A Fireside Tale
The CBB -> Ste Therese's House

#1: A Fireside Tale Author: Identity HuntLocation: UK PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:09 pm


For MaryR, who has given me so much encouragement to start and continue writing, and in heartfelt thanks for sharing her vision of Hilda and Mother Abbess with me.

A Fireside Tale

Joey sat in her favourite armchair, drawn close to the blazing log fire which did so much to cheer the spirits as well as warm the room.
Tomorrow, Freudesheim would be filled to overflowing with family and friends, come to celebrate Christmas, but tonight there were just the two of them .

"Do you think Freudesheim has been a good name for this house ?" Joey asked her companion curiously.

"We certainly tried to make it so, didn`t we?" the loving, quiet voice laughed. "It seems so strange now that everyone has grown up and gone away to careers or families of their own. I do miss them all so much. But at least we are not alone for very long, what with one or other of them popping back regularly. I am really looking forward to tomorrow. Christmas Eve is never the same without family to share it with, and especially with small children !"

"That`s certainly true ! " Joey remarked, her eyes twinkling. "That`s one thing I always managed to provide !"

"Do you have any regrets about having such a large family?"

The unexpectedness of the enquiry robbed Joey of breath for a few seconds, and then she decided to throw the ball firmly back to the other end of the court and asked bluntly "Did you feel that it was a disadvantage being part of such a big family ? "

"Sometimes. You didn`t always have much time for everyone individually, did you ? The writing took up such a lot of your time, too"

"Touche. " Joey replied sadly. "But it did pay the horrendous school fees !"

" But if we had been a smaller family, the school fees would not have been so bad, would they ?" that same quiet voice commented, much to Joey`s surprise and dismay.

" I suppose not. Having said that, I cannot imagine life without any of my beloved children. There were somethings we couldn`t do, because of the cost factor, and having them over a long time span did mean that we had small children around for what seemed like an eternity. Nappies and toilet-training and tantrums and teething for the best part of twenty years, my dear ! Just think of it !" Joey grinned."But regrets ? No. Not one . " Joey replied, her face and voice deadly serious.

She gazed at the loved one sitting opposite her with some shyness, until eventually, curiosity got the better of her, and she plucked up courage to ask a question she had wanted to ask for so many years.
" Do you have any regrets about placing your career first and foremost ? I often worried about it, you know, but didn`t feel able to discuss it with you. We discussed most things, didn`t we? But never that."

There was a long silence, interrupted only by the crackling of the logs and then the sound of Margot`s childhood cuckoo clock marking ten o clock.
Joey sat quietly, aware that a confidence was about to be forthcoming, and she hesitated to spoil the moment.

" I did meet someone, once. We fell in love. But he was married. He nearly left his wife for me, but at the last moment, Charles came to see me after one of my performances. He could see I was upset, and he wormed the problem out of me. He was always so good at that, wasn`t he, Mother ?"

"Dear Charles ! The quietest and most introspective of all of you. He would have spotted that you were anxious or worried immediately; he was always the most observant one in the family." Joey smiled mistily, thinking of the little boy he had been, always loving nature and books.

" He did help. He just listened. He never said a word about my situation, but he hugged me and told me he loved me. And that he was proud of me. That just about finished me. " she sobbed.
"I knew then that I had to tell Edmund that I could never see him again. I knew that I could not bear to work with him any more, to be so close and never to acknowledge or act upon the feelings I had for him. I could not expect him to leave, as he had his wife and family to provide for, so I left instead."

" Ah. That explains a lot of things" Joey observed. " We always wondered why you left just at the very height of your career. You had achieved just about everything it was possible for you to do, and then you left it all to come home, to help care for your father when he was so ill. And now you care for me, my dear. "

Again, there was a silence as the two women gazed into the fire, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

" I just want you to know that we have always been proud of you, my dear. Proud of your achievements, proud of your integrity, proud of your immense capacity for love. And what you have told me now makes me prouder than ever. Thank you for telling me." Joey said quietly, as she reached out for her daughter`s hand and clasped it tightly.

Felicity Maynard, OBE, prima ballerina assoluta, hugged her mother tightly and whispered "Thank you Mamma ! " before adopting a rather more prosaic tone as she asked "Cocoa or brandy, Mamma?"

"Felicity Maynard, you are incorrigible ! Cocoa *and* brandy, please, my dear " Joey exclaimed. " It is nearly Christmas, after all !"

Felicity stood up, her face wreathed with smiles. "Cocoa and brandy for two it shall be, Mamma !"
As she opened the door, she turned and smiled at the frail figure of the mother she loved so very dearly, but in whom she had never before confided her deepest feelings.
" Mamma ?" she said hesitantly.

