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#1: Snapshots 2 Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:38 am

The result of going for job interviews...

1. Wonders will never cease (May 1951)

The Gornetz Platz, May 1951

My dear Maude,

I have to admit that I was somewhat shocked to hear that the school hadn’t appointed you to the post. I don’t know what the rest of the applicants were like but, my dear, you really ought to see what they did appoint. I honestly thought that the Head here had her head screwed on properly – not like that ghastly woman at St Winifred’s, there was no wonder I had to get out of there! But back to the woman they appointed – I say woman but she’s really just a slip of a girl, only 21 and not even fully through her university course! She’s in her last term now but the Head has made all sorts of special arrangements so that she can finish her course. Personally I don’t see what all the fuss is about. She’s not all that wonderful yet everyone’s bending over backwards to help her out and be her friend. She seems to have chummed up with that Biddy O’Ryan – you remember, the Irish charity case I told you about – but I’m not surprised as our Miss Andrews is that herself, only a Liverpudlian from the back streets. She’s got everywhere in life on scholarships and charity. Don’t get me wrong, Maude, I’ve nothing against it but I do think that people ought to realise their station in life and stick to it! More to the point she’s writing some dissertation on the Jews during the war. Now I know what happened was terrible but I really don’t see the need to keep on dragging it all up. Try the perpetrators and move on, I say. I told her as much and, well, she absolutely blew up at me. I can’t say I expected much more from a back street girl, dragged up daresay. I’ve heard from my sister, Clarissa, that she thought she was a bit of something at university (Clarrie’s in the year below and they were in hall together). Seemingly she was always swanning off with people she really didn’t deserve to be doing so. I have to wonder what the Head was thinking to choose her over you, I really do!

…

No doubt I shall see you over the summer some time.

Your, Joan.

Last edited by pim on Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:33 pm; edited 12 times in total

#2: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:53 am

*Fizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* fume

That's appaling! hammer

What snobbery! soapbox

*stunned*

Thanks Pim

#3: Author: Elle,

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:56 am

Evil.

#4: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:31 pm

Thanks, Pim. That is so horrible the way Joan was such a snob. I'm really glad Sharlie got the job over Maude.

#5: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:43 pm

*g* Bitter and twisted. She's only jealous! Thank you Pim!

#6: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:44 pm

I can imagine that written in a spidery, mean handwriting and places where the pen nib went through the paper. such venom Shocked

#7: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:43 pm

Sounds like someone's got a bad case of jealousy and bitterness

poke

Joan

Thanks Pim

Liz

#8: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:22 pm

So unworthy of the CS.

#9: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:45 pm

*feels the need to drown Joan Bertram!*

#10: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:40 pm

Something a little cheerier written waaaaaaaaaay back as in, um, during my spring vac...!

2. A Nancy Moment (Summer 1954)

Have I told you lately that I love you?(1)

I loved her from the first moment I saw her. Love. It was one of those things that happened to other people, it didn’t happen to me. All the same, I couldn’t help the way I was feeling. What was it about her? I don’t know. It was everything, the way she laughed, the way the autumn sunlight caught her hair, the way her eyes shone, the way she looked at me. But did she know? And if she did, would she feel the same? Surely it was wrong to feel the way I did about her? But I couldn’t help it. She haunted my every moment.

You alone can light my way, you alone can make me whole once again(2)

I never believed she would love me in return. How could she? What could I offer her more than countless thousands could?

It’s only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away.(3)

I watch her now standing amidst a group of friends, talking, laughing, at ease with herself. I love the way her hair falls, shining as the light catches it when she moves her head. She turns her head briefly, our eyes lock. She gives the appearance of being happy, her brown eyes are shining but something clouds them momentarily before she turns back to the merry chatter. I can read her like a book, I know her every expression and movement. I know that despite outward appearances, something does not lie easy with her. I want to reach out and ask her. I want to soothe away whatever pain she feels, but I cannot.

The soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.(4)

I cannot tell her. I am too afraid. To love someone so much and not be loved in return is a pain more than I can bear. I continue to watch her, her laughter cuts me somewhere deep inside. In the end I turn away, unable to bear it any longer.

Would you like to discover why we’re not free to be lovers?(5)

The mountains always help to put things back into perspective. Everybody needs a little perspective every now and again. So I stand before a panorama that has little changed over the course of the centuries. There is a force stronger than ourselves; everything is fated, if it is meant to be then so be it. The problem of having so many brothers is that there are no expectations for the daughters. My achievements were simply an added bonus beside those of my brothers, what did they matter? But they do, if nothing else, they matter to me. One day I could have someone to share them with, I know who.

