Laughing at the storm

short story

Nelly entered her house after a hard night's job. The slam of the door reverberated off the walls. The house she knew too well was cold and empty, mirroring how she felt inside. She threw the keys on the green worn-out couch behind the sitting room window. The view from that window was beautiful, the white petals of the spring daisies blended with the red of the roses. The splash of colour outside that window contrasted with the dull, thick gloom in the house.

She strolled into the kitchen and put the kettle on. After five minutes, the water bubbled vivaciously.Nelly smiled remembering the energy that her youngest brother had when he was around. She missed her family, her heart ached for togetherness. Few years ago, everyone was together but for some undefined reasons the family had to split. In this depression things had become even harder that the family just couldn't be together.

The phone rang just as she finished having breakfast. She was reluctant to pick up the call because the number was rather strange to her.

"hello", she started slowly

"Nelly my dear, how are you?" the caller asked

"Mummy!! you scared me. I was wondering who was calling with this number. Mum good morning, how are you?" Nelly asked happily and with relief. It was nice to hear a friendly familiar voice once in a while.

"I'm fine dear.Everyone here is fine. how is Josiah? " her mum asked with an expectancy of good news

"Mum, you know your son.He knows how to take care of himself. He is doing fine, I saw him yesterday" Nelly laughed to conceal the pain she really felt inside. Her brother Josiah was really sad about the other half of the family being in a different country. When he talked about how much he missed his other brothers, It always brought tears to Nelly's eyes.

"So mum, when are you coming?"Nelly asked finally

There was absolute silence on the phone for what seemed like hours.Nelly understood what that meant. Her mother was believing God for the finance so they could come over.

Nelly worked shifts in an old factory and she got paid meagre amounts. What she earned in a month was not even enough to pay for bills,rent and to also survive on. Josiah on the other hand was a student at the university of Huddersfield. He worked part-time to try and pay his way through school.

Their dad was currently jobless and mum worked as much as she could to support the other two kids as well as her husband. Life was tough.The economic meltdown was melting their family away and they tried their hardest to fight back. How long could they hold on for? Well only time could tell.

After a long time of thought, Mrs Bassey finally found the courage to say "I don't know when we'll come but I know we will.Don't worry dear, the time is coming when we will laugh at the storm! take care love. bye"

Nelly replaced the handset in its holder and was left with that feeling of emptiness once more.

She looked around and realised that she missed love and family. The things that made her happy definitely did not stay in that house.

© The poets voice~~~ July 2009, All rights reserved.

O mother, O daughter!

I don't remember how it goes this huge or how I came to this point. I'm sitting here, on my way to Kay's graduation and opposite me is a woman I once knew and loved.My well of tears has never ran dry since we became strangers..it's too bad to be true. I guess it all started with an argument, we exchanged some pretty bad words. We made up but we argued again and again and again.
"I don't have to tolerate this behaviour from you, after all I can adopt other children. Do you know How old I am? I gave birth to you, you know and if you think after 9 months of carrying you, you can throw it back in my face...just wait till you have your own children!!!!" she yelled at me with anger and frustration.
And I guess this time I really blew it. I am a good person..I really am, and I don't have a problem with apologising to anyone apart from my parents of course.I just find it extremely strange baring out my feelings before them.Sometimes, I think it's a bit of pride and at other times I just don't know; I'm weird like that.
We tend to mis-understand each other a lot, even though we've become the best of friends. I realise that unconsciously, I do hit her where it hurts but it's not intentional.And that's when the fight happens usually because she thinks I did it on purpose.
And I know I try to forgive her.I really pray about it but I keep remembering the words she said to me that tore me to pieces.
........and I just couldn't take it anymore, the last argument was the final straw.I did apologise after but she wouldn't accept it. She began treating me like an outsider; an alien. I didn't know what to do or say to restore the jovial relationship.We avoided each other and I was only happy when I was not at home....we drifted.....we were isolated...and we became two randomers.....
It has been ridiculously hard without her, not only is she my mother..she is my friend! and I really miss the support her friendship provided.This widening gap is like a hole in my heart....

