Baby crying.(Short story)

The summer I'm six is different. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I know I have to go to school soon. I stand by the window watching the sparrows playing on the lawn underneath the sprinkler.

"Once you're at school, you'll find out," says my mother. "You'll find out what's what then."

Before she can say anything else, Charlotte interrupts her. "Oh, don't tell her that, Deirdre. You'll scare her."

I turn around but I don't say anything. My mother gets angry if I say too much. It's different for Charlotte. She can say what she likes. She isn't afraid of Mum. She doesn't have to be. Mum isn't her mother. Her mother married my father a long time ago but then she went away and married someone else. Sometimes Charlotte goes and stays with them. I don't like that. I lift my chin. Charlotte's my sister. She belongs with me.

Mum's mouth goes tight. "She might as well know," she says. "School'll be a shock to her. She's spoilt here."

"Oh, Deirdre, I don't think ..."

Mum gets up from her chair and goes over to the mantelpiece. She picks up one of the ivory elephants my father brought back from India. Her voice changes. "School ruins your children," she says as if she's suddenly got very tired. "Everyone knows that it takes them away from you. Wait and see. It'll change Zayley too. It'll make her rude and full of herself."