PEELING REAL LIFE
Laura Hitchings, 34, from Streatham, never expected her brew to cause chaos…
Tipping ground coffee into the cafetiere, the rich scent filled the whole kitchen.
As the kettle clicked, I poured the boiling hot water to the very top.
I’d been gifted a cafetiere back in April 2019, and I always made fresh coffee for me and my mum Jenny, 63, for our regular catch ups.
Living five minutes away, Mum always came over to watch my son Arthur, then two, and daughter Polly, then five, while I cooked dinner.
They were always well behaved, but Arthur had a habit of following me around constantly.
Whatever Mummy was doing, he wanted to get involved, too.
‘You’re like my little shadow,’ I giggled at him, right on my heels as we walked out to the garden.
While Iwaited for Mum to arrive, Ioccupied the kids, playing their favourite game of Mums and Dads with Polly and Arthur in their playhouse.
With Arthur following Polly’s every instruction, I left them both to it while Ipopped inside to our downstairs toilet –only afew metres from the back door.
‘Mummy needs awee,’ I told them, and popped off.
But as Ibegan pushing open the bathroom door, ahorrific scream suddenly made me jump out my skin.
It was like something out of ahorror film.
Instantly, panic jolted through my body.
The scream kept on going and Irushed into the kitchen.
Only to find Arthur completely drenched in my freshly brewed coffee.
I’d only been gone for aminute – but disaster had quickly struck.
Spotting shards of glass all over the floor and one of our kitchen stools pushed up to the counter, I pieced together what had happened.
Arthur had climbed onto the stool and pulled the cafetiere down.
All over his body.
‘Oh my God,’ I panicked. His entire left side, from his ear to his knee, was bright red and his face was streaming with tears.
He was drenched in black coffee
Instantly, Igrabbed hold of him and rushed out to the back garden.
Huge flakes of his skin were coming off in my hands, too.
Burns need to be cool, I reminded myself.
Switching on our garden tap, Iheld Arthur under the cold water.
He wriggled and screamed in pain, but I still held him firmly there.
Where’s Polly gone? I realised –the garden was completely deserted.
Peering into the house, she was cowering around the bathroom door.
‘Are you OK, Polly?’ I called out to her.
But I couldn’t even hear anything over Arthur’s horrific screams.
Then, Mum came rushing into the garden –she had only just arrived at the house and had come rushing outside after hearing Arthur’s loud cries.
‘What the hell
