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#1: Snapshots 3 (5/5 11/10) Author: pim, Location: Londinium

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:24 am
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Hélas, this is what happens when you accidentally let your secondary characters become as demanding as your protaganist. The final set out of out-takes and the last there will be from the Sharlie universe. In the words of Billy Joel: "these are the last words I have to write, before another age ges by; there will be other words some other day, but that's the story of my life". Wink

1/5

It would be the silence, he reflected, that he would notice the most. And the stillness. He looked at her again, hopefully. Maybe, just maybe… mistakes were made after all.

But not this one.

He knew it but it would take time to convince him of it.

He reached tentatively for her hand.

Not cold, he whispered to himself. Means you’re not gone, my Sharlie girl.

A voice called his name, but not hers. Ellie’s. He shook himself and glanced imploringly at her. Still nothing, only his hope that it couldn’t have come to this.

If he’d have known what would he have done differently these last few days?

Did I tell you I loved you this morning, he mused, when I said I was getting up and you said you’d sleep a couple of hours more? Did you know then? He sighed. I’ll never get used to you not being here, you know, he whispered.

Last edited by pim on Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:10 am; edited 9 times in total

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

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:04 am
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Crying or Very sad

Poor Colin.

Ta pimmy.

#3: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:58 am
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Thanks, Pim. That was so moving to see Colin's thoughts. Crying or Very sad

#4: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:00 am
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Poor Colin Crying or Very sad

#5: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:46 pm
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Crying or Very sad

Poor Colin; he's going to miss her so much.

Thanks Pim.

#6: Author: pim, Location: Londinium

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:06 pm
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2/5

“Luke?”
“Hmm?” Luke Graham looked up from the negatives he was working on to see Clare with the cordless phone in her outstretched hand.
“It’s your wife.”
“What’s up, Ellie?” he asked, tucking the phone under his chin.
“Luke, it’s your mam.”
He knew then. He had been half expecting it since the summer, since she’d been ill again. “What’s happened?”
“She…” Ellie’s voice cracked and he knew she was close to tears. “She’s dead Luke.”
“I’m coming home.” He pressed the red button to end the call and flung the phone against the wall, watching it shatter as it slid to the floor.

*
“Amelia Graham.”
“I’m sorry to bother you, Dr Graham.” Amelia sighed at the voice of her secretary. “Your sister-in-law’s on the phone.”
“Put her through, Jane.” There was a click. “Hi, Ellie?”
“Amelia, I’ve got bad news. Can you get home? It’s your mam… she…” Ellie broke off. “She’s dead.”
Amelia swore. “I’m on my way. I just need to sort out with my reg to cover me. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

She hung up the phone with a resounding clatter, letting her head drop into her hands and cried.

*
“Alice Graham, history.”
Luke was caught short by the chirpy manner in which his older sister answered her phone. “You are there. I did wonder if you’d given out a phoney number.”
“What’s up, Luke?”
“It’s mam.”
“Oh crap, what’s happened now?”
“She’s dead, Alice.”
“But… she was getting better,” Alice protested weakly. She couldn’t see Luke’s shrugged reply. “Oh God Luke, I only spoke to her on Monday night. I… I’m coming home. Tom can follow with the girls and someone will cover my classes this week. I… I can’t believe it.”
“No, neither can I.”

*
“Mrs Clarke, I’m terribly sorry to disturb you.” Sophie Clarke stopped the maths lesson she was giving in reply to the interruption from the school secretary. “There’s a call for you in the office.” With a nod to her classroom assistants to take charge in her absence, Sophie followed her down the corridor. “It’s your sister, Mrs Clarke, I didn’t like to say in front of your class.”
Sophie stopped suddenly, the colour draining from her face before breaking into a run to the office. “Millie,” she said, gasping for breath. “Millie, what…”
“It’s mam.”
“I knew it. Is she back in hospital?”
“No, she’s dead, Soph.”
Sophie absorbed the news silently, fighting the sinking sensation in her stomach. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

*
“Rupert Graham.”
“Thank God you’re there. I was terrified you’d be in the lab and I’d never get you out.”
“Alice?”
“Yes, me.”
“Why are you ringing me at work?”
“It’s about mam.”
“What about her?” Roo asked, absent mindedly doodling on the piece of paper in front of him.
“She died this morning, Rooo.”
“But… da said… and Millie…”
“I know. Look, can you get home today?”
“Yes.”

