What the night brings
The CBB -> Ste Therese's House
#1: What the night brings Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 11:14 pm

*takes a deep breath*

Reason tells her- she is dead, she is dead. I am dead. She says it out loud, hears her own voice and her world collapses. She is in the dark. Something beneath her is hard. Something is digging into her hip, painful. Something stings her hand. Noise. Hard. Pain. This is not death. Surely, surely this cannot be death? They said in school… Mademoiselle told her… what was it… something about light… light? What- what was that- a thing… a thing she knows, or knew. Light- she used to know what that meant, it wasn’t like this, it was… was… And there was something more. What was it? Mademoiselle had told her. She believed her. She loved her. Mademoiselle. That was it. If she could find her, if she could ask her… she would remember, she would know. And she wouldn’t be dead, or maybe she would be but she wouldn’t be like this- death isn’t supposed to be- not like this. Where is she? Why… why can’t she call her? She spoke, just a moment ago. Hours, hours here. Darkness. Pain. Something hard beneath her and she can’t move. What is holding her? What is it, who is keeping her from Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle who needs her. She must get to her, must move, must... do something. She struggles in the bonds she cannot see, getting hotter and hotter. So hot. Where is it coming from? A fire. Beneath her, blinding her, choking her, swarming, reeling around her, scorching, suffocating… and just beyond it…
She steps forward and a hand drags her back.

“Cornelia!”
Cornelia woke with a sickening jerk. Nurse’s hand grasped her shoulder firmly, held her down in the narrow sanatorium bed. She drew a long, gasping breath.
“What… what?” She managed to struggle out.
Nurse released her shoulder and helped her sit up, then held a glass of water to her lips before she answered.
“You had a bad dream, dear. You were… shouting. You had got tangled up in your bedclothes. Now don’t worry. With all that has happened over the past few months it’s to be expected. You just sip that and get your breath. I’ll mix you up a nice dose of hot milk and you can settle down again.”
As she spoke, the experienced nurse who had followed the San from the Tyrol to Guernsey, straightened the covers and smoothed the sheets with a few deft, sharp twitches. She gave Cornelia a cursory pat, intended to comfort, as she bustled off to prepare the promised milk.
Alone in bed, Cornelia closed her eyes again and saw another flash of fire. She blinked them open, gave the sparse cold room a despairing glance and allowed them to fall shut once more, forcing herself to endure. Rather the fire. Sleep creeps on again. Only a dream. And Mademoiselle… out of the reach of her help. And what was it Mademoiselle had told her?

Something, something about light… she would know, Mademoiselle would tell her. She was somewhere near… somewhere…

 

#2:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 2:47 am

Oooh, new drabble! Smile *huggles Corney*

 

#3:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:20 am

Ooh! A drabble about Corney. Great.

 

#4:  Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:29 am

I'm worried. I think this is after Corney gets burned rescuing the airmen. Mademoiselle is dead by then. Sad

 

#5:  Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:45 am

This looks intriguing and very promising!When can we have the next bit, Mora?

 

#6:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:50 am

*hooked already* Can we start chanting yet?

 

#7:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:30 pm

Like this, very emotive stuff. :crying: Hope to see more, will if follow Corney or give us the dreams of other girls (guessing from your subtitle)

 

#8:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:31 pm

Oooh very interesting beginning and yay for a Corney drabble!!! Very Happy

 

#9:  Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:38 pm

Oooh, very interested in what this is going to turn out to be. A Corney drabble, a various dreams drabble. Either way. megaphone Please may we have some more? JackieJ

 

#10:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:55 pm

Most intriguing, Mora, looking forward to the next part.

