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Monday, 7 May 2018

The Secret Life of my Teddy Bear

"The life of a teddy bear"
Paula's contribution:     The three little girls were taught by their mother from a very early age to make their beds almost as soon as they got up in the morning, and certainly before they went downstairs for breakfast.




The oldest, who had a room all to herself, would plump the two pillows at the head of her white wooden four-poster bed, and place her Raggedy Ann doll lovingly in the center of the pillows. A place of pride for her cherished childhood toy.

The second-oldest, who had to share a room with the youngest girl, did not have a cherished toy, so to speak. Instead, she carried with her everywhere a tattered blanket, worn and torn but well-loved nonetheless, the corner of which she would curl beneath her nose, or her chin, for comfort, as the situation warranted.

The youngest had no doll, nor blanket. What she had was her thumb. Two of them, in fact! She sucked her thumb incessantly. She sucked her thumb while she was reading. She sucked her thumb while watching television. She sucked her thumb in bed at night. She sucked her thumb on long drives, where she sat wedged between her two older sisters in the back seat of the family station wagon.  

Her mother thought she would grow out of this. But, when the youngest was 6 and still sucking her thumb, her mother decided to take action.

She coated the child’s thumb with nasty-tasting medicine. The youngest sucked, or washed, it off. She tied her thumb to her forefinger. The youngest sucked the string along with her thumb. She put mittens on the child. The youngest sucked her thumb through the wool. She sucked her own thumb in front of the child, to demonstrate how silly it looked. The youngest asked to taste her mother’s thumb. She cajoled, she bribed, she pleaded, she scolded. The youngest just stared at her mother with her huge blue eyes, and with her thumb in her mouth.

The oldest suggested cutting off the youngest girl’s thumbs. The mother was horrified at this notion. The second-oldest casually added that probably only one thumb would need to be cut off for the idea to work.

The mother turned to a psychologist, who said the youngest obviously had an oral fixation that she would carry with her all her life. When the thumb is no longer a respectable comfort as she ages, the doctor said, she will drink by sucking on straws. She will eat with her hands so she can suck her fingers clean. Either that, the psychologist said, or she will just stop one day. The mother was unsatisfied with this answer.

In time, the three little girls grew, as girls do, and became adults. The Raggedy Ann doll, dusty and missing an apron string, was forgotten by the oldest, and was eventually boxed away and stored in the attic. The blanket, in pieces from repeated washings over the years, was thrown away one day and was not missed by the second-oldest.

But the thumb. Ah, the thumb. The youngest kept her thumbs but no longer needed one in her mouth. Because she found something even better. Much better, in fact.

And now, the man the youngest chose to love and honor all the days of their lives is a very happy man, indeed.

Jackie's contribution:

Health Benefits of Teddy Bears
By Snuffles and Mika Kim
For the past century, teddy bears have enjoyed immense popularity among the young at heart. What many people underestimate is the positive effect these bears have on your health. Not only do teddy bears make wonderful sleep time companions, they are also effective in alleviating many chronic health conditions such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, obesity, flatulence, and ear wax build-up.
Contrary to popular belief, teddy bears do not only come in the colour brown. There exist black, white, red, pink, and even blue bears. However, brown is the traditional colour and is what people seem to be most familiar with. No matter what the colour, teddy bears are beneficial for your health. It is the bear itself that is the effective component, not the colour.
Studies have shown that it is the cuteness and apparent attentiveness of the bear that affects change in a person'?s health status. Cuteness depends on how well-loved a bear appears, roundness of features, and amount of fat the bear possesses. Bears that look too new (e.g. like they have never been touched) or too worn (e.g. they have bits and pieces missing) are not considered as cute as bears that look like they've been slept on for a few years, and still have all of their vital organs (e.g. nose and eyeballs). Round and chubby features are best, but if the bear is too round it can be mistaken for a ball which then renders its health effect nil.
Apparent attentiveness is an important feature, because human owners (also known as parents) of the bears tend to find comfort in the fact that their bears are listening to them. That is what helps the human to feel like their health is improving - the attention factor. Thus, if you have a bear that can't sit up or is always looking at something else when you'?re talking to them, you should find a new bear. The best teddy bears are modeled after wild bears, with the same shape and perky ears. These teddy bears can sit on their bums and look you straight in the eye while you complain about how life sucks, and their round, chubby faces deliver compassion and empathy. However, as these types of teddy bears are quite small compared to wild bears, they are sometimes mistaken for pigs, especially if they are pink in colour. One should be careful to shield these bears from hearing such comments, as they then become angry and resentful, which decreases their ability to improve your health condition.
Teddy bears are the best companions to have because they provide help in a wide range of areas. They aren't only good for sleeping and cuddling, which is what most people think. They have also been known to help students prepare for speeches, throw surprise birthday celebrations, provide therapy, and dispose of leftover honey. And, despite working so hard, teddy bears don'?t need regular baths. Actually, they don't need baths at all! You should never wash your teddy bear, as washing also decreases their healing potential. This is a fact.
In recent years, imposters such as teddy ducks, teddy dogs, teddy cats, and even teddy cows have made an appearance. Don'?t be fooled, as these charlatans cannot heal the way teddy bears can. If you want to improve your health, teddy bears are the genuine article. If you REALLY want to improve your health, you should leave some cookies out for your teddy bears. Scientists are not sure how or why this works, but it does.

