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The writer sits at her old Underwood typewriter and begins the story ... click tap click tap click tap, TING click tap click tap click tap, click tap click tap TING Hundreds of years ago, when the whole of Hanley was covered in dark forest, people used to throw a midwinter party in honour of the Sun. On the shortest day of the year they would sing and dance and feast and make such a noise that the Sun would peep out from her hiding place, and, seeing how much she was missed, would stay a little longer each day until she had turned winter into spring and spring into summer. One very hard year, when the crops didn’t grow and there was fighting in the land, everyone was so busy with their troubles that no one bothered to prepare for the party.When the shortest day came and the Sun peeped down no-one even noticed when her warm rays touched their faces. The Sun was furious and stalked back to her winter hiding place vowing not return until she was appreciated. The Moon saw this and her heart filled with pity at the idea that the people below would be in total darkness, she resolved to reflect the light of the Sun in the day, as well as in the night, until the Sun forgave the people. And so the year turned and the Moon reflected the beams from the Sun’s hiding place. Although at first the people felt something was missing no one could lay their finger on what it was and so they carried on with their lives, there was so much to worry about each day that soon they did not give the longing ache inside them much thought. Years turned to decades and decades turned to centuries and all this time the people were sleep-walking without even knowing it, distracted by daily life, forever waiting for something they couldn’t quite name. On the 21st of December 2009 a little girl called Illeana, light of the sun, will set off on a journey through Hanley to try and discover the secrets of Solstice and how to get the Sun to return...
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