The noise was so loud that I had to cover my ears with my hands. The only other times I’d heard noise that loud was when ambulances rushed down our street or our smoke alarm went off because Daddy was burning bacon again.

There was no ambulance here though. And no daddy. Just them. Lots and lots of THEM.

I looked around me, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Everything was bright and rainbow coloured, but I only really like blue. Green is ok. I look down at the clothes Mum helped dress me in this morning. Yellow. Who thought yellow was a good idea? It reminded me of sick and banana ice cream, which is basically the same thing.

It smells funny in here too. Like cleaning products and not the nice sweet one my mummy uses. It smells like a hospital. I don’t like hospitals.

In the corner, one of them is crying. She is all alone. I feel my heart start to beat quicker. This is a really scary place.

I turn to Mummy and whisper in a small voice ‘If I survive, can I go home?’

Mummy tips her head back and laughs so loud it makes me jump a little.

She bends down so that her eyes are looking right into mine and says

‘Sweetie, you will only be here for a few hours and then you can come home.’

‘But I don’t know any of them…’

‘You’ve played with children before Freddie you have lots of cousins.’ She smiles at me and brushes my face with her hand.

‘But can you stay with me?’

‘No sweetheart. It’s your first day at big school. You will have far too much fun without me.’

I wrap my arms around her and give her a huge hug.

‘Look’ she says into my hair. ‘That girl has a dinosaur teddy. She seems sad. Why don’t you go and talk to her?’

I pull back from my mum and look at the crying girl. Sure enough she has a diplodocus under her arm. I try smiling at her. She smiles back. One of her front teeth are missing.

‘I wonder if she has met the tooth fairy?’

Mum laughs and says ‘only one way to find out.’ She gives me a little push in my back and I walk over to diplodocus girl. All of my cousins are boys and I’ve never met a girl who likes dinosaurs before. Actually, I’ve never met a girl before. But this one seems ok. I think she’s going to be just like me.