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Monica's contribution

March 2018.
The secret iii'e of my Teddies.
i wouiri iike to introduce you to the magicai and secret ii{b of Bo Bear and Bruno.
Bo Bear is about 55 years oid anti Bruno about 30 years old , Bo bear is quite a iarge
tedciy bear rounci , wirh beiis in his ears and a growl sadiy over the years he seems to
have iost his growi he has a ioveiy smiiey face. And he has hati four quite serious
operations aii four pads repiace twice he was very brave especiaiiy the second time
when he was suddeniy wirisked of his iarge piiiows were he resides on the bed anci
with out a word oilvarning a huge needie was siuck inio his pacis.
iviy eariiest memory is si*ing on a sheif in a depanment store in Sutton High Street
Surrey In rhe toy departmeni. , as young as i rn'as i reaiiseri it must be Ciuisimas by tire
decorations and the music- piaying i was hoping someone wouiti buy me quickiy and i
wouiri go to a nice home be ioved anri treasured ior years , iots of te<idy's toys and
rioiis were disappearing of the sheives and my heart was begging to sink as i tiidt want
to be stuffed in a box and pui in a dark store room ior a year, these thoughts w'ere very
irighiening,
-fhe store was quire for the time of ,v-ear, anci the horrifying thoughts becoming more
reai when a nice taii man came in anci was giving my sheif a lot of attention the
assistant reached up and took a coupie of soft toys down for him to hoid and iook at
aiso a cioii very extravagately dressed i didt iike her much i haci tried to speak to her
just after midnight when we roys aii come aiive but she was so haughty she wouiti't
even answer me, no thank you i cant have the doii because I am buying something ior
our first baby that hast been born yet and in those far away rjays you di<it know w'har tcr
except , the nice man looked again aiong the sheive how did i miss that ioveiy bear
with his ioveiy smiiey iace, the assisted reached me ciow"n gave me a hug i iove him
she said to the nice man me too he saici i wiil take him, I w'as put in io a large box rviih
pienty of room , the box beauiiful wrappeci anci there i ha<i to stay untii Christmas tiay.
The excitemenr that greeted me on Christmas moming was woncierfui every one ioveci
me ihe mummy to be *-as tieiighieri with a present for thef'e unborn baby and the
grandparents to be w'ere equaily deiighted :;-u-
Cirristmas night i was raken up to the nursery a very posh worci for the iitiie box room
but is was'oeautiiuiiy decorated with a iemon and white crib aw-aiting this baby so
there i sat for a fbw w'eeks untii great joy the baby and mummy iraci arriveri home
from hospitai, anci Jane anti I became great friends she ioved me anci when she crie<i i
aiways reassured her mummy wouid be her.in a moment she i<now's you are hungry '
One day Jane anri I moved ro another room anti the Nursery was spnlced up for
another baby, this iime a boy, boih chiidren piayeci r.vith me but i dici beiong io Jane
and she was quite posiiive ab€at I was her tedtiy .
The years rglled by and I silent watcheri the joys the sorrows the iarniiy dramas iire
rows the heari breaks and suddenly jane was married , I didt move with her i stayed
with the parents and moved to their room. Anci suddeniy iife changed my worse
nightmare happened i was pui in io a box and stored for months. noi knowing whar
was happing.
AIier many monihs I was unpackeci anci put on a big bed, anci i reaiise<i iheir was no
husbanei just Jane's mum anci myseif Jane and Cari boih had their own piaces to
live how-i misseei the chiidren because i useri to taik to them at night sometimes
chastening them aboui their siii cluarrels .
However i siowiy began ro reaiise we in a very pretty iittie cottage in Keni wiiir a
iovely big garden i could see from the beci were i sat , the tears tirat were sheti at nighi