 

#11:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:15 pm

Carolyn and JackieJ guessed it. Thanks for the shiny feedback. Smile

I am walking, up in the mountains. I am higher than I have ever been before. I feel heady with the height of it. When I look down, I am looking from the very roof of the world, God must be very near me here. I can see the school, so quaint, so homely, far far below me, a mere brown speck. Up here, it doesn’t scare me at all, I laugh at my nerves. I am confident, graceful, articulate, in command. My laugh sparkles and tinkles in a thousand fairy echoes, repeating back to me, laughing with me. Everything echoes up here. I can see the lake, a flash of silver further below. A coin catching in the sunlight. This does not agree with geography. It doesn’t matter; it is right. I am sure of it. Up here I am sure of everything. If I let go, I would float. If I jumped, I could fly, swoop down over the school and peer in at the windows, watch her teach, watch her sleep. She must be so beautiful when she sleeps. I watch her read, watch her daydream, marvel at the divine peace that settles on her. And she is here too, up in the greatest heights where everything is perfect. Up in the mountains. Not a soul for miles. Just me and her and the echoes and God. Miss Annersley would collapse in horror at my grammar. I laugh again and she smiles. She is here. The wonder of it! Her face, her hair, her eyes, her skin, her smile. The echoes sing her smile back to me. The most beautiful sound in the world… We move closer, we float; this is the top of the world after all. This is the place where miracles happen. So close, she touches me. A delicious warmth, so comfortable, spreading out from her hand. Such beautiful comfort, such belonging as she wraps me in her arms. So warm.

Kathie Ferrars, newest mistress at the Chalet School, woke that morning in a patch of glorious sunshine, with a smile on her face. Her cheeriness was so infectious that Nancy, meeting her on the stairs, going down to Fruhstuck, was moved to comment on the fact.
Kathie laughed, a little shyly. “I had a wonderful dream” she admitted. “I only wish I could remember it.”
Nancy smiled, and moved on to her own place at the table.
Kathie paused, very still. “The most beautiful sound in the world…” she murmured, and was somewhat thoughtful all day.

 

#12:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:25 pm

Wow Mora that was lovely. Can see this idea runnung and running. I never ever remember my dreams.

 

#13:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:29 pm

Beautiful, Mora. Thank you!

 

#14:  Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 3:16 pm

Mora, that is so beautiful. Please continue. Very Happy

 

#15:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 3:22 pm

This is a very novel approach, thank you, Mora.

 

#16:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:09 pm

Oh, I like this! The fragmented narratives of the dreams are wonderfully evocative.

 

#17:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:05 pm

Mora - just to echo everyone else - this is wonderful, the descriptions suck you in so you're almost experiencing the dreams themselves. Smile Looking forward to further episodes.

Last edited by Lesley on Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

 

#18:  Author: Catherine_B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:37 pm

*all choked up* Mora, I read that last post reeeeeally slowly, savouring every image, and hoping my guess as to whose dream it was was right. And it was Smile Thank you, it was just beautiful.

 

#19:  Author: catherine, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:17 pm

Mora, this is great. Your descriptions are wonderful!

 

#20:  Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:23 pm

Oh yes Mora, carry on, carry on! I too feel as though I am experiencing the dreams as I read your posts.

 

#21:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:11 am

Superb, Mora ... and so original! Looking forward to the next one ...

 

#22:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:29 pm

*bounces at the pretty shiny comments* Thanks everyone. Sorry this has been a while- two days back and already theatre studies is taking over my life again!