As the bus jolts to a stop, I am relieved of my thoughts and once more I embrace reality. I cannot undo the past but I can use my lesson to better the future.

...............................................................................
This is Fiction and the characters are totally made up!

© The poets voice~~~ June 2009, All rights reserved.

Tales by Blog-light Pt2

We ended our conversation just in time for the movie. It was starting now and I was anxious. I heard that this movie was hilarious and I thought I could really use some laughter.
Throughout the movie, we laughed together almost to the point of tears. Sade could laugh for hours non-stop and I could remember details of a movie and bring up as a joke whenever it came to my mind. I could only describe this movie by funny and hilarious. All the while, I sat there just focusing on this movie and all the comedy elements it had. I forgot my pain and all my problems. My heart was lighter. I was elated and ecstatic. I didn’t exactly win a battle but at least I had overcome my pain, temporarily.
The movie finally ended and everybody must have felt the way I did. I didn’t want it to end. The room was filled with voices muttering about the events that made them laugh.
I heard a young lady say “the scene where the pig was thrown off the plane was so funny. The pig was actually flying!”
I must have lost track of time. It took me a while before I noticed that everybody was standing up now and slowly moving to the door. Sade was getting her bag and jacket. She folded her jacket over her hand and then stood up motioning me to do the same.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we headed to mike’s house.

Michael is Sade’s fiancé. She met him in university 4 years ago. She was twenty then and in the third year of her course. She always wanted to be a caterer. She designed the venue, utensils, table and the clothes of a party, wedding, birthday or any other event there was. She would even design a cake and make the colour match with the table cloth or the curtains. She would then organize the waiters in the order she wanted them to come out with the food. She has artistic talents and she is very creative. She has one of the best businesses I have ever known. It was at a wedding that she met Mike.
She decorated the church with balloons and other accessories. Everything was white, sky blue or a combination of both colours. The chairs were arranged in a manner that they all faced the centre. Every chair had a little package well wrapped in silver paper with a bow on top. The middle of the church had a large circular table with a white cloth over it. The cloth had blue ribbons sewn round it. It was beautiful! At the middle of the table sat the six-step cake. I cold tell it was a vanilla flavored cake. All the cakes were heart shaped and they were in order of their sizes, the smallest one was at the top and the biggest one was at the bottom. It was the foundation of the series of steps.
She also positioned ushers to direct the invites to a seat. It didn’t take long before everyone was seated. The wedding went beautifully. I sat next to Sade and her team sat behind her. As the event gradually came to a close, the groom thanked a lot of people and when he said Sade’s name; her face lit up with a broad smile. He then called her out to speak.
“This cake here was designed by me and the colour signifies beauty and life” she began nervously. “I chose these two colours to wish this couple a blissful marriage. The coordination of this wedding couldn’t have been possible without my hardworking team. She pointed to the team at the back and they all waved and smiled”.
She turned away from the audience and faced the newly weds. She smiled and hugged the groom first, then the bride and handed the microphone to the MC.


© The poets voice~~~ April 2009, All rights reserved.

Tales by Blog-light Pt1

Okay guys..here's the deal..I might be away from blogsville for quite a long time so i'll leave you with a couple of stories I wrote some time back. read and Enjoy.
.....................................................................


Tears ran down my face. My heart was pounding with great force. “Darling you can’t leave!” I screamed in the middle of sobs “it’s a lie, it’s a mistake”. My heart ached. The weight of sorrow drained out my strength. I watched in despair as my husband left me. Nothing I said could stop him.
I ran out of the house with great speed, panting vigorously. To my right a blue Mercedes was coming straight at us. “Liz, get out of the way!” I screamed. She just stood there yelling at me. She was too deep in this argument to leave now. I kept calling out to her but she turned a deaf ear to me.
She heard the horn and turned and the car hit her right there and ran over her, crushing her to pieces.