were distressing io say the iest, i missed the chiidren very much anci was very ionely,
"then one riay a iriend arrived for me whai excitement wiren were induceri to one
another and we chaned way in to rhe night he ha<i had quite an adventure zurd hati
traveiled ali the way from Canada with Jane's Liother iike me he was on a shelf for a
iirtie whiie insirie a big piastic bag can you beiier.e he toiti me he was terrified of
suiiocation aithough there lvas a tiny tear in tire bag much to Bruno reiief iane's
mother and iane had come in io the airpon shop i.o cio some souvenir shopping
because iane haci been snow skiing they hadn"t had an opportuniry beiore io shop
rogether it was mother thai saw me first Bnto u'as teliing me and she iilied me ciown
huggeri me and was saying to.iane i iove him they she put me back on the sheiino i
wanted ro scream, why Have you pur him back iane asked weii how ridicuious is thai
said her mother a women of over fiiry iaiiing in iove with a bear, bttt mum he is
beauiiiui he rvouid iook iovely iaying on your beci no perhaps a chiid wiii buy irim,
he his suoh a repiica of a biack bear and ire is so big how wiii i get him home he w'iii
go in the over head iocker Jane said looking arounri and buying gifts me holciing my
breathe please buy me and suddeniy they had paici for the gifts and waikeci out the
shop no i aimost cried out loud they joined the iine to board ihe plane suddeniy Jane
saici mum i meant ro get us a botiie of water anci she ran back in to the shop grabbeci
me off the shelve paid ior me ran back tiuough me in to her mothers arms and yeiied
so the whoie worlcl couici hear Fiappy Nelv year ivium. NIum cried i w"as indeeci
stuffed in rhe over head hoici but noi before a kind hostess took ihe bag oimy hearj
and said we don't wont your trear io suffocare up there .
So iiie joggeci on for many years and Bruno and i have become the best of frieniis soui
mates in fact we have seen many changes in this ioveiy cotiage a ielv iovers come anci
go and then suddeniy great excitement a weci<iing wili Jane's mother find happiness
again bur first we haci to go through the saddest year of Bruno and my iife"s i hari
aireariy experienced death but not Bruno , we reaiiseci something \e'as wrong as mother
was aw'ay a iot it is amazing rn'hat we bears pick up irom you humans .we
found out iane hari iiieci i was devastated how-couid this strong heaithy young w'oillen
oi 37 die the unborn baby i w-as bought for Bruno was a tou'er of strerrgth to nte over
that difticult year and once again ihe tears at night were distressing, Bruno was aiso
cievasiateci as Jane haci bought him for her mother .
Bruno comioned her as in his iaying ciown position.iane's moiher couiti cuddie him ai
nighi .and for many months our worids stood stiii .
zrncl then came the wedciing great excitemeni and much love anci happiness that
speciai day in our iives, after ihe excitemenr oithe wedding peopie coming and going
lrienrjs anci reiations from aii round the wori<i , we experienceti another period of
unsettiement where upon w.e were both stuiibd into packing cases thank goociness we
rvere together , Bruno is a bit more inteiiigent then me and he pick ihings up quickiy
he reaiiseri we were moving that's why we *ere in the packing case moving , moving
where i exc.iaimeci Bruno was quite excited w.hen he was expiaining ro me \&'ere
moving ro France irrance i exciaimed again i cant go to Franoe I have never been
sutsicie Engianti and i don't speak the ianguage Coming from Canada Bruno ciid speak
French i wiii heip you he said reassuring me .
I{e took ciays befure we Saw'our new home anci when we ciici we were noi
disappoini.ed we iove ihe house as much as the newiy weds, we have been irere in
France fourteen years now and r,l,e are still witness our rnistress joys and somows and
the circle ol'lifb we love her and w'e know she loves us.