Today, she is going to a funeral. It is very serious. The church is black, the church is full of people who have all turned into black suits and dresses and hats. She is wrong because she isn’t black. She is wearing white and all the people are staring at her. She knows they are whispering about her, she can hear it, like the leaves of a tree rustling around her.
She’s a bad girl.
Look at that dress.
Why she’s almost smiling.
Wicked little girl.
She can’t have ever loved her.
And she wants to scream. No. I do love her. I always loved her. I didn’t mean to let her go. No.
She has to walk down the aisle, in between all these strange black figures who are staring at her. It is the longest aisle she has ever seen. The carpet drags at her feet. It is too thick, she almost has to wade through it. It isn’t fair. She is only little. She can’t be expected to do this right. She can’t be expected to know what to do.
She searches the crowds for a face she recognises. They all hate her. They are all cold and strange and every single one of them is looking at her with disgust, disappointment, hate. And the whispering…
It’s all her fault.
She can see the coffin now. A black box. It is too small for a grown up person, but she isn’t expecting a grown up to be in there. It’s all her fault.
This isn’t supposed to be a grown up funeral.
It’s all your fault. Suddenly, she knows the voice that is speaking to her. But that can’t be right.
It is all your fault.
No. No Cherry stop it!
And now she is scared. Because Cherry is there, beside her, telling her again…
It is all your fault.
She is shaking now, the black people-shapes are blurring together, crowding around her, whispering. It can’t be Cherry. It’s not supposed to be her. Because this is supposed to be Cherry’s funeral and if she is here
then the coffin must be for…
It’s all your fault…

Nell Wilson woke shivering. She reached for the telephone and dialled, cursing the time it took to connect.
“Nell is that you?” Dr Jem’s voice was blurred slightly with sleep.
“Is there any news?”
“Nothing new. She’s stable. What on earth are you doing up at this hour? Get some rest, Nell. You will be no use to anyone if you don’t allow yourself to recover properly. I promise you, the first news we have of Hilda, I will personally telephone you myself. Have you had any sleep?”
“A little,” Nell replied. “I must have dozed off in the study. I… I wanted to be… I wanted to feel… near her.” She finished gruffly. “Well, goodnight.”

 

#23:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:42 pm

bawling bawling bawling bawling Thank you Mora.

 

#24:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:50 pm

Thank you Mora, very poignant. :crying:

 

#25:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 3:21 pm

Oh wow *gulps* Crying or Very sad

 

#26:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 3:36 pm

Very strong, very realistic!

 

#27:  Author: Kat, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 3:45 pm

:crying:

 

#28:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:32 pm

That was so moving! What a terrifying dream.

 

#29:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:18 pm

Poor Nell Sad

 

#30:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:19 pm

Oh my! :crying: This is a really powerful way of telling your story. Thanks, I think! (wondering if I will be having nightmares tonight!!)

 

#31:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:21 pm

oh poor Nell :crying: This is a wonderful idea Mora. Lookforward to the next dream

 

#32:  Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:44 pm

Love those last two Mora.... one question. Who's next? JackieJ

 

#33:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:23 pm

bawlingbawling bawling

 

#34:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:30 pm

*Joins the sobbing* That was wonderful Mora, I'm looking forward to the next one Very Happy

 

#35:  Author: Amanda M, Location: Wakefield PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:27 pm

These are wonderful and so vividly written. Poor Nell bawling Star Wars

 

#36:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:55 am

Poor Nell, that must have left her feeling so horrible when she woke up. These are as someone else said so well written. Also wondering who is next.

 

#37:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:19 pm

We have to hurry. We have to get there before she does. The mountain is too tall, too steep to run, but we have to climb the Tiernjoch before Madame gets there. (Shhhh don’t call her Madge; it’s wrong, I’m going to slip, I’m going to topple forward over the edge and go plunging down. So I mustn’t call her Madge.) We have to climb the mountain, you see, because Grizel went up with a bunch of marguerites for Madame (I wobble- don’t say Madge, don’t say Madge). Grizel went up before us abut she didn’t tell Madame and we have to get up there to sing a song before Madge does. (Little stones shift beneath my feet. If I fell I would probably be shattered into pieces just as small. Madame… Madame.) You see, if Madame finds Grizel up there first there will be all sorts of trouble. She thinks it’s all a prank and we have to catch her up and tell her. If Madame finds Grizel first there is going to be a terrible thunderstorm and Simone will scream so loud that the mountains will shake themselves to pieces and we’ll all be crushed, and Grizel will have to go into solitary confinement in the mountain. So we have to hurry. (And I mustn’t call Madame Madge or I’m going to slip and graze my knees like…

Joey woke with a bump, the feeling of having fallen from a great height. She sat up bolt upright, eyes and mouth wide as saucers.
“Golly” she said, giving her tousled head a shake. “That was quite a dream.” She yawned, sleepily and snuggle back under her plumeau.
“Must remember to tell Madge about it in the morning.”

