FENGSHUIJOY'S BLOG
SHORT STORY by
MEMORIES
Joy Murray
Hannah stood looking out of the front room window watching the removal men load the last piece of furnitureinto the van. She turned and looked around the empty sitting room and sighed. Her mind wandered back to the
first time she and John stood in this very room and spoke of their dreams for the future. How quickly time had
passed since that first day of their life together as husband and wife.
John had put his arms around her and promised how he would make their home fit for a Queen and told her to
start thinking about the colours she would like the rooms painted.
She had later asked him to paint the kitchen first in lemon. While John was at work she got stuck in and made
her own yellow gingham curtains
Hannah stood back and admired the sunny kitchen with pride.“Right, we've finished loading, Mrs Clark”
The removal man's voice broke into Hannah's thoughts. “Yes, ok, thank you very much. I’ll see you later then”
she answered softly as she closed the door behind them.
Hannah walked through the sitting room into the kitchen noting the now light green walls. John must have
decorated it a dozen times over the years.
Her mind drifted back to when she would bake cakes and listen with delight as John would sample the cakes and
say how delicious they were. She would scold him playfully and tell him to wait until after his dinner.
Later, when their two children, Jane and Paul came along she remembered how they would all sit around the
table at meal times and exchange their stories of the day. The children would pour out their problems and
worries from school and John would moan about his work. He was a supervisor in a machine tool factory and had
served his apprenticeship there. Hannah would sit quietly listening and then with all her wisdom, try to advise
and perhaps help in some way. Later, in bed, she would sometimes unload her worries to John and they would
whisper quietly and try to solve the problem between them.
Hannah bit her lip to stifle a sob trying to escape and she turned into the hall. She started to climb the stairs and
as she stood on the seventh step, the familiar creak sounded twice as loud as usual. John had kept promising to fix
it but had never seemed to get around to it. She smiled to herself remembering how she would nag him about it.
Now, he never would.
She walked into Jane's room and thought about the mess and noise she would make. The radio would blare out
and John would threaten to throw it out of the window. Jane was a difficult teenager and Hannah would often
have to keep the peace between them. After a telling off Jane would sulk for hours but then John would ruffle her
hair and all was well and for all that, the children loved and respected him. John was a man of strong moral
values and they had never had a knock on the door from the police with trouble from the children. They grew up
into fine adults and she and John were very proud of them.
Hannah walked into Paul's old room. He was very different to Jane. He would keep his room immaculate and his
collections of model cars and planes would be dusted and set in orderly fashion. His clothes were always put away
tidily, he did well at school and was a model son. He adored her and even when he met and married his wife ,
Hannah knew he would always keep a special place in his heart for her. Hannah also know that his wife was his
first priority and Hannah would not have wanted it any other way.
She dragged her feet into the bedroom she had shared with John for the last forty-one years. It looked so much
bigger now it was empty of furniture. Hannah walked over to the window and looked down into the garden. Her
mind went back to the years when Paul and Jane were small and all the summers seemed hot. John would fill the
plastic paddling pool with the water hose for them and then turn the hose on her laughing and she would scream
and run around the garden trying to escape. She would always get her own back though and he would pretend to
sulk. Hannah would tell him if he could not take it, do not give it. He would laugh and they would kiss, both wet
through.
Her mind drifted back to that fateful day when John had keeled over clutching his chest. Hannah had cradled
him in her arms while he slipped away from her.
The next few days were a blur. Paul took over and had made the arrangements for the funeral while Jane tried to
comfort her even though she was grieving herself.
Hannah felt so alone. This house had seemed so empty. Although she felt Johns presence often.
She had decided to move nearer to Paul and her two lovely grandchildren. He had found a lovely two-bedroom
bungalow for her. The second bedroom could be for the grandchildren when they stayed .
The only problem was that now she was beginning to think it was the wrong move. She had so many memories
here and felt like she was abandoning John, leaving his memory here, at the house.
Hannah thought about the first time John had wall papered their bedroom. Noticing a tear in the seam of the
wallpaper, she walked over to it and tore it away. Then, uncovering the writing on the wall, she tore and pulled
away the paper, almost in frenzy and making her finger nails sore.
Hannah stood perfectly still, staring at the writing on the wall. The tears fell freely from the eyes that had the
look of distress and despair. “Oh John, John” she sobbed over and over again.
On the wall, John had written her a message all those years ago. It wrote, ‘I will always be there for you darling
because I love you’
‘Of course’ she thought as the look of despair in her eyes turned to the look of hope, ‘John would always be there
with her, no matter where she was. He was in her heart, her soul and her memories. He was even in her children
and grandchildren.
She could almost hear him telling her to go and make a fresh start.
Hannah smiled for the first time in a long while and breathed in the fresh air as she closed the door behind her
for the last time.
She would not look back as she looked to the future with fresh heart.
©
THE END This is the Copyright of the owner of this web site (Fengshuijoy.com) Joy Murray and may not be copied or used
in any way.
Right, well I have started a children's story page which of course I expect you to check it is suitable reading for your child
I will show it in a serial basis.
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