- May 07, 2018 No comments:
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IN the middle of nowhere - story writing on the 7th May 2018




The Middle of Nowhere
Annemarie's contribution:
 It was the day after my sixth birthday. I had been outside all day playing cricket on the beach with my friends. I heard my mother call 'Garfield, Garfield, come in for supper. It's your favourite - fried chicken and calalloo."
I was home as quick as my legs would run. But this time family supper was different; there was a seriousness, but also a hint of excitement, fluttering between my mother and father. They had a big piece of paper on the table and explained that our Mother Country, Great Britain, we're offering free passage to England. Of course I knew nothing of our mother country other than her history, which we learnt about in school but Dad had volunteered to fight in their RAF during the terrible war which had devastated so many countries. He was eager to get back into the RAF  and told Mum and me that we would be helping our mother country as they had lost so many young men in the war. It would be an opportunity for her to enjoy all the modern things over there and I would go to school . What an opportunity for us all, said Dad! And Aunt Taniyah , mum's youngest sister would come with us.
I remember  so well the journey over on a ship called The Empire  Windrush. It was crammed with returning soldiers and about 300 of us Jamaicans. Our anticipation was somewhat dulled when we docked early in the morning, all grey, dreary and misty, each of us hanging onto a small suitcase with all our worldly possessions. The people in Britain were mostly in dark clothes and I already missed the sun, beach and the island's brightly coloured, patterned clothes and of course my grandparents whose house was next door to ours, but as Dad said, this was a land of promise and we would soon earn enough to travel back to see them.
Well, it was not quite as easy as that! First Dad was not accepted back into the RAF so he eventually got a job on one of the big red London buses, clipping the travellers' tickets - and Mum? Well though she had not had a job in Jamaica since she had looked after the family, two sisters and my grandparents. She had cultivated a wonderfully productive vegetable garden which she couldn't do here in south London as we had to live in three very cramped rented rooms.
Mum started work in the hospital and started her training to be a nurse.
'But things would get better,' Dad said, 'after all our Mother  Country needs us.'
Dad never did get to join the RAF but Mum did get her nursing qualifications and we did manage to buy a small terraced house in a street where most of our Jamaican friends lived. I hardly knew a white Briton except the teachers at school and in the shops. Contrary to what we were expecting when we were invited we didn't find our white Britons very welcoming, in fact they seemed resentful and as soon as one or two of us bought a house in the same street the white Britons put their houses up for sale and moved to pastures new.
'Well we have the house now and soon we will have enough to visit Jamaica and the family.' said Dad, ever optimistic.
We never did earn enough money to go back and see my grandparents before they died. In the seventies new laws were brought in and we soon discovered that life would change considerably for us and by us I don,t mean just my family. Weston, two doors down from us, was not allowed back into the country after a hasty visit to see his dying mother and then attend her funeral. Weston had lived in Britain for thirty-six years, paid his taxes, paid his rent and raised a family. It is now thirteen years since he has seen his daughter.
The first hint of our problems regarding our British citizenship came when Aunt Taniyah had to go for an operation. She had already had one operation under the NHS and now was to have a second with chemo treatment to follow. As she had no proof of landing papar, passport etc. she was denied the treatment under NHS and told she would have to pay the cost herself. Where were we to find money like that? Why had we been paying our taxes? Then the government brought in new laws as the white population raged against the 'immigrants taking over their country'.
The hospitable invitation in times of need had become a hostile environment.
My turn came when I applied for a job teaching history in a local school but I had no papers and no passport as I had come with my parents at the invitation of Britain with the promise of everlasting citizenship. We did not know that in deep the Home Office vaults  someone had shredded all our landing cards which proved when we had come into this country.
'It will be alright, 'my father said, this has been our home for the last forty years.;
So much for his conviction - the next thing I knew I, his only son, was about to be deported back to Jamaica, a place I did not even know and have not seen for thirty-six years. The home office was even so good as to give me a leaflet which offered  a list of dos and don’ts for people being deported to Jamaica, including the tip: “Try to be ‘Jamaican’ – use local accents and dialect”. It advised deportees that “overseas accents can attract unwanted attention”.
“How exactly can someone pretend to ‘be Jamaican’ when they are British and have lived here all their lives?” 
'I'm sure things will turn out right in the end,' says my ever trustful father.
 So here I am in a foreign place, no passport for Jamaica and no wish to live there and not wanted in Britain. And I wait month after month  in this crowded land for Mrs. May and her government to sort things out but in reality I'm in the middle of nowhere.     