 

#38:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:38 pm

Ooooh. I hate it when you wake up from dreams like that feeling as though you've just fallen or something. I know you've onyl just posted but MORE please!

 

#39:  Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:42 pm

Laughing Laughing Laughing Sounds very similar to the sort of dreams I have sometimes! i.e. very confused and mixed up!

 

#40:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:27 pm

Isn't that what dreams are, confusing?

 

#41:  Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:28 pm

I've also done the falling thing. I'm sure I've tripped and then I'm layed down in bed, very disorienting. Liked that one Mora, when do we get the next? JackieJ

 

#42:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:28 pm

that was excellent Mora - just the right sort of confused muddle of happenings from the early days

 

#43:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:35 pm

Oh, that falling sensation! Crying or Very sad I sometimes get it just as I'm dropping off to sleep. That was so real and I felt so sorry for Joey worrying about not calling her sister Madge.

 

#44:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:06 pm

RL is being surprisingly amenable to drabble-writing today. Makes a change.

It is raining. I am cold. I notice that I’m standing in a puddle. For a moment I don’t realise where I am, then I see the house and I remember. It is always like this, a moment of confusion before I recognise it all. The light will go on in a moment… there it is. A warm yellow glows out through the kitchen window. I am outside, in the garden and the rain is pouring down over me, soaking through my dress. Out here everything is dark and grey. In there is warmth, colour; but I can’t go in. Faces appear at the window. Now I start to cry. Mummy is very very white, her eyes are huge and so so full of blame, so so disappointed in me. The pain in her face makes my stomach wrench into a knot. It hurts to look at her. Another face appears beside her. I don’t want to look. I don’t want to look at him. Mummy’s pain is terrible and scary and is making my tummy hurt, but Daddy is so angry. My eyes don’t listen to my brain, they never do. I find myself looking into his eyes and I am terrified. I want to shrink, to dry up and disappear, do anything to get away from that look. But I am here, stuck in this puddle and with every second I feel bigger and bigger. I am taking up too much space. I am a hideous, horrible creature. I cannot even ask to go in, I am too horrible to be inside that house, too awful to be with them.
I’m sorry, I whisper.
And now there is someone else at the window. I start to cry. I can’t, I can’t… Why do my eyes betray me? Why can’t I get out of this?
She is so small, so red. Her skin is stretched too tight, it doesn’t want to cover her. Her body is marked with long creases of wrinkles in places where she doesn’t bend. She is a patchwork of colours, mottled patterns of fierce pink and red. Her eyes are huge, staring, confused.
The rain starts to hiss. I look at my feet as the water of the puddle starts to bubble. My dress is plastered to me and starts to steam. The raindrops sting as they touch me, each one burning into my skin. My feet are too hot, too hot in the water but I can’t move them. My clothes stick to my body. I try to pull the sleeve away and drag off the skin form my arm. I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t scream. The three faces in the window watch as the rain scorches me and piece by piece I start to fall apart.

Her whole body felt on fire when Sybil woke in the deep dark of the middle of the night. The heat of the Australian summer had made her old fashioned nightdress unbearable and, to add to that she had tangled herself in the sheets. Slowly, she forced herself to breathe steadily, forced her heart to beat slower. It was only the dream, she told herself. Only the old dream. Stripping off the offending nightdress Sybil wrapped herself in the sheet again, snuggling in close to her husband. She willed herself back to sleep once more, praying that his presence would ward off the demons of the past.

 

#45:  Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:14 pm

Oh poor Sybil! Glad that she's with her hubby at the time though Smile That was absolutely beautiful, Mora. Thank you.