“Wake up!” mum yelled “you’ve been screaming out in your sleep”. Sweat ran down my face. My hair was wet and extremely messy. My mum opened the curtains and the sun streamed in beautifully. I blinked as I let my eyes adjust to the sunlight. I just couldn’t believe that I had that dream again. It seemed so real and every time I tried to push it away it just kept coming back.
I felt so tired from oversleeping. I walked slowly to the bathroom with my toothbrush in my hand. I fell over the little side table. I was still a bit sleepy and I felt around the wall for the light switch. My mum just shook her head in pity and helped me turn the lights on.
“Mum what’s the time?” I asked in a very groggy voice
“Its ten minutes past eleven” she replied
“Oh my goodness! Have I slept that long?”
“Well yes dear, you have.”
“Sade called. She’s coming to pick you up to the cinema at about 12.30am.”
“Thanks mum. I’ll be ready.”

Sade came to my house that morning as she had promised. I thank God everyday for her. She was a gift. Since the unfortunate event that happened a year ago, she’s been there for me. I never thought I would ever get my life back together again. She was a great source of encouragement to me. She helped raise my spirit when my heart was heavy with bitterness and pain.
“Danielle its time to go, we’ll be late for the movie!” Sade yelled.
“Fine I’m coming down” I responded “a girl has to look good when going out you know”.
“Whatever girl” she said jokingly “let’s hit the road”.
“You ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready”
We got into Sade’s car and we took off.
She was talking but I wasn’t even there. Of course I was there but I mean my mind wasn’t. I was looking at all the shops on the street. Every one was happy to be going about their daily business. I remember when I used to be like them. I never had a care in the world; I was as free as a butterfly. All that mattered to me was having people that loved me close by all he time. It was good having people that trusted me and I trusted in return. It still shocks me that I trusted the wrong person. Could it be that I hurt her in some way that she decided to pay me back by hurting me?
“Danielle?” Sade tapped me “is something wrong?”
“No” I replied sheepishly
“I bet you weren’t even listening to what I was saying”
“Well erm…uhm” I struggled to find words to say
“It’s okay. I know you were day dreaming again”
“I was asking what you what you wanted to do when we left the cinema but I guess we’ll figure that out when the movie’s finished”.
“I guess so” I said in whispers, feeling really foolish for letting my mind wander so far.

We finally arrived at the cinema. Sade did all the talking and ordering. She is like my mouthpiece. Its funny, one would almost think she was my mind. She always knew what I wanted and when I wanted it.
“Hello” she greeted politely “I would like two tickets please?”
“What movie are you watching?” the man at the counter asked
“Mr. Bones”
“That’ll be twelve pounds for the both of you please”
He gave her the receipt and directed us to screen 6 where we would be watching the movie.
It looked like we were too early. There were few people in that room. Everyone just seemed to be listening to music or just looking at the adverts on the screen. Others were talking to the people sitting next to them. The lights were pretty deem so I didn’t expect anyone to be reading. We found a nice seat at the back. We were not so close to anyone and we weren’t so far either; it was just a good place for us to talk without anyone eavesdropping.
Shade put down her bag on the empty chair next to her and she got out her phone to text someone. She sent several text messages before finally returning her attention to me.
“Dani”she said softly “I hope you are alright. I don’t want you daydreaming again. By the way, you were going to tell me the full story of what happened with Liz and Mark. I know it’s a long story but the sooner you start telling me the shorter it becomes and not to mention the fact that you get some of the pain off your chest. Talking does help. If you keep everything to yourself, you only create more heartache. From the look on your face I can tell that the burden is too much for you to bear so please does tell. I want my Danielle back. The happy-cheerful-always smiling-pretty Danielle”.
I really didn’t feel like talking, at least not now and not in the cinema. I knew that she really wanted to help but the story was really a long one. I took some time thinking up a reply.
“I don’t feel like talking now and I would definitely not talk here. Besides, I don’t think it is the right time yet. I will talk when I feel the time is right.”
“Okay” she answered simply “I tried to ease your burden but you wouldn’t let me. I just hope you don’t keep it in too long that you start to lose your health”.

“Could you please keep your voices down!” an elderly man two seats in front of us shouted. I guess he must have been frustrated hearing us muttering for so long.
“Sorry sir” we apologized in unison.


© The poets voice~~~ April 2009, All rights reserved.
Filé…Don’t tosh it, or copy it…this is strictly my property oo!!