Paula's contribution:

In the middle of nowhere, I found everything that I had been looking for.

My journey to the middle of nowhere was literal. It required a 17-hour flight, then a five-hour flight, then a two-hour flight, then a three-hour ride in a four-wheel drive vehicle built to navigate rocky strip mines.

When I left New Orleans, I could point to where I was going on the map. But I was lost. I felt like I needed to take a leap of faith. Traveling to the other side of the planet seemed like as good an idea as any.

The invitation came unexpectedly, from a close friend whom I had known for more than 20 years. I adored him – but with the care and distance that men and women do when they are married to other people. Which is to say, I knew him well, and not at all.

One morning the phone rang, and I smiled when I saw his name on the screen. “I have to go to Australia and do some work, but then my friends and I are going into the Outback for a week .... Why don’t you come down and meet me?”

Come down, like he was just downstairs waiting. Not “come down to the other side of the world, to a place you’ve never been before.”

Yet his timing was impeccable. I was unmoored in my life, and he knew it. My marriage had failed, and I wasn’t sure why. I was alone for the first time since college, and unsure where my life was headed. He was divorced, too, but had been on his own for longer, had seen other people, seemed contented.

We knew each other well enough for me to believe that when his invitation came, he wasn’t necessarily asking as a friend. I was surprised to find myself happy about that. I only took a moment to decide.

“OK,” I said. “How do I get there?”

As I walked off the plane in Perth after 22 hours in the air, he was waiting at the gate. When I saw him, I could see that he had tears in his eyes. So did I. He reached out to hug me, and for the first time in months, I could feel oxygen in my lungs. Finally, he pulled away, looked down at me, smiled, and said: “Come meet my friends.”

Bill and Sean were waiting at the top of the concourse. I did not know then that his friends would become mine, so important and dear to me. But they greeted me like I already was, to them. That said something important about the kinds of friends he had.

After a night’s sleep, I was still jet-lagged. But we were up at dawn for another two-hour flight, to an airstrip that served one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Paraburdoo was a mining town through and through. But it was also the gateway to Karijini National Park. That’s how we ended up in a rented Toyota Land Cruiser with flashing yellow lights and a tall orange flag on the back, streaking through the red clay roads of the Western Australian outback.

Our destination was an “eco-resort” in the middle of the park. It was a step up from camping, but at least one down from a comfy hotel room. Which is to say, it had a real bed, but in a wood-floored tent. Running water, but a bathroom open to the sky. A flush toilet, but one that you needed to keep closed, lest the frogs get to know you intimately, from below, in the middle of the night. If you know what I mean.

Sean couldn’t make the trip, but three more new friends, Michael and Amy and Greer, joined us. They welcomed me with the same openness: You are a friend here. You are accepted. You are safe.

That first day in Karijini, Bill had arranged a small bus tour with Baz, a garrulous and friendly Australian who had lived in the area his whole life. Baz showed us several of the beautiful red sandstone canyons and gorges, the waterfalls leading into them, the cold, deep lagoons at the head of each cleft. Fortified with this lay-of-the-land overview, we retired to Bill’s veranda for cocktails and sunset amid the stark beauty of the landscape.

As the shadows lengthened and the vodka started going to my head, I said goodnight and retired to my cabin. As I drifted to sleep, I was thinking about how amazing the day had been, about how much I had enjoyed his closeness to me all day. And I couldn’t wait to see what the next day would bring.

I awoke in the dark, disoriented in that way you are when you’re far from home. I did not know how long I’d been asleep, and I was unsure what had awakened me. Then I heard his voice: “Are you awake? Come outside. I have something to show you.”

I could see a small circle of light just outside my tent cabin, where he was shining his flashlight on the porch. I dressed quickly against the night chill, and came out to find a blanket stretched out on the ground, in the open a little way from the porch of my cabin. I was a little nervous.