 

#46:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:52 pm

Poor Sybil! Thanks for that Mora.

 

#47:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:25 pm

Wonderful Mora, thank you. Poor Sybil being haunted by that after all those years Crying or Very sad

 

#48:  Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:47 pm

Oooh I was hoping for a Sybil dream - thankyou! Very goosebumpish

 

#49:  Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:13 pm

Poor Sybs, imagine having that dream haunting you for most of your life. Thank you Mora, that was chilling. JackieJ

 

#50:  Author: Amanda M, Location: Wakefield PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:13 pm

Poor Sybil - that must have been awful for her. Sad Star Wars

 

#51:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:48 pm

Poor Sybil - I wonder if the dream was the result of her own actions when Josette was injured or if the years of being held responsible have taken their toll.

 

#52:  Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:44 am

This is a really diferenent and original way to tell peoples stories, thank you Mora. I think maybe I'll make sure I read it when I'm not going to bed any time soon though.

 

#53:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:41 am

Poor Sybil! She did get a rotten deal from EBD. She was only a little girl then. I think, today, her parents would have been in trouble for neglect in letting it happen Crying or Very sad

 

#54:  Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:45 am

Poor Sybs! Entirely understandable that this would still haunt her dreams though! Glad she has a nice hubby to cuddle up too!

 

#55:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:59 am

Poor Sybs. Thank you Mora.

 

#56:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:05 am

Mora - that was incredible! *also chilled* Poor Sybil having that haunt her for the rest of her life ...

 

#57:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:13 am

*chilled and goosebump-y*

 

#58:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:58 am

Poor, poor Sybil.

 

#59:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 2:48 pm

Poor Sybil, how horrible but yet understandable to have that haunting her for the rest of her life. Well writtem Mora.

 

#60:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:54 pm

Wow! This writing is incredible! *Huggles Sybil*

 

#61:  Author: Ella, Location: Staffordshire PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:04 pm

A really clever way of telling stories! Smile (have only just caught up!) Who's next? (But poor Nell and poor Sybil!) Sad

 

#62:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:21 pm

I'm afraid I'm having minor writer's block. But I have most of tomorrow free so you should get another one soon. Thank you everyone for hte feedback, I certainly would have given up without you all being lovely shiny people.

 

#63:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:19 pm

New bit! as promised.

Hello
What?
Hello
Oh God
That’s no way to greet an old friend
You’re not my friend
No way for a nice young Cath-o-lic lad to be talking either
Go away
Hardly the level of politeness expected from a Chalet School pupil. Are you a senior yet?
Shut up
Tut- tut! What would Miss Annersley say?
That I shouldn’t listen to you. That I can conquer you and I don’t need you.
You can’t conquer me. You can’t get rid of me, darling. I am part of you.
Are not. You come from him
him? As apposed to Him? You really do make me laugh. You know I’ve known you all your life. You aren’t fooling me.
You haven’t been here all my life
Haven’t I? Tell me a time when you can’t remember me
Everyone is born innocent
Oh really now?
I was an innocent baby
I’m sure someone said that of Hitler
Shut UP
There you go again. How anyone can think of you as a good girl is a mystery to me. You make me proud
I am outgrowing you. I’m going to leave you behind
That’s a joke! What is it darling? What’s the matter? Why are you always trying to run away from me?
You are wicked and evil and evil can be renounced. Now go away or I’ll start praying.
Have they been getting to you again? Did you have a little talk with Mamma or Auntie Hilda? Did Papa say nasty things about me? Come here sweetheart and let me whisper them all away. What do they know about me? You are the only one who knows me
But… I don’t want you
Tut- tut tut. There now. I can kiss it all better. Who is this time? What are they doing to you?
I hate her
That’s it
I Hate Her
That’s better. Doesn’t that feel better?
I absolutely loathe her
What did she do?
She’s stealing my sister from me
Oooh your sister! Nasty little creature
I know something. She’s bad
Not as bad as you though, oh never, never as bad as you sweetness. Shall we get her?
Ye….yes.
Shall we smash her to pieces, rip her into tiny little shreds, shatter her completely? Shall we?
Yes
Then Len will be yours, your sister again. Nobody else’s. You will be three and no-one, no-one will steal her away from you again.
Yes
She’ll be proud of you
Len?
That you love her
You… you think?
Ohhh yes