Roo hung up the phone gently and stared blankly at the wall.

*
“It’s for you Lottie.”
Lottie Murphy, who had been enjoying her free period, eased herself up with a sigh to take the staff room telephone from her colleague. “Hello?”
“Lottie, it’s Alice.”
“What’s up?”
“Mam.”
“What’s happened to tata now?”
“She..” Lottie swore, somehow knowing what Alice was going to say next. “Charlotte!”
“Sorry, Alice. She… she… it’s bad news whichever way, isn’t it?”
“Yes. She died this morning.”
Lottie swore again, this time Alice let it pass. “I’ll be home as soon as I can,” she muttered, hanging up and running from the room.

*
Roo was the last one to arrive home that evening, making an excuse about the traffic. The six sat together in the living room as they often had done, the conversation minimal for a time until Luke brought up a recent anecdote, giving them the cue to lose themselves in their memories.

#7: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:09 pm
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Sad though this is, I'm glad you've written it, Pim. It gives us a chance to grieve with Sharlie's family. Thank you.

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

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:22 pm
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Ta pimmy. Crying or Very sad

And there's still Kathie and Lucy and...

#9: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:44 pm
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So sad. Crying or Very sad

#10: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:45 pm
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Thanks, Pim. That was hard to read, so I am guessing it was hard to write. Crying or Very sad

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

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:20 pm
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Thanks Pim. That moment of telling that redefines your life... Crying or Very sad

#12: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:46 am
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Thank you, Pim.
Very realistic. Crying or Very sad

#13: Author: pim, Location: Londinium

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:38 am
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This one may have been brought on after reading a surfeit of Lorna Hill... *g*

3/5

Alison Wallace tried to tune out the noise of the changing room around her to concentrate on the particularly tricky knot she had managed to get in the laces of her school shoes.

“Is Alison Wallace in here?” a voice asked from the doorway and Alison leapt up in response to a jab in the ribs from her friend beside her.
“I’m here.”
“Mrs Carruthers wants to see you in her office.”
“What, now?”
“Well, when you’re changed.”
“What’ve you done, Allie?” asked Gemma as she sank back down.
“No idea, I’ve been dead good lately – except for that maths homework I did rubbish in last week.”

“I’m sorry to keep you from your lunch, Allie,” Libby Carruthers said, pushing her fair hair back out of her eyes as Alison sat carefully in the proffered seat. “I’m afraid I’ve some bad news for you.” Alison stared at the floor, barely aware of her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand.
“Not mam, not Jo,” she whispered to herself.
“What was that, Allie?”
“Nothing, Mrs Carruthers.”
“It’s about your grandmother.”
“Nan,” corrected Alison instinctively. “She’s my nan,” she stopped, looking her teacher in the eye. “And she’s dead, isn’t she?”
Libby Carruthers was stunned momentarily into silence. “Yes, Allie, I’m afraid so. And I’m so very sorry, but how…”
Alison shrugged. “It was just something I overheard Juliet say in the summer hols. She’s my mam’s cousin and an old people’s doctor.”

Alison had been given little time to dwell on the news as she had been taken first to her dormitory to pack a bag and then whisked up the Northern Line from Leicester Square to Euston. The train bound for Liverpool Lime Street pulled slowly out of the station as Alison sank back in her seat to watch north London race by. She pulled out the last letter she had received from her nan, the one that had been marking the page in her book and cast her eyes over it once more.

You told me to reach for the sky, nan, she thought as the train slowed down to pull into Milton Keynes Central. You told me to follow my dreams because nobody could take them away from me. I did, nan, I did as you said. And I won’t let go. I won’t stop dreaming and I’ll fight every step of the way. And when I make it, when I’m the one dancing the solo in Swan Lake or whatever then I’ll be doing it for you. And for Bethie. And for da. But really for you because you made me see that dreams can come true.