“I want to show you the sky,” he said as he led me to the blanket. We lay down next to each other, not touching, and I looked up.

What greeted me was a field of stars like nothing I’ve seen before or since. The sky was brilliant, full, unfamiliar. But the thing that took my breath away cut right through the center of the blinking black, from the horizon all the way past the zenith. It was like a giant sideways mouth, filled with stars, but also clouds of light, and streaks of color, glowing red and blue.

It was one of the most stunning things I’d ever seen. “My God, it’s beautiful,” I said.

“That’s what the Milky Way looks like,” he said, “when you go somewhere where you can really see it.”

We lay in silent wonder for what seemed like a long time. The only sounds were the light rustle of the breeze in the trees, our breathing, and my heart pounding in my ears.

Then with a small catch in his voice, he whispered, “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you decided to come.”       

I reached for his hand at the same moment he reached for mine, finally crossing the boundary we had held between us for so long. Here in the dark, 10,000 miles from New Orleans, lying in the middle of nowhere, I knew that I was finally home.
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Jackie's contribution:
Three men blocked the path of Miss Mary Hay who was on her way to start a  missionary station in East Griqaland an area of South Africa.   One man was extremely tall  and the other two stood stocky with bulging muscles shining, melting in the scorching heat. They stood like trees swaying gently in rhythm to the heat waves,  shimmering and radiating like a hazy mirage.
 All three were black as coal their bodies glowing and glistening with sweat the white of their eyes like stars on midsummers night.   Faces scarred and marked by tribal traditions.   Feathers, beads and necklaces, bracelets adorned their heads, ankles and wrists like turkeys trussed for Thanksgiving - the middle man held a  sharpened spearhead which reminded Mary Hay  briefly of the ones she had studied in a Glasgow museum a few months before coming to SA as a young 23 year old missionary girl -  he pointed the spear towards her  as if she,  a slight Scottish lass on her quest could be a threat.   They advanced together gesticulating, intimidating, pointing - menacing    -  she must have wandered onto forbidden territory. 
Alone in the what seemed like the middle of nowhere Mary Hay had arrived to spread the word of her God through the United Free Church of Scotland by holding  classes for native women.    Most of whom had never seen a white person before.     Sent to help spread her faith but most of all set up missionary schools and chapels  to spread the light of her faith.   

…she shuddered and shifted slightly in her saddle, her horse sensing discomfort  stepped back two or three paces flaring his nostrils with a scent of the unknown but the men advanced slowly,  one of them pointed to the ground and mumbled in a language she couldn’t understand.    Her horse reared and she fell,  bruised and shaken  - looking up she saw a dark face staring down at her with spear raised - she watched as he lifted his arm and she could feel the rush of air as it  hit target - was this to be the end of her journey before she had really started?   She felt herself being rolled into the dirt and then a cry of triumph from all three men as one of them lifted up with his spear a 5 meter long snake still writhing in his grip.  
In a split second he beheaded it split it’s belly down the middle with his blade and turned it inside out - scraping and cleaning it with nearby cottonwood branches …There were broad smiles and laughter all round as Mary Hay brushed herself off and the three men came over to shake her hand .   Welcome to our village Miss Mary Hay.
The villagers were lined up on either side of the dirt road    Singing and dancing, colourful clothes, drums beating, children running up to meet her. Hands outstretched in greeting -   Mary Hay was met with excitement.    It was an honour for a village to receive a missionary;   a prestigious gift and everyone was so proud to be the first to see a white woman among them.
My great great Aunt -  Her very first African adventure.

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Monica's contribution:   Typed on another typewriter so some of the words are mixed.