Margot Maynard woke the next morning in a foul and grumpy mood which she couldn’t have explained, even had anyone questioned her directly. She spent her free time that day brooding on her grudge against the new girl, Ted Grantley, until it grew in her mind till it clouded out any last vestiges of reason.

 

#64:  Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:29 pm

Oh, very, very nicely done, Mora. What a wonderful little look - and what a good piece of characterisation. Ray *looking forward to more*

 

#65:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:42 pm

That was totally spine chilling, Mora! Margot's 'devil' suddenly became real.

 

#66:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:59 pm

Very, very clever, and as PatMac said chilling. Thanks.

 

#67:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:50 pm

*chilled* Really powerful.

 

#68:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:19 pm

That portrayal of Margot's "devil" was so freaky! Well done.

 

#69:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:42 pm

What a great idea, Margot's devil. And so well done. Thanks Mora Laughing

 

#70:  Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:56 pm

Perfectly done, Mora! Thank you!

 

#71:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:39 am

Chilling indeed! Poor Margot - makes you realise how difficult it was for her ... devil

 

#72:  Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:34 am

*Shivers* This is excellent, Mora!

 

#73:  Author: Catherine_B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:04 pm

So clever - and scary - not easy to laugh & dismiss Margot's blaming things on her devil after having read that. *shudder*

 

#74:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:32 pm

I agree, Cathy, that was a real devil.

 

#75:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:01 pm

OOh Poor Margot - this really does make you feel very sorry for her. Thank you Mora.

 

#76:  Author: Kate, Location: Ireland PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:03 pm

Oohh, creepy.... Can we have more please?

 

#77:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:32 am

It was too early in the morning when I started writing this, consequently it is not the dream I intended to write, but here it is


She is at a family party, out in the garden. It is late afternoon, late summertime. The first few leaves have begun to turn golden and drift down from the trees around the lawn. She is chasing them with her sisters, all trying to jump up and be the first to catch one. The baby is on a blanket at Mamma’s feet, gurgling happily. Papa is there and everyone is smiling because of it.
She is taller now, it is easier to catch leaves. The baby changes, rapidly, faces flashing one then another. One by one she lifts her brothers so that they too can chase the pretty flashes of gold, scream with delight when they grasp one. Then each in turn is too heavy and she puts him down and picks up another, already grabbing at her skirt. Her sisters have given up chasing leaves now and have climbed the trees. They are shaking them down on top of her. Papa and Mamma are aging, shrinking, the smiles still stretching their faces wide and the skin shrivelling around them. She wants to tell them all to stop smiling. She wants to yell at them all that it isn’t right, she isn’t happy, it is all happening too fast and she doesn’t want to do this. But she hasn’t the time. Because now two hand tug at her at once and she lifts twins, balancing one on each hip. They shriek and wriggle and grab. The leaves are spinning faster and faster now. Her sisters are shaking down branch loads every few seconds. She wants to yell to them to stop, there won’t be any left, that she’s getting dizzy and she can’t see what she is doing. But she hasn’t the time. Because the twins will not keep still and they’re getting such a weight and she it terrified she will drop them. She swaps them for another baby, swaps her for more twins. She starts to feel sick. There are too many leaves, she can’t see beyond them anymore and she can’t work out if they are spinning or she is and she doesn’t know what to do. She is running out of babies and Mamma and Papa are running out of time and all around her are those wretched leaves and people smiling.
Someone puts a ring on her finger and she screams as if it burns.

