The Long Way Round

Ava could take two routes to the Speed Cup track. The short route went down Spend Street, past all the shop windows.

Louis preferred the longer route.

Not that way!

‘I could simply not look,’ Ava said.

Last Tuesday she had stopped so often that the short route took twenty-six minutes. The longer one took nineteen.

There was a wheel to see, and trainers, and an enormous rolling boot brush. Ava liked looking.

Not that way!

Mum asked how many coins Ava had. Seven. Then Zion called that there was something NEW in a window.

Ava held the door handle. A quiet route, or a street full of things to see? The quickest route depended on whether she stopped.

The door was still shut. This morning's journey had not yet begun.