That was lovely, Maeve - thank you! Did I spot a bit of 'Where the Wild Things Are' in the last line?
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| Learning to Let Go (short and complete) http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5684 |
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| Author: | Maeve [ 10 Feb 2009, 19:07 ] |
| Post subject: | Learning to Let Go (short and complete) |
This sprang into my head the other day -- the long bits in italics are from Princess. [Juliet] ...wasted no time in beating about the bush. ‘I’ve asked you to come here,’ she began, ‘to tell you that Madame wishes you to know that she is going to be married at the end of July.’There was a startled gasp. The girls had known that the wedding would take place some time soon, but they had not expected it yet. The news that the date was fixed came as a shock to them....‘Who will be headmistress next term, then?’ inquired Elisaveta. ‘Mademoiselle will,’ said Joey. Then she got up from the grass. ‘I just want to say one thing. I think you’re all jolly selfish about it! She wants to be married, and she has every right to be. It’s just as rotten for everyone, ‘cos Marie and Eigen will be going with her, and she’s going to take Rufus too. So do stop grousing about it – when we are round, anyhow! – and think of her a little!’ With this she stalked off, leaving the others staring after her. Joey didn't know where she was going. She walked blindly away from her friends, winking hard to stop the tears that would well up in her eyes despite her mutterings to herself. Don't be such a baby! You're as bad as Simone, crying at the least thing! She came to the pine-woods and, the thought of Simone fresh in her mind, headed for the hollow between the big roots which a few terms earlier had been one of the French girl's favourite hidey-holes. Burrowing into the space, she sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, hands clasped across them and lowering her head, let the tears come. She just couldn't bear the thought of Madge going away! Oh, yes, it was only to the Sonnaple but she'd be going there as Mrs. Jem Russell and, much as she liked Jem -- and she did like him, they had always been friends -- things would never be the same. Just when they were so settled in at the Tiernsee -- the school was going well, most of the girls and the staff were dears, the local people loved and accepted them as their own -- why did everything have to change? She thought back to the years in England, and further still, to India. Although sometimes Joey wondered if her memories of India were real or if they were just the result of the stories that Dick and Madge had told her over and over. She herself had been so very young and sick so much of the time that both the twins who were twelve years her senior had always looked after her, but it was Madge who had given her all the mothering she had ever known, Madge who had nursed her through her various ailments, Madge who had come up with the bold idea to start a school in Austria as a means of staying with and taking care of her baby sister. Dick was a brick, but Madge... Joey bit her lip as fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. She thought back to a conversation from a few weeks before. Madge had seemed disturbed by a letter she had been reading... ‘What is the matter, old thing?’ she has asked her. ‘It’s nothing you can help, Joey.’ ‘You never know. Don’t shut me out, Madge; we’ve always shared things.’ ‘I know.’ Miss Bettany looked at the clever, sensitive face at her shoulder. ‘Sometimes I think, Joey, that we’ve put too much on you. I don’t want to spoil your childhood.’ ‘It won’t spoil my anything to share your fusses. There’s only us – and the Robin. Dick seems so far away since he married Mollie. You’re going to get married next. I – I hope it won’t be like that.’ Madge pulled the child into the study. ‘Joey-Baba, you don’t really think that? Jem will only be like an extra brother. It’s different with Dick and Mollie. We’ve never even seen her; we don’t really know her. Don’t think of it like that, Joey, or I must put off the wedding till you are grown-up!’ She gulped as she remembered. Joey-baba. Oh, Madge! Jem would be like an extra brother -- he already was, in fact. She had tried to reassure her sister, only to receive a bit of a shock about the date of the wedding... ‘I’m a beast to say such things! I know it’ll be all right! Jem is a dear, and I hope you will be married soon! So don’t be silly, old thing!’ Madge still looked troubled. ‘Truth and honour, Joey?’ ‘Truth and honour,’ Joey assured her. ‘I didn’t really mean it, and I only think it very rarely. Honour bright, I do!’ Madge’s face cleared. ‘I am glad of that, Joey,’ she said slowly. ‘You see this is the last term. Jem and I hope to be married in July.’ So. Just a few weeks now. Well, she thought to herself, suddenly cried out and calmer. She had been a beast and she was a selfish pig to do or say anything to put a tarnish on Madge's happiness. It would just be different. Not bad. Just different. She heard the snapping of twigs as someone approached through the pines and tensed. Please go away, she pleaded silently. "Joey," came the voice of Juliet. "Joey, are you here?" Abruptly changing her mind, Joey called back. "Here, Juliet." The older girl turned toward the sound. "Oh, Joey -- I'll go away if you like, but I thought you might be feeling a bit out of sorts." Joey smiled up at the anxious face looking down at her. "I don't think I quite have the energy to get up yet -- can you scootch in here with me?" "It's a good thing neither of us are what one would call plump," laughed Juliet as she squashed down next to her friend. "Hmm," she said, head to one side, "you don't look so bad, but your face could do with a bathe." "I don't know what happened to my handkerchief," said Joey, accepting Juliet's eau-de-cologne dampened one thankfully. "You know, Joey," began Juliet, carefully, "you and Madame both have a real gift for friendship and for loving." Joey's eyes were fixed on her but she said nothing, so Juliet went on. "Most of the girls flock to you, no matter their ages, and you are friendly and open to everyone -- I think you know more of the local people than any of us other English girls. And Madame --"Here Juliet paused for a second. "Both you and Madame seem to have a genius for finding and taking in waifs and strays. Me. The Robin. Grizel, in a way. It's a big thing, Joey." "You forgot Rufus," laughed Joey, trying to lighten the conversation. But Juliet would have none of it. "Truly, Joey. I know what I'm talking about. Some