Len woke with tears in her eyes, curled up into a ball and rocked, trying to rock herself back to sleep as she had rocked so many siblings. What if marriage wasn’t enough? A nasty niggling voice kept whispering… what if marriage wasn’t enough?

 

#78:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:18 am

Ohhhh, lovely and spine tingling. *wants to hug Len tightly*

 

#79:  Author: keren as guest,  PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:14 am

The Margot one reminds me of Golum a bit!

 

#80:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:59 am

Oh poor Len! The weight of all that responsibility and time going so quickly and not knowing whether she should marry Reg or not ... I just want to give her a big hug!

 

#81:  Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:14 pm

*goosebumps* Mora, that was absolutely, wonderfully, stunningly fantastic. Thank you.

 

#82:  Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:36 pm

Poor Len, it must seem a little like that for her though, always helping to look after the little one's. But it was lovely Mora, thank you. JackieJ

 

#83:  Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:40 pm

Ohhh that one was scary.

 

#84:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 6:48 pm

Poor Len! Crying or Very sad Wonderful Mora.

 

#85:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:15 pm

Gosh! That was incredible Mora

 

#86:  Author: Catherine_B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:10 pm

Ohhhhh! Don't marry him, Len! Sad

 

#87:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:47 pm

I feel dizzy just reading the last one! Thanks Mora, this is really impressive (but a happy dream would be nice...)

 

#88:  Author: Carolyn P, Location: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 8:42 pm

Poor Len. Crying or Very sad

 

#89:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:27 pm

Poor Len what a horrible dream. Don't do it - get out of there fast.

 

#90:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:02 pm

I'm sorry about all the nasty dreams. I think I may have dug myself into a bit of a hole with this drabble idea. I keep meaning to write something happy and freaky things hapen instead. Maybe I just have too many bad dreams...

 

#91:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:04 pm

They're freaky but fabulous Mora. Don't apologise! Just give us more please Wink

 

#92:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 9:20 pm

They are in the garden again, that one from years ago. It is summer, she is small. But it isn't just any summer, it is the first one she met Reg. And Papa is there, with Mamma. It is always this way. And it is always a great joy to have him, after he was so very nearly lost. It is always the same celebration that starts this dream.
The sun flashes through the branches of a tree. She starts to run, because she can; because she is small and sturdy and full of energy and the end of the garden is almost as far as the end of the world. She can run to the end of the world in less than a minute. She must be a hero, or an angel, or a saint or something. Reg can beat her but he is bigger. Some day she will catch him up and run as fast as he can. He won't ever leave her behind then.
This time, he takes her hand instead of running away. They run to the end of the garden together. She tells him that if they climbed the fence and jumped they could fly, they cold jump off the end of the world and fly away. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't tell her she is a baby. She thinks she likes him.
But she doesn't climb over the fence and fly away, because Mamma calls. She goes back to the family group, gathered round the baby who is gurgling and squirming on the the rug. As she walks up the garden she feels her legs lengthen, the garden shrink beneath her steps. She picks up the baby and everybod smiles. She is a good girl.
Her sisters are playing in the trees somewhere but she has lost track of them. She can hear their shouts and laughter but the sunlight dances between the leaves and dazzles her. She takes a step closer to look for them and the baby in her arms changes. It is no surprise. It's always like that here. Things shift. As she draws further into the flickering world of light and shadows the babies change again, again. The air lightens, the garden grows. This is new.
I can tell I am in the mountains, it feels like home. The babies have shifted steadily through my arms and onwards. I've run out of siblings and I can't hear my sisters any more. He takes my hand again.
“Want to run?” She shakes her head.
“We are at the edge of the world” he reminds her. She shakes her head.
“Nowhere you want to fly to?” She shakes her head again and bends, still holding his hand, to reach the last baby from the rug.

---

Reg was woken by that inexplicable sense of an empty bed. He reached for his watch automatically. Three in the morning. He found his wife standing over the cradle in the nursery, watching. Len turned when she heard him enter, raised a finger to her lips to hush him and smiled

 

#93:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:01 pm

Good to see another part of this. Thanks Mora.