"Yes, pet ?" Joey answered "What is it?"

" I did regret not having children of my own, but I still have all of you. And to be honest, I had so much love and laughter and companionship from being one of such a large family ...well, I `m glad to have been one of so many. That`s all." Felicity said quietly.

"Thank you, darling. That means the world to me, to hear you say that. But my inner woman is demanded cocoa and biscuits, nevertheless ! " Joey observed wickedly.

"And brandy !" Felicity giggled, as she left the room, hearing her mother`s golden peals of laughter follow her down the corridor.

The End

 


#2:  Author: ChairLocation: Rochester, Kent, England PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:14 pm


Thanks, Identity Hunt. That was lovely. It was so wonderful seeing the two of them talking by the fire.

 


#3:  Author: RóisínLocation: Vancouver for now PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:16 pm


Aw that was wonderful, thanks a million Very Happy

 


#4:  Author: FatimaLocation: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:28 pm


I didn't guess it would be Felicity. That was lovely, thank you, Identity Hunt.

 


#5:  Author: Alison HLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:28 pm


Thanks, that was lovely.

 


#6:  Author: flitterwitLocation: london PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:41 pm


That was nice, very moving, poignant!

I thought Joey was talking to Jack and then became really confused in the middle Confused Who is Edmund? He doesn't exist in the CS books does he? Is he from a narnia cross-over ie. wicked witch Edmund? Smile

Very heart-warming wonderfully brilliant though! You writing's v. good *encouragement*

* off to get cocoa and brandy and biscuits*
Embarassed am very suggestible.

 


#7:  Author: LissLocation: Harrow, London PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:43 pm


That was mighty fine - very thought-provoking.

 


#8:  Author: RosyLocation: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:02 pm


Ooh. That was lovely. Thankyou!

 


#9:  Author: MaryRLocation: Sale Cheshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:19 pm


Identity Hunt, you see me here in tears! I am overwhelmed.

How could you go to so much trouble for me? Shocked Embarassed

I did nothing out of the ordinary, my dear - you do have a most wonderful talent, as this board has seen. The ideas are just flowing from you and you set them down so beautifully.

And I am only sharing that vision of Hilda and Mother Abbess with you because they have been willing to share it with me - and they told me to pass it on. Wink

You are truly a most generous person and I am so lucky to be the recipient.

Thank you and God bless you.

 


#10:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:30 pm


That was lovely - a gentle look back at decisions - and to discover that, at the end of it, you have no real regrets - perfect.

Thank you.

 


#11:  Author: Elder in OntarioLocation: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:35 pm


This a beautiful piece, Identity Hunt - so gentle, reflective and revealing, all at the same time. I certainly had to read quite a long way through before realising that this was *not* Joey and Jack reflecting on life. It's lovely to see that Joey and Jack were proud both of Felicity's ballet career, and the way that she gave it up so uncomplainingly to come home and help nurse first Jack and now to care for Joey - but now we know the real reason behind it, too.

Thank you for this lovely vignette.

 


#12:  Author: Chalet_school_loverLocation: Gloucester PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:40 pm


That really was beautiful! Very moving! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

 


#13:  Author: RoseaLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:45 pm


That was lovely, thank you. As others have said very gentle and moving.

 


#14:  Author: Cath V-PLocation: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:33 pm


How lovely...and such a gentle look at the apparently small things that can guide such major decisions.

 


#15:  Author: Ruth BLocation: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:50 pm


Thank you, that was a beautiful piece. I have to admit I assumed the person was Con for some reason Embarassed

 


#16:  Author: RobinLocation: London PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:51 pm


that was so lovely. And peaceful.

Thanks Smile

 


#17:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:34 pm


Absolutely gorgeous, thanks Identity Hunt Very Happy

 


#18:  Author: Guest PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:17 pm


flitterwit wrote:

I thought Joey was talking to Jack and then became really confused in the middle Confused Who is Edmund? He doesn't exist in the CS books does he? Is he from a narnia cross-over ie. wicked witch Edmund? Smile

.


Dear Flitterwit,
Don`t worry, I myself didn`t know who Joey was talking to , till I had written about half the story ! I have a very wicked plot bunny.....

Edmund was actually Edmund Eltringham, who does rate a fleeting mention in one of the early Swiss books, I believe.
I can`t check at the moment because the Christmas tree is in front of my EBD bookcase Rolling Eyes
Glad you liked it, despite the confusion Laughing

 




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