The three hour journey had seemed like a lifetime to Alison as she collected her rucksack from the luggage rack on hearing the announcement that the train was approaching Liverpool Lime Street. I’ll be outside WH Smith, the text message from her mother had said. Alison made her way off the platform, nervously scanning the early evening crowds for her mam and sister. They were where they had said they would be and the first smile, one of relief, crossed Alison’s face since that morning as she found her way into the safe arms of her mam.

I spread my wings, nan, thought Alison, I’m learning to fly but I’ll always know how to fly home.

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

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:44 am
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Pimmy! You made me cry!!!

Ta.

#15: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:49 am
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Thank you Pim.

I don't do crying as a rule and coped with the first two but that last one, bringing everything full circle 'to reach for the sky' finished me off.

#16: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:46 pm
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Thanks, Pim. It was tear-jerking.

#17: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:09 pm
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How lovely that Alison should have such a positive attitude after all she's lost. Thanks Pim.

#18: Author: pim, Location: Londinium

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:08 pm
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4/5

“The stars are not wanted now, put out every one; pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,” quoted Emily Rutherford softly as those who had congregated at the graveside slowly made their way along the street outside the church.
“Oh quit it with that dreadful poem, Emily,” her cousin, Alison Wallace, snapped. “It’s so morbid.”
“Funerals are morbid occasions,” remarked Emily dryly.
“Not necessarily,” retorted Alison. “Anyway, nan wouldn’t have wanted us to be all morbid.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh be real, Em. Nan was always the first one to remind us life goes on. And I should know,” she added, almost to herself.
“I was only thinking of Gramps,” Emily murmured in reply.

The two glanced a little further up the road to where their grandfather was walking with Alison’s younger sister, Joanna, her arm tucked through his as they chatted easily. Not for the first time Alison felt a pang at the close relationship that the two had. She had pushed herself away from everybody in the aftermath of first her sister and then her father’s deaths and it was always at times like this that she wished she could have done as Joanna had and found someone to instinctively comfort her.

“Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,” Emily muttered.
“Emily, stop it!” snapped Alison, ignoring the sharp glance her Aunt Alice suddenly threw in their direction.
“What are you two arguing about?”

Neither Emily nor Alison had realised that with their quicker pace they had caught up with their grandfather.

“Em’s being morbid, Gramps,” mumbled Alison.
“It’s a funeral,” returned Emily defensively.
“She’s quoting that awful Auden poem.”
“She was my North, my South, my East and West; my working week and my Sunday rest; my noon, my midnight, my talk my song – that one?” Colin asked.
“I thought love would last forever: I was wrong,” added Emily, finishing the verse.
Colin shook his head in reply. “Auden was wrong. You don’t stop loving someone just because they’re dead, Emily.” He reached for Alison’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I raise you ‘Death is nothing at all… I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other that we are still’.”
Emily shrugged. “I s’pose.”
“No matter how much I’d love it to be like Auden wanted; I feel much more comfortable with Holland. ‘I am waiting for you for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well’.”

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-- W.H. Auden

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

~Canon Henry Scott-Holland

#19: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:25 pm
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Lovely contrast of the attitudes towards death shown by the different generations here, Pim. I'm really enjoying these little 'endpieces'. Thanks for rounding out Sharlie's story with them.

#20: Author: Karry, Location: Stoke on Trent

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:35 pm
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I should know by now not to read these when there is someone sitting opposit me!

This is.... I can't really say lovely, but, you know what i mean - touching, moving etc!

Thank you

#21: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:45 pm
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Thanks, Pim. Both of those poems were really moving.

#22: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:15 pm
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Thank you Pim - glad that Colin is holding up

#23: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:44 pm
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These snapshots are beautifully sad Crying or Very sad

#24: Author: MaryR, Location: Cheshire

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:09 pm
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Thank you, Pim. Crying or Very sad

#25: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:25 pm
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Thanks Pim. Very moving

#26: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:11 am
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Thank you, Pim.

Allie's post was particularly Crying or Very sad

ifying.