Just when I thought our chance had passed, you go and save the best for last.(6)

“Nancy.”

I turn round, she is beside me. My heart misses a beat before sinking as I remind myself that it will never be as I want it.

“Nancy.”

She repeats my name. It cuts at me.

“How did you know I was here?”
“I saw you slip out and followed you. I could read it in your eyes, something was wrong.” I say nothing, I remain with my back to her. “Nancy.” She lays her hand on my arm and that electric shock runs through me. “I can read you like a book… I’ve watched you so often I feel as though I know you by heart.”

I turn to face her. Her eyes are dark with compassion, yet there is something else there, something in her expression, something I cannot read. Love. I cannot read it because I have never done so before.

“Do you…” she begins, before breaking off into a giggle.

It is not like her usual merry laugh, it is a nervous giggle. I’ve noticed it before, when we first met. How could have I forgotten? How did I not see it then?

“I…” I falter.

She smiles, that soft, gentle smile.

You’re once, twice, three times a lady and I love you.(7)

We both stare out over the mountains for a while, neither of us speaks, there are no words to say. And then she reaches for my hand, and at that moment I know.

“Nancy,” she says.

This time I can read her expression. Love.

“Do you…” she begins.
I hesitate, what if she isn’t asking? “Yes,” I say quietly, suddenly, in a voice that does not feel like my own.

Oh, the time is so right, if we wait for tomorrow, it may in the night slip away.( Cool

Footnotes
1. Rod Stewart – Have I told you lately
2. Don McLean – Crossroads
3. Bee Gees – Words
4. Bette Midler – The Rose
5. Don McClean – Til Tomorrow
6. Vanessa Williams – Best for last
7. The Commodores – Three times a lady
8. Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons – Slip Away

#11: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:44 pm

Beautiful and clever. Thank you pim!

#12: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:59 pm

Thanks, Pim. It was lovely to see Nancy's view of Kathie and thank you for the quotes as well.

#13: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:36 pm

Thank you Pim, that was beautiful. *sniffle*

Isn't Joan a prize b*tch though!

#14: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:28 pm

Thank you Pim. Have just read both of these. Joan is spectacularly awful, and oh Nancy was just lovely.

#15: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:14 am

And the 'sister' post to the above, written as side by side as is humanly possible on a laptop Wink

3. A Kathie Moment (Summer 1954)

Have I told you lately that I love you?(1)

I loved her from the first moment I saw her. Love. I’d used that little four letter word so often before, but I’d never really meant it. Now I did. What was it about her that was so different to everybody else? Was it that calm air of self assuredness about her? Was it the clear honesty in her face? I’d heard about that coup de foudre of course, but I never believed it to be real. It was one of those things that happened to other people. Until it happened to me.

You know I’ve heard about people like me but I never made the connection, they walk one road to set them free and find they’ve gone the wrong direction.(2)

I never believed she would love me in return. How could she? Why should she? There must have been thousands of others who could offer her so much more than I could.

Talk in everlasting words and dedicate them all to me, and I will give you all my life, I’m here if you should call to me (3)

I watch her now, sitting alone pretending to be buried in her book. The others accept her pretence, but I know her better. She hasn’t turned a page in minutes, her eyes have been distracted. I like to think that she is watching me when nobody is looking, but she probably isn’t, why would she be? This pretence eats away at me, pretending to be happy in the crowd yet at the same time feeling so utterly alone because I know that what I want, I can’t have. There’s something about her today that isn’t right, I can see it in her eyes. I know her so much better than she realises.

Some say love it is a hunger, an endless aching need.(4)

I cannot tell her. I am too afraid. To love someone so much and not be loved in return is a pain more than I can bear. But I need her. I turn back to the others yet when I sneak a glance behind me again, she is gone. I know that the moment I have been waiting for is now. I make my excuses and slip away to follow her.

Storm clouds full of thunder move silent as they come and when they go we’ll be fine ‘til tomorrow.(5)

I follow her out of the School, she doesn’t know that I am following her as she leaves the grounds and winds her way a little further along the Platz. I know the spot she is going to, I have been there so often myself. The mountains, the majestic peaks of the Alps spread before me as far as the eye can see. I love this view so much, I know it by heart. It serves as a reminder that there is something so much more in life. Everything is fated, if it is meant to be then so be it. All my life there have been expectations of me but now I only hold the one.

