badminton. In one corner, three children and their mother were playing with a tower of wooden blocks that must have been at least ten feet high. The tower wobbled more and more as they removed the blocks one at a time, and they cheered when the mother removed a supporting block and the whole thing came crashing down to the ground. The children all shouted, "Again, again, again!" and began reconstructing the tower to play the game once more.
In another corner, a father and his daughter were blowing bubbles. They each had a small wand and a bottle of bubble mix, but the bubbles they blew were enormous—first the size of a football, then a beach ball, then bigger than even the little girl herself. Other children ran over to see the magical bubbles, and they created giant clouds of tiny bubbles, which everyone chased around the garden, trying to pop each one.
"What happened?" Ben said. "Where did all these people come from?"
"They're just like you," Michael said. "They're the children of Hare Hill. They all lost someone close to them and they've come here to be with them again."
"I don't understand," Charlotte said. "There was no one else in the park apart from us, even when we were with Mummy. Where did they come from?"
"You might be a little young to understand this now, but at Hare Hill things don't work the same way as they do in the real world. When you woke up in the garden, you woke up in the world of the map I made. When you had set all the hares free, the thirteenth hare brought you into this world with all the other children. All of these children come here to see loved ones they lost."
It was a lot to take in. Charlotte didn't want to think about it too much. The most important thing was that they were here, with their father, and they should have fun while their time together lasted. Ben was watching the other children chasing bubbles around the garden.
"Can we go and play?" he asked.
"Of course," Michael said, and grabbed each of them around the waist. With one child in each arm, he ran head-first into a cloud of bubbles. He set his children down and all three of them joined the group of boys and girls and parents who were laughing and jumping around, popping bubbles from the almost never-ending stream the girl and her father were blowing.
Hours seemed to pass in the space of a few minutes as they played in the garden, joining in with the others and playing more games of hide-and-seek than they ever thought possible. For all three of them, it felt like they had never been apart. Two years of pain and bickering were lost to Charlotte and Ben. They took their father on a walk around the park, showing him what had happened at each hare, and he explained that he had wanted the puzzles and challenges to help them develop their abilities to solve problems by themselves, to have fun, and most of all to appreciate being with each other. That was something they had lost, and now they had found it again. But the day was now tinged with sadness. Charlotte and Ben shared the same thought, but they were too scared to ask it in case they got an answer they didn't want to hear.
What happens at the end of the day?
As they walked past the stone statue near the first hare, they heard a voice they recognised.
"So you did it? Well done!"
They turned round to see the stone face of the Guardian of Hare Hill smiling at them.
"Yes, we did it!" Charlotte said. "Thank you for your help."
"Don't thank me," he said. "Thank your father. He's the one who set your challenges. I just do what I'm told. You will come back and see us, won't you?"
"You mean we can come back?" Ben said.
"Of course," the Guardian said. "The children of Hare Hill can come back to this world as often as they like."
Charlotte said "How?" at the exact moment Ben said "When?"
The Guardian and Michael laughed together.
"As a child of Hare Hill, you can come back any time you want,” the Guardian said. “All you have to do is go into the walled garden,
In another corner, a father and his daughter were blowing bubbles. They each had a small wand and a bottle of bubble mix, but the bubbles they blew were enormous—first the size of a football, then a beach ball, then bigger than even the little girl herself. Other children ran over to see the magical bubbles, and they created giant clouds of tiny bubbles, which everyone chased around the garden, trying to pop each one.
"What happened?" Ben said. "Where did all these people come from?"
"They're just like you," Michael said. "They're the children of Hare Hill. They all lost someone close to them and they've come here to be with them again."
"I don't understand," Charlotte said. "There was no one else in the park apart from us, even when we were with Mummy. Where did they come from?"
"You might be a little young to understand this now, but at Hare Hill things don't work the same way as they do in the real world. When you woke up in the garden, you woke up in the world of the map I made. When you had set all the hares free, the thirteenth hare brought you into this world with all the other children. All of these children come here to see loved ones they lost."
It was a lot to take in. Charlotte didn't want to think about it too much. The most important thing was that they were here, with their father, and they should have fun while their time together lasted. Ben was watching the other children chasing bubbles around the garden.
"Can we go and play?" he asked.
"Of course," Michael said, and grabbed each of them around the waist. With one child in each arm, he ran head-first into a cloud of bubbles. He set his children down and all three of them joined the group of boys and girls and parents who were laughing and jumping around, popping bubbles from the almost never-ending stream the girl and her father were blowing.
Hours seemed to pass in the space of a few minutes as they played in the garden, joining in with the others and playing more games of hide-and-seek than they ever thought possible. For all three of them, it felt like they had never been apart. Two years of pain and bickering were lost to Charlotte and Ben. They took their father on a walk around the park, showing him what had happened at each hare, and he explained that he had wanted the puzzles and challenges to help them develop their abilities to solve problems by themselves, to have fun, and most of all to appreciate being with each other. That was something they had lost, and now they had found it again. But the day was now tinged with sadness. Charlotte and Ben shared the same thought, but they were too scared to ask it in case they got an answer they didn't want to hear.
What happens at the end of the day?
As they walked past the stone statue near the first hare, they heard a voice they recognised.
"So you did it? Well done!"
They turned round to see the stone face of the Guardian of Hare Hill smiling at them.
"Yes, we did it!" Charlotte said. "Thank you for your help."
"Don't thank me," he said. "Thank your father. He's the one who set your challenges. I just do what I'm told. You will come back and see us, won't you?"
"You mean we can come back?" Ben said.
"Of course," the Guardian said. "The children of Hare Hill can come back to this world as often as they like."
Charlotte said "How?" at the exact moment Ben said "When?"
The Guardian and Michael laughed together.
"As a child of Hare Hill, you can come back any time you want,” the Guardian said. “All you have to do is go into the walled garden,
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