Close encounters of the scary kind

Grace picked up Neil's shoe, kissing the lace. She'd been behaving weirdly ever since Neil had narrowly missed being blown to bits by the unexploded bomb that had claimed the lives of his two closest friends with whom he'd been playing. Neil was traumatised by witnessing the tragedy and by the realisation that had he not stopped to tie his shoelace, he would've gone up with the others.

His mum's strange behaviour with his shoe, following her constant hugging and sticking like a limpet, scared him. If only he could talk to his dad about it, whoever he might be.