people -- some families -- discard people -- "Joey, knowing she was thinking of her own parents, reached for the other girl's hand. Juliet returned the clasp gratefully, but said, "It's all right Joey. I just want you to realize that you and Madame -- you extend your family, your circle all the time. You always have room for another -- me, Robin, Dr. Jem -- and that's a wonderful thing." Looking at the "sister" whom she had forgotten in her grief over Madge, Joey replied, "No, Juliet. The really wonderful thing is that you all want and love us as well. It cuts both ways you know." The two sat, comfortable in the silence. Finally Juliet said, "I suppose we'd better be getting home before someone starts worrying about us." "That's the other wonderful thing," said Joey, as Juliet struggled to her feet and pulled the younger girl up behind her. "The Chalet School really is my home now -- our home, Juliet. Madge's -- Madame's -- going to the Sonnaple gives us another home, but the Chalet School will always be the place I return to." "Even when you're an old woman in a bath-chair," ragged Juliet. "Even then," laughed Joey. And the two strolled away, talking about their bridesmaid's dresses, back to the school where kaffee und kuchen was just being served. And it was still hot. |
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| Author: | babycassied [ 10 Feb 2009, 19:35 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was lovely, Maeve - thank you! Did I spot a bit of 'Where the Wild Things Are' in the last line?
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| Author: | Maeve [ 10 Feb 2009, 19:38 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Thanks. Quote: Did I spot a bit of 'Where the Wild Things Are' in the last line? Yes -- it just seemed to fit somehow 
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| Author: | KatS [ 10 Feb 2009, 19:42 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Awww... I had forgotten how difficult Madge's marriage must have been for Joey. It's her mother marrying, rather than her sister, really, and she's losing her home, too- the CS is no longer her "real" home, but it can't have been easy to adjust to Die Rosen and Jem as home, either. |
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| Author: | Cat C [ 10 Feb 2009, 19:58 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Oh, that was really lovely - and very EBD. |
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| Author: | PaulineS [ 10 Feb 2009, 21:20 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Quote: "That's the other wonderful thing," said Joey, as Juliet struggled to her feet and pulled the younger girl up behind her. "The Chalet School really is my home now -- our home, Juliet. Madge's -- Madame's -- going to the Sonnaple gives us another home, but the Chalet School will always be the place I return to." This explains Joey's attachment to the School as an adult so well. Thanks for the drabble. |
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| Author: | Elbee [ 10 Feb 2009, 22:02 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Lovely, very thoughtful. Thanks, Maeve. |
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| Author: | Alison H [ 10 Feb 2009, 23:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was lovely - thanks Maeve. |
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| Author: | Lisa [ 10 Feb 2009, 23:12 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Very moving, thanks. Being half way through The Bettanys of Taverton High, I find it especially poignant - Madge is certainly everything to Joey, and having to share .... 
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| Author: | Cath V-P [ 11 Feb 2009, 01:06 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was very poignant, and so accurate as well. Thank you. |
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| Author: | Miss Di [ 11 Feb 2009, 02:54 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was really lovely. Especially after reading the Joey Bashing thread in Anything Else I appreciated finding something so sympathetic! |
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| Author: | JS [ 11 Feb 2009, 09:03 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Nice start to the day, thanks. |
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| Author: | Emma A [ 11 Feb 2009, 10:06 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was lovely, Maeve - I really liked Joey's gradual reversion of thought, from bad to different, and Juliet's thoughtfulness. Thank-you. |
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| Author: | Maeve [ 11 Feb 2009, 10:37 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Thanks, all. I've always found the passages where Joey and Madge show their deep affection for one another very touching -- there's one line somewhere about Madge's voice "being the sound Joey loved best," or something like that. EBD gave them a lovely relationship.
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| Author: | abbeybufo [ 12 Feb 2009, 17:20 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Enjoyed that very much Maeve Thank you 
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| Author: | Abi [ 12 Feb 2009, 17:55 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was really nice, Maeve, and as Pauline said, helps to explain Joey's lifelong attachment to the School - in a sense it was her home. |
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| Author: | Karoline [ 13 Feb 2009, 09:49 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
It's lovely Maeve, thank you |
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| Author: | JayB [ 13 Feb 2009, 23:58 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Very natural that Joey should feel that way - it would have been rather unrealistic if she had been wholly positive about Madge's marriage. I'm glad she was able to talk things over with Juliet without being made to feel guilty. |
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| Author: | leahbelle [ 18 Feb 2009, 14:18 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
That was lovely. Madge had been everything to Joey for so long, it must have been hard for her to learn to share her sister with Jem. |
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| Author: | Kathy_S [ 20 Feb 2009, 03:03 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Learning to Let Go: Joey on Madge's nearing wedding |
Thank you, Maeve. Joey's thoughts fit right in, and the scene with Juliet is lovely.
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