How to Move a Hospital 5: From Sciennes to Little France

Hip-hop-hup, a flit’s coming up – the Sick Kids is crossing the City. We’ll scoot by skateboard, zoom with balloons. At Little France, we’ll hang in a cocoon until… crack-crick-split… there’s a new Sick Kids!

Illustrated by Cate James and patients

The Sick Kids Hospital arrives at Little France. She is tired after her long journey. ‘Please,’ she says. ‘May I have a rest now?’ And she closes her eyes.

Like tongues, long bandages start to lick out of the doors and windows of the old red building. They wrap the building over and over, around and around, spinning and weaving until you can't see a single stone in the wall, or a window, or chimney. The hospital cocoon hangs from a tall tree and everyone has to wait for a very long time.

One day, the cocoon starts to wriggle very, very slightly. There are some rustling noises, and then some creaks and cracks and the tree it hangs from starts to sway. A crowd begins to gather: the mice and rats from the pet shop; schoolchildren from Sciennes and from Preston Street; even some of the unicorns have flown down from Craigmillar Castle to watch. A flutter of butterflies, a kit of pigeons, the curious cats. 
The jangly loud band are there too. ‘Toot’ go the trumpets. ‘Bang’ go the drums.  Finally, like a volcano erupting, the cocoon splits open with a great roar and the air is full of sparkling fireworks.

And everyone gasps because THIS is what emerges.
Written by Linda Cracknell with ideas from patients