In the Micidle of Know where
Rebecca iiever tii.ed of watcliiiig botli tiie Set tiiig air,i tiie i'isiiig or"ilie
suii eveil after aii ihese Jvears uf iiviiig in her littie Croft in tire iiii,i,iic of
Know-wlere , SLre was an oid iady now and tende,i to relive heriifb
sitting watching the Suii Sipping irer= \'vhiskey if it was evetring time.
Liie at'rlie beggirg wasn't eas) or-r this croft she was a Lontiorrer wiih a
iit'r.le money it took a long tiine for'her to'oecotne excepted in to tiris hard
brutai way of iife, to go back'ro London woul'i have l:een a faial faiier'
fbr Rebecca eveii itio\ iltg io a Towtt in Scotlan,J, wlricir slie had
corrsi,Jered at orre poini in her time here -would also ltavc been a faiier in
her eyes , Rebecca rtevel' faiieti at anytliing slie sct ltei' iitiiid too .
Aftei her iiusbarrd irad ,iie,i in a ,irurtketr Accideut aiong witir flcur of iris
Ri;gby ivfates Ret-recca took a long irar=d iook ai iift irerself and her job
ihe ilrree other widows had remarrie,j ovet'the yeal's exchanging orre ricli
irusband ior a richer one , because her husbands deatir couirJ have beert
avoide,i iithey all w=eren't so ,irunk it took her a loiig tiine to con-re io
tenns noi only her grief but this catastropire iiie charrging event '
Charles arli Rebecca were one of 'uhese dreanr couples aird wet'e a soiid
togetlier-on the sarne wave iength an,i woul,i have beeii the sort of couple
iii tlieir oid age as soul niates .
The iuxurl flat became soulless and i'r was quickiy ren'red out atl,i herjoi:
ai a sinall finance cotrlpaily slnall by 'r.;,3ay's stanriarris becaure fileaii
less so after movirrg oui in to ihe coutriiy sire left lier jo'o, fbr' ihe nex'i
fb-w non'rhs slie ina,ie soil1e quiie serious iinprovemenis to the coitage
she ira,J bougirt when corrrpieted sire iei it out aud wetrt traveliing not
abroa,i btii tire irigir larrds an,i lowlatiris of Scotiand an,i iiris is wtrere slie
siumble,i across tiris iittie croft . i'r wasn'i love at fir"st sigirt she triade
enquires and rented a rooni a few iriiles away w-ltere she walke,i to it nros'r
l^_-_ uaJvs
Clofting is a srnall scale Sustainabie agricuiiure some oithe crofter kepi
Goais or sheep or cows but Rebecca di,iii'i watrt to keep atlitnals she
warrte$ to Carden on a small scale herbs planis that would grow in'uiris
Hais[ etivirorriiieiii and clo Toui'isnr iioi on a lai'ge scale, the cr:oft was in
e1
tl.re remoie nor*rlr westerly islar.rd of Sco.ularr.j two 'u*, "*',l'
,-,.0
before yor,i evell irrrJ ir1. place how Rebecca s-rut-nLr1ed upon tiris she
doest reai reaily;.;*] p..r*pr I i;rt *"t the road less tt'aveile'. sire says
AcrossthewhoieofScotiancithereareiTthousaniiscroftsmost
abandoned ihese rlay sorne ,tot *o'ittcr at ail o'uhels jtrst have'oeen
bougirt by rich tu"io*"tr and iurtre'J in to holiday reutals'
CroftinglrasasetofRulesan.Jreguiatiotrlthat,JatebacktotiieiS
hundre,is an'J you have 'r'o be app'"outd Rel:ecca trow day dreairring
re1-reillbers'rhe nightrrrare oijur-nping tiuougir all tirese hoops ' t-ru'r
;orrrP.,J througir thetri sire did '
Her croft is beautiful an,J stili so well *rai*taine'J 'uhe ou'r b-tiiidirrg which
s'e co*ver*red trto a iuxur-,v studio it att.actetJ l'ore irrteres'ting peopie
ihan just ti,- urout ianriiy iroli,iayl *uk.., +li:,, ivri'uei:s an,i loneli soul's
looking ior trea-uty irr t#".. qldr-oi course f,ild rr atcher's she -was iir arr
i,Jeai spot witir a goo,J pair of binoculars -uo,i hei iittie irili she could see
the migr-ating Vvtales '
Rebecca iea,rt the mc,orjs an,j'rhe w-eather chatrges artrj e\ eil iila'ie
fi'ien,Js, rniles aw-ay of course it sadden her io think the lLeii Coiite IS itt
ihe crofting ,Jor;,rrrity are ali ove.65 weaitfuy retire to irre peace arrd
qui-re arid spen,J ihe wirrters irr w-ar-rner clinraies, atrother tiiirg iiLa:
*d,r"r. hei is the rise in Alcohoiisil it is a huge problern irr the crc'ltLrrg
cointnutrity
Rebecca ,jeatli rr,as repofted ir-r'r.he locai llewspapers the L,ltrdorr croft
lIa u1y url'c s a_B--s.u9:.
_______________________________________________________________________________














