All the Dear Little Animals

‘The whole world is full of dead things,’ said Esther. ‘In every bush there is a bird, a butterfly, a mouse. Someone must be kind and look after them. Someone must make a sacrifice and see that all these things are buried.’ ‘Who must?’ I asked. ‘We must,’ she said. Esther was very brave. I was little and scared. One summer’s day we started a business called Funerals Ltd., to help all the poor dead animals in the world. Esther did the digging, I wrote the poems, and Esther’s little brother, Puttie, cried.