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Sunday, 2 February 2014

SHORT STORY SECOND MUM BY FIONA CUMMINGS

 
She was like my Mum as well as a great friend, but she has moved on now, new land and new people to mother, nurture and receive gratitude in the most public way. I was too quiet, too private and to independent.

But I so miss those hand written letters from her. I would hear the post box tapping as the post man carefully placed his mail through the opening box in my front door, not wanting to chance his fingers being removed by my wild crazy dog Blue!

Blue is my protector. He is tall and slender with the biggest teeth ever and the loudest bark. He will kill anything in sight that will hurt me.

Those letters I would run from one end of my bungalow to the other. I would see among the brown envelopes on our doormat a pretty pink envelope, or one with some kind of wild flowers on it. The stamp from abroad would be another clue to say who it was from.

Before opening it, I would take in as much as possible the hand writing, for the address, with the knowledge that my second Mum had spent time writing that to send to me. She had taken time out to think about me for a moment.

As I would sit on my favourite chair next to the  fireplace, keeping warm by the log burner, I would read my winters away and in summer, I would sit on the window seat with the sash windows open, just enough for me to breathe in the summer air and hear all of the blackbirds in my garden, which is a haven to all nature, as I have every kind of bird food, hedgehog houses and food for them too, not to let my dog out there as he will devour the cat food I have for the hedgehogs, not to mention the worms?

Anyway, the words would sound so sincere. I did believe in them.

Eating each letter of every word, by the end of the letter, I would be full of words and beautiful colourful descriptions of my second Mums garden! The flowers in her wonderful country. Sometimes it would be cold here with rain pounding down on my sky lights of our bungalow and sunshine would pour from the pages of perfect almost poetic writing.

The curves of the handwriting were art in itself.

She read my heart. Even though miles were between us, she read me like the morning newspaper she had just picked up that day.

How did she know?

I never knew how, but I so miss that telepathic connection we once shared.

As I could tell when she was not happy too. We were so close, and I thought I could trust her.

How wrong was I?

Trust? What is that word?

What does it stand for?

Total, respect, united, safe, togetherness?

Well that is what it should spell out, rather than

Terrible, rebuff, used, sold and thrown away, as that is how I feel!

I have no letters from her anymore, no phone calls and she no longer makes her annual visit to see me. No birthday or Christmas cards either. A mutual friend of ours says she has a “New project.

She taunts me with tales of what my second Mum does with her new daughter. How much sunshine will be in the heart of that girl, but how sad and alone will that girl feel when she is dropped for another?

My heart will forever hold a place for my second Mum but I do realise that my Number one mum will always be the true one in my life!

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