____________________________________________________________
Angela's contribution:


Well, they had wanted to be in the middle of nowhere Laura thought, as she stared at the rain falling steadily and heavily and augmenting the quagmire that had already formed outside the shelter. The glutinous liquid made  going anywhere treacherous in the extreme. It sat in the trough already formed by numerous exits in the two months she and Will had been living in this temporary and very basic accommodation honed mainly from wood and tarpaulin.

Actually, had she really wanted to be so isolated, or had she been carried along by Will’s enthusiasm to create a hidden home amongst the wildlife which he photographed so beautifully and entranced the many who saw his exhibitions, often buying a print to hang in their warm civilised domesticity. An antithesis to the environment that very bird, insect or creature inhabited.

Laura knew how talented Will was and how much it meant to him to try this venture into the unknown.Her own artistic skills meant that often she could use his photos to recreate the creature in embroidery, taking pleasure in searching for the skeins of silk in colours which almost accentuated those of the feathers or fur or scales of the creature she was working on.

Now, more of their time was taken up with building a retreat in which they might live but also perhaps later with accommodation for paying guests to share this ‘back to nature’ experience for just a short while.

Selling their suburban house to fund all this had been a giant leap of faith or maybe madness Laura was wondering at that moment.
She could hear Will hammering away and knew she should  be out there but for the moment her limbs refused to move.
She wondered how much their basic provisions had gone down in the last week. Such was the isolation of this place that Will had arranged for stuff to be airdropped by a friend until he was able to cut back and flatten an area suitable for a helicopter to land.
She and Will had travelled here the long way by road, then boat and lastly just trekking through the lush undergrowth, in which they were now ensconced.
As she sat, lost in thought, she heard the distant familiar thud of helicopter blades. It was too early for the food drop  but as the drumming became deafening she looked out to see a small package parachuting it’s way to earth . At the same time the helicopter was already starting to recede into the distance. As she saw the package land Laura scrambled to retrieve it from the mud. She saw it was in-fact a well sealed bulky brown envelope. She grabbed a knife and cut along the top seal removing if from its wet and muddy plastic outer coating. From the envelope within she drew out a formal looking letter with a world wildlife  preservation heading.
Mystified she scanned the contents and with disbelief,began to realise that this was a formal document of accusation against Will. They were talking about dishonest photography.. Of cruelty to insects and the possible use of stuffed animals or trickery in a photograph. They could not be talking about the man she knew who had such a passion for creatures and the capture of a moment in their lives preserved for ever in film.
As she pondered  how and if she should tell Will he came head bent into the shelter.  He’d heard the helicopter and was curious.
Laura acted from instinct and handed the letter to him with a questioning look of disbelief.
He scanned the contents and his face told her at once what she had refused to believe.
He did not deny anything exactly but assured her that he did not feel he had done anything illegal.
Laura, too stunned to think clearly could only wonder how this might impact on their whole project, in-fact their future life together.
Her instinct was to retreat into her own head and not to listen to Will’s protestations of innocence and self justification.
As far as she was concerned she had been living a lie. Embroidering images based on deception and dishonesty, not to mention animal cruelty.
Then, through the haze of Will’s protestations she began to realise just exactly why Will had been so keen to retreat into anonymity.
He actually knew that his  work had been noticed and scrutinised and found in some cases to be untrue and impure in terms of honesty.
She felt as if she was falling from a cliff, leaving the solidarity beneath her feet and heading downward through the rushing air.
Then she was aware of Will taking her by the shoulders and shaking her as he spoke, the words not registering just his roughness. She was still holding the knife she had used to open the parcel and as she brought her arm up to shove him away the knife sliced across his throat. Suddenly it seemed that he was smiling ,a big red smile, but blood was coming from it as he crumpled lifeless to the floor.
What was she to do there in the middle of nowhere.



- May 07, 2018 No comments:
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