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| Advent Drabbles Day Five http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5359 |
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| Author: | Advent Drabblers [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Found this email in my inbox this morning. Think you lot count as at least ten people! Many will delete this email unread. Many will read and then delete. Some will read and ponder a while, but then forget in the busyness of life. Some will read and then act and make the world a better place, one step at a time. Which will you be? Will you change the world? One person, acting unselfishly to help another can change the world. Everyone can name big heroes who have done so, Florence Nightingale, Mother Theresa, Honeycombe the Teddy, but how many people have heard of Josephine Bettany? No, I thought not. Josephine Bettany was just an ordinary schoolgirl. She was good at some subjects, bad at others. Nothing outstanding academically or on the games field. She had her own friends and was often in trouble for the usual silly schoolgirl pranks. This was not your Victorian angelic self sacrificing child, and yet that was just what she did. One evening in her school dormitory she looked out of the window at the nearby lake and spotted a group of girls playing around on the ice. She knew that there were underground springs in this area and could see the already deadly lines indicating that the ice was weak. Joey knew the right course of action. She tried to find an adult to raise the alarm. She looked for her teachers and tried the telephone lines. This proved impossible however. The phone lines were down and her headmistress was not to be found. Josephine knew that every moment counted when the ice was so weak. She also knew that several severe chest infections had left her prone to serious illness. She had made a promise to her sister not to take unnecessary risks with her health. All this passed through her mind and was communicated to her companions. However she also knew that she was one of the strongest skaters there, and that if a warning was to be given then she had to go. And go she did. She dashed down the lakeside, fastening her coat as she went and pulled her skates on before gliding quickly over to the edge of the safe area. Josephine and her friend shouted and waved to the skating truants, but to no avail. They were intent on their own fun, unaware of the danger, but Josephine was watching the shadows on the ice, and laying down on the ice slowly inched her way forward to where she could be heard. It was too late. One girl slipped and the resulting bump cracked the already weakened ice. Down she went into the dark icy water, and down went Josephine with her. Josephine felt the pull of the water, sucking her down, the chill constricting around her chest and yet she managed to keep her head clear enough to not only keep afloat, but to grab the other girl and lift her head clear of the water. All this while she could feel her own strength ebbing away. She struggled to keep afloat and yet did not let go of her burden in order to save herself. For what seemed like hours Josephine hung on, treading water and trying to hold to the edge of the ice while keeping the other girl afloat. When help came it was to find both girls drifting in and out of conciousness. Yet despite her own suffering Josephine had still kept the other girl afloat. Both girls were rescued and then followed a long and heavy wait. Would they recover, or would the ice claim two more deaths. The young truant suffered a severe bout of rheumatic fever which weakened her heart, but she lived. Without Josephine's courage and self sacrifice she would have died that night. Josephine herself lay at death's door for many days and since that day has been frail, suffering greatly for her brave actions. She was brave, a true heroine. Her actions changed the world because the story spread around the globe, inspiring many others to face challenges with a heart that rose above themselves. Will you rise above yourself now? Someone thought they could when they sent you this story. Will you send it to ten other people and back to the person who sent it you. Choose those people you think have the potential to be heroes, those people who already are your hero and let them know how much you think about them. Each small piece of encouragement works, this could be the encouragement your friend needs to become more than they ever thought possible. | |
| Author: | Alison H [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Well, when you look at it like that .... Sorry for waffling in the middle of the Advent Drabble thread  ,
but did anyone else in the Granada area see the report on local news last
night about the little girl who suffered a brain haemorrhage after falling
down an escalator and came round (after 17 days) after her cousin sang to
her? It just made me think of Joey falling through the ice.Thanks Advent Drabblers! | |
| Author: | Sarah [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:11 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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I saw it .... and thought of that too! 