And now we’re standing face to face, isn’t this world a crazy place?(6)

I know that I have to say something now. “Nancy.” For a moment I think that she hasn’t heard me, but then she turns round. I catch that passing look of hope in her eyes, before they cloud over once more. “Nancy.”
She stares at me. “How did you know I was here?”
“I saw you slip out and followed you. I could read it in your eyes, something was wrong.” She turns away again, saying nothing. “Nancy.” I lay my hand on her arm. “I can read you like a book… I’ve watched you so often I feel as though I know you by heart.”

She turns to face me, I can see her studying my face, my expression. I cannot read her own, I dare not for I do not want to think I see something that is not there. I eventually look again, there is something in her eyes I have missed for so long. Love. I had dared not notice it before.

“Do you…” I begin before breaking off into a nervous giggle.
“I…” she falters and I smile.

When we are together the moments I cherish with every beat of my heart (7)

We both stare out over the mountains for a while, neither of us speaks, there are no words to say. And then I reach for her hand, she looks me in the eye and at that moment I know.

“Nancy,” I say.

This time I can read her expression. Love.

“Do you…” I begin.
She hesitates. “Yes,” she says quietly, suddenly and I understand that she feels the same.

Oh, the time is so right, if we wait for tomorrow, it may in the night slip away.( Cool

#16: Author: Gem, Location: Saltash/Aberystwyth

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 11:59 am

Oooh - thank you pim! Very Happy

Joan is such a b*tch...

*sniff* at the Kathie/Nancy interludes.

#17: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:17 pm

Thanks, Pim. That was so lovely, seeing the moment when they realised the other had feelings for the other.

#18: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:20 pm

Thanks Pim - it's lovely to see these little snippets of the story from other people's point of view Very Happy

Liz

#19: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:25 pm

Thank you Pimmy Very Happy

#20: Author: MaryR, Location: Sale Cheshire

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:26 pm

Beautifully written, Pim - you left me breathless. Wink

#21: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:09 pm

Hmm, bit of a theme developing here...

4. Learning to Love (January 1955)

Jane Andrews cast an anxious eye at the clock before looking at herself in the dressing table mirror. It had been more years than she cared to remember since she had last been taken on a date, or indeed even met anyone that she would have considered accepting had they asked. Jane had been in love once but it had been purely unrequited. She had been 15 at the time as the Great War broke out and he, three years older, had enlisted and been killed eighteen months later. Aged 16 ½ Jane had closed her heart to those who wanted to love her in fear of losing another that she loved. It had taken forty long years for anyone to break through her defences. Rupert Graham had spent two years plucking up the courage to ask her for dinner. They had met in unusual circumstances after her niece, Charlotte, had walked into his photographers shop asking about a picture he had taken of her and her sisters in 1936. Jane and Rupert had met over lunch a few weeks later when he had been invited to her niece, Rebecca’s. Jane had liked him on sight, he had put her at ease and they had instantly got on. It had been more years to count since that had last happened.

She checked her watch again. She was expecting him in five minutes. She felt a nervous flutter in her stomach wondering if he would turn up on time or whether he had changed his mind .He could have simply got caught up in the emotion of her niece Elizabeth’s wedding and now, perhaps, he wasn’t so sure. The house was unusually quiet – one of her nieces or their cousins tended to be around as a rule but Rebecca was at her home with her husband and children, Charlotte teaching in Switzerland, Elizabeth had only recently moved out when she had married, Harriet nursing in London, David and work and Caroline somewhere with friends. With a sigh she stood up and eyed herself critically in the full length mirror on the back of the wardrobe door, wondering if she had done the right thing in saying yes.

Rupert Graham turned on to Lyme Road as his stomach quickly flipped over. It had been over twenty years since Alice died and even longer since he’d last been on a first date. In fact his last first date had been with Alice back in 1924, he had been 26 years old and wrapped up in his developing career as a photographer. Rupert had always declared that he wouldn’t marry but somehow Alice had changed that stance. There were still times when he wasn’t completely convinced that she had gone; Colin would sometimes find him talking to her, just running an idea past her. Then he had met Jane and it had all changed. His feelings had developed slowly for her but he had soon realised that she had closed her heart to love. It had been a struggle to break down her defences until she had said yes to dinner.