 

#94:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:03 pm

Lovely, thanks Mora.

 

#95:  Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:40 pm

Thankyou Mora, that's lovely Smile

 

#96:  Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:43 pm

Thanks Very Happy Mora

 

#97:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:26 am

Awww, lovely! Very Happy Thanks, Mora - good to see more of this

 

#98:  Author: Mora, Location: Lancaster PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:06 pm

Arghh! My computer isn't talking to my mouse so this whole palava is ridiculously difficult!! *fuming* Anyways... so much for happiness. This one is raaather strange.

The deafening sound of grinding metal. It jars, shuddering through every last bone.
Ack ack ack
Ack ack ack
The stink of diesel fuel.
The whirling sensations coalesce in a scorching fire, pressing in through my skin, through my ears to engulf me. Everything is white. Pure, ringing silence. Pure pain.
Gradually it shrinks, spins in on itself to the fire in Con's eyes as she shows me a ring, says something about Singapore. The fire is so bright it's making my eyes sting, dazzling me. And it burns, deep, deep inside my chest.
A boat, caught alight, blazing to the waterline. The tantilising terror of that image. Ack ack ack
A sweltering heat, suffocates me. Curse this costume. Above all this heat I can barely think but Red, Heat. Still I flick and dust, oil, position. A touch to the Bonnie Prince sets my fingers alight. A hand, lift up your chin. Call off the show. Mrs Jarley is on fire. Her waxworks aren't melting, they're getting their revenge. Tonight, they're the burning. She is melting away.
The absolute loss of all bodily being. Evidence- a costume, many cushions, belted round empty space, a spirit- too lost in the flames to scream.
The fire swells out from that emptiness, and I am lost to all sensation. It blazes a path right through me, settling in my ankle to rage. It leaves me shivering in its cold aftermath, dragging myself back together. That walk. The sun scorching from above, the ankle blazing below. Trapped in between. Forcing flames up my legs with every grinding step. Screwing the agony into my bones, hammering it into my brain. Herr Goldmann's eyes- flames of confusion licking at the panic. The fire all gone out of Vater Johann's. It dying in the faces of Gottfried and Jack.
The ankle screams at me, and she, hands of snow, subdues it.
The fire is dying here now. Con's eyes no longer spark. Every day the silence in the post beds down their embers further. She barely glows. Oh my friend! How can it still hurt so much, now that you don't burn me? How can this ache sit so deep within my stomach when you have no fire left to scorch with?
I never thought I would see my friends again. I never thought I would see the school. I never thought the fire would leave me.
The dead grey numbness of waking up in a bed, without tiredness, without pain, without fear.
I didn't come through it all to watch the fire die in my closest friend.
I didn't think I could bear what they did to the country.
I didn't think I could bear so much pain.
I didn't think I could bear losing you at all.
I don't think I can take another lesson. I know too much of fire.

 

#99:  Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:11 pm

Crying or Very sad Mora, that was unbelievable. Thank you. *goosebumps* Hope the comp problems get fixed soon!

 

#100:  Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:33 pm

*shaking* Thank you Mora.

 

#101:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:52 pm

Wow.

 

#102:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:23 am

*goosebumps* Liz

 

#103:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:31 am

Echoes Lesley. thank you

 

#104:  Author: Rachael,  PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:16 am

Yep ... wow sums it up Shocked Completely unexpected but so intuitively dreamlike with all those key events merging and moulding into one nightmare ... That was brilliant, Mora - thank you

 

#105:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:35 am

Again wow.... Thank you Mora!

 

#106:  Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:04 pm

*speechless*

 

#107:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:10 pm

Thank you Mora, would imagine Bill would have had nightmares like that. The Len and Reg post was lovely.

 

#108:  Author: Ella, Location: Staffordshire PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 4:54 pm

*shaken* Thanks Mora! Brilliantly done!

 

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