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| Author: | Smile :) [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Interesting 
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| Author: | leahbelle [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thanks, Advent Drabblers
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| Author: | Advent Drabblers [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Elaine’s Live Journal. Memories can be good or bad. Close locked. I’ve been thinking recently - not a very good idea, but there you go. Thinking back, I mean, to the schooldays, and especially after the Fawn took the school out to Tyrol. We found another school there, English supposedly, though the Head was French and they had a heap of foreign girls there. But it was owned by and English woman, and run like an English school, so I suppose they had a point. For all sorts of reasons we didn’t get on with them at first, silly reasons mostly, though I was as much to blame for it as anyone. More probably since I was School Captain. it didn’t help relations when some of both schools got trapped the wrong side of a gap that appeared in the path, and had to walk miles up and down mountains to get back to school. We were all stiff and tired the next day, and ready for any spark to set an argument going. When it sparked it was about the other school, the Chalet School, and whether their girls were better bred than ours, of all stupid things. We had Vera Smithers stirring things up. She was a real little snob, and refused to believe that they’d had Princess Elizaveta (as she was then) at the school, and that some of the girls came from noble families. We were making quite a din by then, and the Fawn came in and read the Riot Act. The upshot was that we were stopped from skating on the lake that afternoon. I can’t remember just what I said, but the Fawn took it as impertinence and told me off in front of all the other girls. Naturally that made me livid, and I went off into a corner by myself. So when Maureen suggested that they went out on the ice after tea I turned a deaf ear, both to that and to some of the others, like Gypsy Carson and Elspeth Macdonald, trying to get them to change their minds. Even when Gypsy came to plead with me to stop them I refused. I should have listened, but I was angry, and at that age anger can rule you. I regretted it later, but there you go. That’s life. The juniors went off skating that afternoon, as arranged. They were taken quite a way away from the school, and we thought that was so we wouldn’t see them having the fun we were denied. What we didn’t know was the real reason, as there was no reason for us to know. The lake by the school was deep, and there were springs there, which made the ice unsafe. We could see the Chalet School out having fun, and it was then that Maureen had her brilliant idea about sneaking out after tea. As I said, I’d taken no notice of the plans, and it was only later that I found out what had happened out there. None of Maureen’s gang could skate, so they were falling about all over the place. They were so intent on having fun that they ignored the long cracks that were forming in the ice. I was told that a local man had tried to warn them, but as he spoke no English, and they spoke no German, he didn’t get very far. So he did the next best thing and went off for help. In the meantime, Jo Bettany over at the Chalet School, had seen what was going on, and tried to find someone to help. The phone lines were down, so she couldn’t phone the school, and none of their mistresses were available. So she and Frieda got out their skates and came across to stop our crowd. They managed to get most of them off the ice before it broke up, but Maureen fell again, and that’s when she realised the danger. She lost her head, silly little ninny, and just lay there screaming. Jo lowered herself onto the ice, and then. lying flat, wriggled over to Maureen to try and get her to shore. She was too late, and they both ended up in the icy water. Luckily a doctor from the nearby San was nearby, and the local man came back too, bringing a friend and a rope. The managed to lasso Jo and Maureen and pull them out of the water and onto land. Then they were rushed up to our school and put to bad, after being soaked in a hot bath. But it didn’t help, and by morning Maureen had gone down with rheumatic fever, and Jo had pleuro-pneumonia. That was a horrible time. How I regretted doing nothing, but it was too late. All but the ten seniors were taken over to the Chalet School to leave our place quiet for the invalids, and girls walked round each day to see how they were. By the end of the week Maureen was a little better, her temp was down and she’d always been strong. But Jo Bettany was different. She been a sickly kid, and wasn’t over it properly yet. Her temp stayed up day after day, and that wasn’t good at all. On the day that we were told just how bad she was, we just couldn’t work, so Miss Anderson suggested walking round to the other school with the latest news. It was better than trying to work - anything was to be honest. Miss Anderson went to find out the latest, and when she came back we could all see that the news couldn’t be any worse. We set off anyway, and just as we got to the water meadows we met the Robin racing round the lake, her coat on any old way, pulled on over a red scarf, and her hat was crammed down on her head. She was flushed with running, and not even Miss Anderson could stop her from going on. I forget now who told me the rest, but she managed to make them let her into Jo’s room. Then she sang some song that her mother used to sing to her, more than once I think. From what I was told that did the trick, and the fever broke. Jo got better quite quickly after that, and I think that was the last time she was seriously ill. It was different for Maureen. She got better OK, and