The Hug Hover

For all children new and old

By Debra Wade

My first ever publication of this so illustrations & comments welcomed......

The Hug Hover

Time upon a Once, there was a Hug Hover

who was as young as the hills are old and could not see or be seen, as it was Invincivisible.

(that's invisible and invincible for those who don't speak Hover)

It felt round, ssssoft purple grey, smelt of ginger, drank water, kept a belt it never wore, was fluffy and very flexible.

If it had had eyes - (which it didn't) they would have been the colour of the day beside the sea

and even though it had inside out magnetic ears, it could always hear a child who needed a hug.

And finally, being very special, it became the same age as all the children it hugged,

an odd 1,3,7 or even forty four million, forty eight hundred, plus 89.

A Hug Hover's hug could round zig-zag corners, bounce softly over roofs, slither under doors,

melt through stained glass walls, hoover slooppily up tubes - in fact, go just anywhere.

The Hug Hover's only purpose was to have fun taking care of the child inside - and this is how it did......

At the centre of the Hug Hover's hug there was an elastic whole

where one child could be held suspended and totally enclosed, touched by nothing.

The whole could even stretch big enough to encompass a crowd of their friends too,

with their friends friends, their friends friends friends, their friends friends friends friends

and so on ....until Hug Hover time stretched to infinity and just a little longer.....

It was a happy hugger, so with each new child,

the Hug Hover would grow pink-tipped like the gills of a newly picked mushroom.

Any age child could go to the Hug Hover when it needed a special Hover Hug.

But, you ask - if it was invisible, how could you get there ??????????

Well, it was always there of course - you just had to shut your eyes and listen carefully for it...............

If it was far away you would see its silent hug song resonating like crystal mandolin rainbows tapping together.

As it came nearer you could smell the colour ginger and if you looked really, really hard, sometimes you could spot its potty purple, soft grey stretch marks on the windows or see where its magnetic ears had scratched inside out on the fridge.

When nearby, it might even make you jump, as the sound of its hug banged into corners, plonked on the bed or bumped gently at your knees leaving funny large fluff marks where the biggest plasters used to be.

It especially liked to hug boys & girls who sucked their thumbs, said I want, asked why, had messy beds, dirty teeth, mussed up hair, no friends, got very cross with adults for saying no and those who got up too soon (before the owl slept).

It also had extra hug room for Pink Bear, blue wiggly elephants, guinea pigs and all the soft and hard universe of toys where you never had to tidy up or stop doing something until you said you were ready.

The laugh that the Hug Hover gave when it heard certain special words, was soooo big, that it would invince (that's chase) away all the bad dreams, angry mornings, horrible colour uniform, hurry up we're going to be late times and all all ALL the other things you hated. From the beginning, just by kiss to mouth, each child always knew how to say the most special things, ever so, ever so slowly quickly, until they tickled the Hug Hover pink-tipped for a very long time.

The words that had made it laugh most on the Once that particular day, were from a three year old who said - 'I know everything you need to know, before you know you need to know it' (and she did too) Did they make you laugh as well ?

Anyhow, as the Hug Hover and Once set off for home (and that's another story), boys & girls who were hover-hugged came out surrounded by drifts of gingery purple smiles that followed them like waves. Children who were still hug wobbly, were given a piece of the rope of clothes that families share, to hold firmly until they were ready to begin standing again.

And because the Hug Hover was never empty, the last child inside still knew that the hug you give, returns to you.

COPYRIGHT DEBRA K. WADE 2007

These hugs are around in memory of William Franklin-Johnson

and for Kirsty, and especially those yet to be born.

With thanks to Fred Wedlock for being Invincivisible.