found him late at night, curled up on the landing like a little lost pup and decided to carry him home.

Is this my home now? Leo asked, so quietly, hardly able to believe it.

If you havent got one, then yesit can be, she said.

The days that followed felt like something out of a storybook. This gentle lady fed him, looked after him, got him new clothes. Slowly, Leo told her everything about his mum and his old flat.

Her name was Alice, which sounded utterly magical to Leohed never known an Alice before, so he decided it must be the name of a fairy godmother.

And what would you say if I became your mum? she asked him one evening, holding him tight, just as loving parents do.

Leo desperately wanted to say yes, but happiness never lasted long for him. Just a week later, his real mum turned up.

She was almost sober and shouting at Alice, Hes my son! The council havent taken him from me yetIve every right to him!

As she dragged Leo away, snowflakes pirouetted down from the sky, and Leo thought the house he was leaving behind looked just like a white castle.

Life after that grew even bleaker. Mum kept drinking; Leo kept running away. Hed spend nights at train stations, collect bottles, buy bread when he could, never speaking to anybody or asking for help.

Eventually, the authorities took his mums rights away, and Leo ended up in a childrens home.

But the hardest thing for him was that he could never quite remember where that white castle had been, or how to find the kind lady with the fairy godmothers name.

Three years drifted by.

Leo lived in the home, keeping to himself. He loved drawingalways the same picture: a white house and snowflakes tumbling from above.

One day, a journalist came to visit. The carer showed her around, introducing her to the children, and then brought her to Leo.

Leos a good ladvery thoughtful. Its just he struggles to settle in with the others, even after all this time. Were doing our best to find him a proper family, the carer explained.

The journalist stepped towards him, smiled, and said, Hello, Im Alice.

Leo sat bolt upright, suddenly animated, and started talkinghe couldnt help himself. He told her all about the other kind Alice he once knew. His cheeks flushed and his eyes sparkled as he spoke. The carer was amazed; shed never seen him open up like that.

It turned out that the name Alice was the golden key to Leos heart.

The journalist, Alice, was moved to tears listening to his story. She promised to write about him in the local papermaybe, just maybe, the lady he remembered would read it and realise he was waiting for her.

She kept her word. And then, something amazing happened.

That lady didnt usually buy the paper, but her workmates gave her flowers for her birthday and, as it was winter, wrapped them up in newspaper. Back home, unwrapping the bouquet, she happened to spot a headline: Kind AliceA Young Boy Awaits You. Please Get in Touch!

She read the story and knew instantly it was about the boy shed once carried in from the cold, the one shed wanted to adopt.

Leo recognised her straight away when they were reunited. He flung himself at her, and they both criedAlice cried, Leo cried, and so did the staff at the childrens home.

Ive waited so long for you, said Leo.

He had to be gently convinced to let Alice go home. The adoption process would take some time, but Alice promised to visit every day.

P.S.
After that, Leos life turned bright. Hes now twenty-six, finished technical college, planning to marry a lovely woman. Cheerful and sociable, he loves his mumAlicewith all his heart, and owes her everything.

Later, once he was grown, Alice told him that her husband had left her because she couldnt have children. Shed felt utterly alone, and at the lowest point in her life, shed found Leo on that stairwell and poured all her love into him.

When his birth mum took him back, Alice thought sadly, Perhaps its just not meant to be, and yet felt utterly overjoyed when she later found him in the care home.

Later on, Leo tried to find out what had happened to his real mum. He learned theyd always rented, and that years ago, shed gone off somewhere with a man whod just been released from prison. Leo didnt look further. Why would he?