her Dad came and took her home. But unlike Jo, she never really got her full health back. I suspect it weakened her heart or something, but she wasn’t well for the rest of her life, and died some time ago. I thought I’d put it all behind me, as just another memory from school, but it’s not that easy. As you get older - and I’m now one of those Silver Surfers you read about - the past can come back to haunt you. I could have stopped all that from happening, and I didn’t, just because I was in a filthy temper. Maureen died because of that. If she wouldn’t do what I told her I could have gone to the Fawn about it. I’m not sure what happened to Jo, as I left school a year later. I did try to stop the silly feud between the school, and was a guide for that year too, as we finally had our own company. But it was that, and the nasty little episode with Vera Smithers at the end of term, that made me grow up. No one’s perfect, but there aren’t many that have someone’s death on their conscience as I have Maureen’s. I’ve prayed about it, and I know I’m forgiven, but some days it comes into my mind again. That’s why I’ve written this, in the hope that I can finally put it behind me. | |
| Author: | Emma A [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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That's very thought-provoking. Thank-you. | |
| Author: | Advent Drabblers [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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'Dammit Joey how could you? How dare you? Wasn't there someone else? Someone else that could stupidly, wonderfully go out onto that ice - knowing it was dangerous. Knowing it was deadly. You barely knew Maureen, to die for a stranger? How dare you? Oh that's not fair Madge, of course that's exactly what Joey would do - brave, impulsive, unthinkingly placing herself in danger for others. But so damned selfish! How dare you? Don't you know how much you will be missed? How much I will miss you? I know I have Jem and David - but you are my only sister, you are the reason we are here, why we moved to Austria. If it wasn't for you I would be back in England, wouldn't have met Jem, wouldn't have David. Joey you can't die, you can't - oh fight my darling, don't let this win, I beg you.' ... 'No I don't want a break, how on Earth can Jem even ask, Joey needs me. She knows I am here - she must know, mustn't she? Oh God, please make her know I'm here, that I love her, that I'll do anything. Please God I beg you. Her breathing sounds so strange, and she's so hot - I've tried to cool her down, tried using a cool flannel, washing her - it makes no difference, she's burning up...what was that? She said something, I heard her, Joey what is it? I'm here Joey-Baba, talk to me.' ... 'Raving? She's raving? Delirious? But that's not my Joey, she can't be so ill that she's delirous, she must understand me, she must - what about her heart? I heard Dr Erckhart then, trying not to let me hear - I'm her next of kin, I'm her sister - tell me...no.. no don't tell me. I don't want to hear it, you can't be right, she's not dying, not my Joey, not my Baby.' ... 'Who's that? Dick? Why is he here? He should be with Mollie, not here, nothing's happening here, no reason for him to be here, I won't need him, Joey is going to be fine, I tell you, she's fine, you're all wrong - Oh God please all be wrong.' ... 'What the...why is Robin here? She's only a child, barely nine years old - take her out, Jem, she can't see Joey like this, it'll frighten her. Take her...Joey reacted, I swear she heard Robin where she's heard nothing else. Her hand is less tense I swear. Yes, sing Robin, dear God sing, Joey listen, please listen. Please God, please God, please God, please...noooo, it's too quiet. She's not breathing, she's...she's... what was that Jem? She's sleeping? Her pulse is stronger? The fever broken? Then that means....' | |
| Author: | PaulineS [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thank you a challenging pair of drabbles, (for days four and five) | |
| Author: | Pat [ Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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It's fun being able to read the other's viewpoints fresh with everyone else. Thanks Lesley. | |
| Author: | Sugar [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:01 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thanks - the last two were really powerful. | |
| Author: | Alison H [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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What Sugar said. | |
| Author: | Cat C [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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I think this set is wonderful, although I must confess that reading the first one, it occurred to me how crazy the story is - I can't see how either of them would have survived, given they were in freezing water, and wearing heavy clothes, including skates. | |
| Author: | Karoline [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thanks AD's | |
| Author: | Carolyn P [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:51 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Oh, Lesley's final one has just reduced me to tears. | |
| Author: | Susan [ Sat Dec 06, 2008 5:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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This scene makes me cry every time I read it. Yes I just cried again when I read this. | |
| Author: | Fiona Mc [ Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:59 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thanks for that. Poor Madge-and poor Elaine | |
| Author: | Vick [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Advent Drabbles Day Five |
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Thanks for that, very thought provoking 
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