Close Encoonter

They walk up the hill, past the hooses. In yin gairden, a wee lassie sits at the bottom o a chute. She sticks oot her tongue as they pass. Mark sticks oot his back at her; she gien him a scowl. Sin there are nae hooses, a wud on the left an a fauld on the right wi yowes grazin.

The boys blether aboot Ms Herbert. She had a temper, parteecularly when Mark was aroond. When she lost it awthegither they cawed it Herbies Goes Bananas. Cam thoucht o that, efter an auld film he’d watched wi his faither. While his faither was still aboot, they yaist tae have film nichts. They took it in turn tae choose. Dad wud choose frae his muckle collection o DVDs. The classics his faither cawed them. ET, Ghostbusters, Star Wars o course. They’d get popcorn an sweets, fizzy juice, a pizza. His mum hud chucked oot aw the DVDs. Waste o space, she said.