Rupert wished his stomach would stop somersaulting as he arrived at number 12, the flowers clutched in his left hand as his right reached out to knock on the door.

“Good evening, Miss Andrews,” he said as she opened the door, holding out the flowers to her.
“Are they for me? Rupert, you shouldn’t have… Come on in, I’ll just put them in water before we go out.”

As they closed the door behind them that night they had no idea of where they would be going a few years down the line. Not that it would have made any difference anyway.

#22: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:35 pm

I'm loving these 'snapshots', pim.

#23: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:10 pm

Thanks, Pim. It was lovely to hear Jane and Colin's thoughts about each other. I love these snapshots as well!

#24: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:43 pm

That was beautiful Pim - Thank you

Liz

#25: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:00 am

What a lovely gentle post this was. Thank you.

#26: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:09 am

5. When Harriet met Martin

It had been a long day, too long, thought Harriet Andrews as she stood at the roadside, blearily rubbing her eyes as she waited to cross. Twelve hours on shift on the children’s ward had exhausted her and now all she wanted was a nice, long, hot bath and to sleep for the next couple of days interrupted. They had lost a patient that morning, a three year old boy. Although she saw death more often than she liked Harriet had never got used to it. An older colleague had once told her that the day she got used to death was the day she was in the wrong job. Harriet had taken those words to heart. She had lost both her parents, her nan, her brother and her younger sister by the age of 11; she knew you never got used to death.

She gave cursory glance to her left and then back to her right. The roads were unusually quiet for the time of day. Harriet checked back to her left, not really taking anything in as she stifled a yawn and stepped out into the road. Suddenly she was brought crashing back to reality as she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her back on to the pavement. As Harriet turned to see who had done it a black car sped past and she shuddered.

“That was close,” a male voice said.

Harriet blinked and rubbed her eyes again as the world came back into focus. She found herself looking into the eyes of one of the new junior doctors on the ward. Realising that he still had hold of her arm she wriggled free of his grasp.

“Th… thank you,” she stammered. “I didn’t see that car at all.”
“Long shift?” he asked, barely masking the concern in his voice. Harriet nodded. “You’re Nurse Andrews,” he said. She nodded again. “I’ve seen you on the ward.” Harriet smiled. “You do a good job you nurses.”
“We do our best, Dr Fitzpatrick,” she replied shyly. The doctors were not famed for the attention they paid to the nurses. Harriet was used to either being ignored by them or treated as a skivvy.
“I’m pleased to hear it.”
“I must be going,” said Harriet suddenly as another yawn overtook her. He smiled sympathetically. “It’s been a long day.”
“I’m in for a long night then. How’s young Master Simmons?”
Harriet’s face dropped. “He passed away this morning.”
“Oh,” was his only reply. “I suppose it happens.”
“Unfortunately.”
“I’d best be letting you get on your way, Nurse Andrews. Take care crossing any roads now.”
“I will, and thank you.”
“Think nothing of it, only of me as your knight in shining armour.” She giggled as his face grew serious. “Perhaps you’d care to join me for dinner on Saturday night?”
“Sorry?” she asked in disbelief.
“I think you heard,” he replied, a mischievous smile playing around his lips. “Are you on shift?”
“No, but…”
“I’ll meet you here at seven then.”

And with that he disappeared into the hospital leaving Harriet staring after him in disbelief, not quite sure what had just happened. Her stomach gave a little skip of nerves and excitement as she crossed the road little knowing that it would be something they would look back on and laugh about in later years.

#27: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:13 am

Lovely meeting and wonderful last line Very Happy

Thanks Pim

Liz

#28: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:12 pm

Thanks, Pim. That was a lovely meeting between Harriet and Martin.

#29: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:17 pm

Because I have a cold and feel rubbish and I'm procrastinating from moving from next to the heater to go out into the cold and do the post, brr!

6. All Grown Up (September 1955)

“Caroline! Caroline Robbins for goodness sake get yourself down here or we’ll be late!”

Elizabeth Watts stood tapping her foot impatiently at the foot of the stairs waiting for her young cousin who was due to start her secretarial course that day. Now at 24 it was nine long years since Elizabeth had faced that first day herself; time had numbed the nerves she had felt but she could appreciate what might be going through Caroline’s mind.

“Caroline, are you coming or not?”

Elizabeth anxiously drummed her fingers on the banister wondering if, perhaps, she was more nervous than Caroline. She wasn’t even sure she had been this nervous on her wedding day nine months previously.