#27: Author: pim, Location: Londinium

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:09 am
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23 August 2009

Lucy Lennox sat alone on the beach, a gentle breeze rustling the edge of the blanket draped over her knees as she gazed out to sea. She remembered the first time as though it were yesterday. It seemed inconceivable that fifty five years had passed since then. Closing her eyes she was no longer alone. It was the summer of 1954 and the four friends had gathered, taking stock in the aftermath of Annie’s death. They had been 24 years old then, no commitments to weigh them down and taking life as it came.

It had all been Tish’s idea. These things usually were. She and Tish had been racing to deal with some of Tish’s excess energy, Her eyes still closed she could feel Tish’s hand grabbing at her ankle to slow her down as she passed, then Tish’s shock of red curls emerging from the sea as she triumphantly declared “I win!”. Lucy had laughed it off, merrily splashing her friend in reply. They’d gone back to join Sharlie and Nicole, lost in deep conversation as they watched Samantha. It had been then that Tish suggested they guess what they next five years would bring.

Over the years they had usually been fairly right about where life would lead them but they had never mentioned the darker side. Nicole had died ten years later, Tish some 36 years later, and Sharlie only three years previously.

“I wish… what do I wish?” whispered Lucy to the gentle waves of the sea. “I want… I want everybody to stay as happy as they are now.”

She looked up and around her, spotting her companions easily as they cautiously picked their way across the sand to her, the telling signs of old age all present. But they looked happy. Kathie, with her arm tucked through Colin’s, stood between he and Christian chatting animatedly.

“Game over?” asked Lucy as Christian helped her to her feet. “Who won?”
“Colin’s the crazy golf king,” grinned Kathie.
“Only because we let him,” interjected Christian.
Lucy laughed. “Time for afternoon tea then?”

23 August 2014

No one came that year to make their predictions for the next five. The sun beat down on the families enjoying their holidays but not on the four who had come every five years for so long. Hannah had found her mother’s last prediction buried at the bottom of a handbag when she had gone through her mother’s things after her death two years previously. She had wondered about it briefly and filed it away amidst a pile of other papers.

~23/08/2009: I want them all to be as happy as they are now on 23/08/2014. Keep them safe~

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

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:41 am
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Thank you Pim, that was very moving.

#29: Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:01 pm
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Thanks, Pim - that last little note found among Lucy's papers was particularly poignant. Has the wheel now come full circle?

#30: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:06 pm
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Thanks, Pim. I am sorry to hear of Lucy's death. Crying or Very sad

I can't believe it's the very last post. Crying or Very sad

#31: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:01 pm
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Thank you, Pim, that was a lovely way to end Sharlie's story, even if it is so sad.

#32: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:29 pm
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Oh my, the tears were flowing reading these.

Beautifully written Pim.

Crying or Very sad

#33: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:55 pm
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My eyes are moist... Crying or Very sad

#34: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:30 pm
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So sad, yet so right.

Thank you Pim.

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

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:55 am
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Ta pimmy.

Sad and yet right.

#36: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:55 pm
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Trying to read that through my tears and do some knitting and Matty wouldn't shut up about his homework - not a good combination!

These have been beautiful Pim - even though they have made me cry a lot Rolling Eyes

#37: Author: Alice, Location: London, England

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 8:42 am
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That was perfect Pim, thank you.

#38: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:52 pm
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Thanks, Pim. A perfect end.

#39: Author: Ally, Location: John Bettany's Cabin!

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:43 am
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Thank you pim, it was just right to see the reactions of everyone else.

#40: Author: Eilidh, Location: North Lanarkshire

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:16 am
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Lovely ending Pim, even if I have found it a week late. Thank you.

#41: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:52 am
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thank you Pim. That was so *complete* after the last post.

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

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:51 pm
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I was fine....til I read the last one.

Thank you Pim

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

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:44 pm
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The screen got blurrier and blurrier as I read through these Crying or Very sad

Thanks, Pim - sad, but so beautiful in their sadness.

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

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:34 pm
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Pim, 'thank you' doesn't seem enough to say.
I'm going to miss your Sharlie universe so much.
*sniffles muchly*

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