Sheds

In my garden there is a large shed. It's a replacement for one that burnt down a couple of years ago, along with my potting shed and greenhouse. I'd been working in there, taking down a shelf that was in the way as I had turned it into a games room for the boys, complete with pool table. I went out for 20 minutes, leaving Kieron's big sister in charge of the boys and came back to see flames from the back of the house and fire engines.
The fire had started suddenly and Kieron decided to be the hero...he went running up the garden, dragging the garden hose trying to put out the fire, knowing how upset I would be. Jade dragged him away and made the boys wait outside on the road, until the fire brigade had arrived.
What upset Kieron most was that his grandad's old hand tools went up in the blaze. They were left to him and full of sentimental value, especially a hand drill which he used to use to drill holes in bits of wood.
The sheds and greenhouse were eventually replaced and Kieron could go back to climbing on top of the sheds from where he had a brilliant vantage point over the neighbours gardens. Lord of all he surveyed.
Kieron spent a lot of time just sitting on the shed, throwing bits of shingle at the little girls next door to attract their attention. Often, one or other of the cats would deign to join him as he played on his Nintendo DS or Game Boy, passed down from his older brother.
Kieron would call out to us as he clambered over the shed roofs, using a well-thought-out path to get from ground to roof...onto the wall adjoining my neighbours house, swing up onto the roof and sit in comfort.
When the new shed was erected, I painted it but couldn't reach the apex on one side as by then the replacement greenhouse was in the way. So I enlisted Kieron's help. Up he climbed and I passed him a paint-laden brush. He lay on his tummy and leaned over the side, carefully applying paint to the tricky part of the apex. There's just one tiny part that he couldn't quite reach. Although he valiantly tried but I stopped him for fear of him falling headfirst into the greenhouse. It remains bare of paint, a testimony to Kieron's littleness and inability to reach out that few extra inches. I often look out at the shed now and in my mind's eye, I can see Kieron there still. Cross legged and smiling, bag of crisps in hand.