Caroline Robbins stared at herself in the mirror and gave herself one final check over. She wriggled her skirt down where it had already begun to bunch up. She wasn’t sure she recognised the girl who stared back at her from the mirror – she didn’t feel like herself today, it was as though she was only playing at being grown up. She ran her hands over her usually unruly hair, admiring how Elizabeth had managed to get it looking something like and hoped that it would remain presentable at least until she arrived at college. Elizabeth calling her name cut through her thoughts and with one final glance in the mirror she grabbed her bag and ran lightly down the stairs.

“Do I look okay?” she asked anxiously, landing at the bottom of the stairs.
Elizabeth smiled. “You’ll do. Now come on, or you’ll be late.”

They set off walking in silence, each lost in their reflections on the last fifteen years. Elizabeth had only been nine years old when Caroline had been born and had been allowed to hold her motherless cousin at two days. It had been during their evacuee years in Wales that Elizabeth had developed an older sister role to Caroline. As her own sisters had found their niches in life, Elizabeth had been the one left behind in the tiny Welsh village where they had been evacuees. Although it had been Rebecca who had taken on the maternal role, being the one who took responsibility for Caroline and her brother, David, it was Elizabeth to whom Caroline turned for advice and support. She had only been six when Elizabeth had started her own secretarial course but Caroline had clung to her every word about it.

Elizabeth would be the first to admit that as a teenager her young cousin’s almost hero worship had sometimes got on her nerves but now there was no sign of it. Caroline’s hero worship had turned into a healthy respect, culminating in her unspoken request for Elizabeth’s moral support as she took her first steps along her career path.

“I’ll be okay from here,” Caroline announced suddenly at the end of the college road.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Thanks for coming but I don’t want to look like a wimp. I need to do this on my own.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth smiled. She had said the exact same words to Rebecca on her first day. “Well have a good day and remember me to Miss Hotton if she’s still there – she used to do shorthand and she was 80 if she was a day.”
Caroline nodded. “I will if I get the chance. See you this evening.”

Elizabeth watched her cousin’s back vanish down the road and remembered doing that herself – her first steps as a grown up.

#30: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:17 pm

Beautiful Pim - I'm glad so many people have found happiness in the Sharlie universe

Thank you

#31: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:30 pm

Thanks, Pim. I really enjoyed reading about how well Elizabeth and Caroline have got on over the years.

#32: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:38 am

7. A New Day, A New Beginning (September 1956)

Nicole Rafter sat in the kitchen of her Cambridge maisonette thoughtfully stirring the cup of tea in front of her. If you could see her now, Annie, she thought, you’d be so proud. There were times when Nicole struggled to reconcile the previous two years of her life. Back then she had been in Australia undergoing a nasty break up from her then boyfriend and being rapidly alienated by her friends. How she would have laughed if she’d been able to see herself now. Twelve months later had seen her back in England following the death of her school friend, Annie, and her husband, Mark. The death of Annie’s mother six months later had found Nicole with the responsibility of Annie’s young daughter Samantha. And now there was Lawrie as well; she wasn’t completely sure how that one had come about but she wasn’t arguing.

Today was Samantha’s first day at school and how Nicole wished that her parents could see her now. Samantha had awoken her at five with a mixture of nerves and excitement more usually reserved for Christmas or a visit from one of Nicole’s other school friends. Somehow she had convinced her to go back to her own bed and sleep. She wasn’t sure how. She had been awoken again at 6.30 by a Samantha fully kitted out in her school uniform, albeit with her tie in complete disarray. She hadn’t had the heart to send her back to bed but had insisted that she put her nightdress back on and come into bed with her for half an hour. Samantha had cuddled up close to her and chattered away until Nicole’s alarm clock had caused them both to sit bolt upright in surprise.

Nicole cast an anxious eye on the clock and realised that they would need to leave in five minutes. She had sent Samantha to clean her teeth and it had all gone unusually quiet. Getting to her feet she crossed the hall to the bathroom where there was no sign of her. With a sigh Nicole climbed the stairs to their bedrooms where she found Samantha in her room sitting on her bed staring at nothing in particular.

“It’s nearly time to go, sweetheart,” said Nicole quietly.

Samantha looked up at her, slid off her bed and crossed to Nicole, wrapping her arms around her and burying her head against her. Nicole held on to her for a few moments, stroking her hair. Letting her go she crouched in front of Samantha.

“Ready to go, sweetheart?”

