Oh, he'll be back at dinner time, we used to say about the dog.

And it's true he always was. I rather assumed that if we managed to map out Oldton, put our cards on the table, we might just lure dad back again from out of the shadows.

But now I think I've got this all wrong. We're not talking about Pye-dogs, or aliens or parasites any more. This is our loved ones. We're not waking them up or calling them back. The citizens of Oldton are being put to rest.

And what about the people we really do wake up with every day, who appear to stride towards us from the future, rather than walk away into the past? Have I been worrying so much about Oldton that I've forgotten about them? God forbid.