Samantha nodded and smiled doubtfully, taking Nicole’s proffered hand as she stood up. Nicole glanced over her shoulder at the photograph of Annie and Mark on Samantha’s chest of drawers. I really wish you could see her now, Annie, she thought.

#33: Author: Katie, Location: A Yorkshire lass in London

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:50 am

Aww, so sweet. It must be a very emotional day, when you first send a kiddy off to school. Ty Pimmy. Very Happy

#34: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:55 am

Thanks, Pim. It's good to get updates on the others.

#35: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:28 pm

Still snuffling and refusing to move from beside the heater...

8. Let Me Tell You A Story (Christmas 1958)

“Tell me a story mummy, “Claire says to me with those wide eyes that I would do anything for. I reach for the story book I left on the bedside table the previous night. “No mummy,” she says firmly. “I don’t want a story from the book. Make me one up.”

I sigh. I’m no good at making up stories. Sharlie can, Claire loves her stories, so do Sarah and Jack. I’ve always maintained that Sharlie got my share of the imagination but I look at Claire and know that I cannot shy away from her request.

“Very well,” I say at length. “Let me tell you a story about a little girl who dared to dream. This little girls grew up in a house just like this one with a da who worked in a factory just like yours. The little girl had a big sister, three little sisters and a little brother and they always played outside together with the other children on the street. But this little girl was different from the other children because she believed that dreams could come true; she believed that if you stood on tiptoe then you could reach the stars. Sometimes the other children laughed at the little girl because they didn’t understand her and sometimes even her big sister laughed at her. But they didn’t know how to dream. Sometimes the little girl argued with her big sister because, like the other children, she didn’t understand, but she does now. The little girl knew that there was a world beyond the street where she lived and she wanted to explore that world. She believed that one day she would explore all four corners of the world; she never saw closed doors only open ones with new experiences on the other side. She knew that you could not be afraid of the future – she saw it as a blank piece of paper to draw on. She could tell stories about what might happen if her dreams would only come true but the other children only laughed at her. I wonder if those children ever learned to dream as the little girl did.

“Then one day a terrible war broke out and everything in the little girl’s world changed. She dreamed that one day peace would come to the world again for she did not like anyone to be hurt or upset. The little girl had the biggest heart of anyone and she wanted to touch the world and heal its wounds. She was always willing to stand up for what she believed in. She believed that everybody had the right to be free and to dream.”

I break off and look at Claire who has fallen asleep and is dreaming peacefully. I can only hope that one day she will listen to her dreams and follow them as the little girl in my story did. When that little girl grew up she told me once: “the only thing between you and the stars is fear so I shall look forward without fear so that I may achieve anything I dream of.”

#36: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:38 pm

Thanks, Pim. It was lovely to hear about the day Samantha started school and Rebecca telling Claire about Sharlie's childhood.

#37: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:44 am

I *think* from extensive and fruitless googling, that I have stealthed these lyrics from Carly Simon, the version I have is Grania & Lizzy Renihan and the CD is chez my parentals and thus not actually with me to check, d'oh.

9. Little Sisters

Two little sisters gazing at the sea, imagining what their futures will be.

It was early morning in the Southport summer, promising to be a grey and overcast day once more. On the shore two little girls ignored the warning weather, too busy engrossed in a game without rules. Likewise, nobody noticed the two little girls, clearly sisters, both skinny with their long, lank, dark hair tied in two plaits down their backs. The few who stopped to look noticed their brilliant blue eyes alive and shining.

The older one said as her eyes looked around: I will go as far as the corners of the town. I’ll plant a little garden, flowers everywhere and pluck the most fragrant ones for my hair.

None of those passers by on that grey Southport morning would have ever known that the elder girl would grow up to be the one that her younger sisters would turn to in times of need. Rebecca Andrews would remain within the confines of Liverpool adopting the role of mother figure for her family. Rebecca would be the one constant in the lives of others, the one who remained with her feet firmly on the ground.

Two little sisters gazing at the sea, imagining what their futures will be.

A young couple stopped briefly, smiling as they watched the two young girls at play. Their laughter caught on the wind as they ran and chased after each other not noticing the rain that began to drizzle down around them. The young couple stood watching the two little girls for some time, each remembering the idyllic endless days of their own childhood summers.

The younger one stand with her eyes open wide and says: I’ll go as far as the corners of the sky and gather all the stars each night as they appear and pick the brightest ones to wear in my ear.

No one could have guessed that the younger girl would be the first of her sisters to learn how to spread their wings and fly. Charlotte Andrews would be the one who travelled to follow her heart and beliefs, seizing her freedom with both hands. Charlotte would be the one who left friends wherever she went, she would be the one to follow their father’s advice and touch the sky.

I didn’t choose you and you didn’t choose me. Who’d have guessed we’re from the same family?

To the passers by the only thing that marked the girls out as sisters was their strikingly similar appearances. The smaller one was pulling at the older one’s arm in a bid to take her to show her something. The older one was putting up a good fight not to go with her as she cast one anxious eye to the grey clouds overhead and the other to where their family was sitting a little further along. The young couple who had been watching them slipped their arms around each other and carried on walking.

But what will you do when your nights grow cold, when the lights grow dim and your dreams seem old?

Charlotte would always have an unspoken respect for her elder sister the home maker. It would always be Rebecca she turned to in times of need, who she would always appeal to for understanding, the kind that only older sisters have, that knack of knowing exactly what the other would be thinking or feeling. Rebecca would always be there for her younger sister to come home to when she grew tired of dreaming.

What will you do when winter calls and your flowers fall from your garden walls?

Although Rebecca would not admit it to anyone, and only gave a cursory acknowledgement to it herself, there would always be a tiny part of her that envied Charlotte. But Charlotte would always be there for Rebecca, she would always come back with tales of her adventures and a sister’s love that can heal anything. They would be two opposites that balanced each other out, always able to drive winter from each other’s faces.

I’ll come home to you, you’ll come home to me; our love will be a remedy.

None of those passers by on the beach at Southport that grey summer’s morning could ever know the path that the lives of those two sisters would take. From their safe distance they could not see the strong bond of sisterhood between the two that, even at such a young age, marked the fact that it would only deepen as the years went by. It would be an unbreakable bond; those who knew them best would say that they never needed to communicate with words as they could always read each other’s thoughts.

I’ll choose you and you’ll choose me, we’ll be two daughters dancing by the edge of the sea.

#38: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:20 pm

Thanks, Pim. It was wonderful to look back on Rebecca and Sharlie's childhood.

#39: Author: pim, Location: Helmel Hampster

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:31 pm

10. Sharlie girl

Sharlie girl they call her, although she’s hardly a girl anymore, but still they all call her that, even I call her that. Somehow the name suits her, encompasses who she is and what she is.

I think you know the very moment that you meet the person who is going to change your life. I knew it the moment she walked into the shop asking about the photograph, her photograph.

My father had always loved that picture. It was one of the few that his inner perfectionist would allow him to like. It was easy to see why. Even with their backs to the camera the love between those little girls is obvious.

I think I call her Sharlie girl because of that picture. I know her so well that I can see her as that six year old child with her sisters. They are pointing at something, she doesn’t remember what, and they are all clearly fascinated, except Becca.

Becca’s stance just that step behind them is who she is – the wary one. She is the sister who watches the others fly away and go far whilst she remains with her feet on the ground, a little unsure of change. But in remaining there she is the support and guidance for her younger sisters, always there when they need her.

Why do they call you Sharlie girl, I ask, running my fingers through her hair. She smiles enigmatically and ignores my question, wrapping her arms around me and laying her head against my chest. I can hear your hear beating, she whispers, changing the subject.

Eliz thinks that Sharlie girl came from their father but she can’t be sure. If it is then I know that she will never tell me for she guards her father so deep inside her heart.

Sharlie girl, it conjures up the image of a young girl skipping carefree along the cobbled streets. Yet Sharlie girl is the woman laying with her head in my lap, half asleep and murmuring nonsensically to me.

I knew in an instant that she would change my life. And she has.

I am taking my lurgy home for the weekend now and will be back with Part 4 on Monday, unless I am over-lurgified and don't make it back from the wilderness.

#40: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent, England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:27 pm

Thanks, Pim. It was so lovely to read Colin's thoughts on Sharlie. I look forward to reading Part Four.

#41: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:23 pm

Beautiful, Pim. thank you.

#42: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:39 pm

Gorgeous pimmy thank you. You have made me cry everyday this week.

#43: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:23 pm

Thank you Pimmy!

Hope the lurgy goes away and you have a good weekend!
Waiting eagerly for part 4!

#44: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:37 am

Wonderful - thanks Pim Kiss

Liz

The CBB -> Ste Therese's House

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