Author: Alexander Fawn

He saw her coming out of the underground station.

She was making her way along the busy street in the same direction, but on the other side. He was sure she hadn’t recognised him. She was probably in town doing a bit of shopping. She was a lot older, of course, but it was definitely her. He remembered her from his school days. His old music teacher. She was a really nasty piece of work. She had given him a horrible time back then. He had never been musically minded and didn’t do well with any of the instruments that the class all took turns playing, in the school’s music room. He thought back to how it had all been made worse by his parents insisting on him receiving piano lessens from her after school hours, twice a week. He could do nothing right. It was sheer hell!

Further ahead he was watching something being hoisted off a truck. Of all things, it was a piano. It was being lifted to the roof of a hotel. He’d heard that they planned to open a rooftop restaurant and bar up there. It was being winched up by ropes that didn’t look too safe. When he drew along side of the activity, he stopped to watch the progress. It was several stories up when he was sure he could see at least one of the ropes slipping sideways. It was then that he realised that the woman had also stopped to answer her phone. She was standing right underneath it when he saw the first rope snap, causing the whole thing to move sideways. He wondered whether he was the only one to witness what was happening. Should he call out? Under any other circumstances…

He entered the closest shop and stood looking along a rack of men’s shoes. He was examining one when the calamity out in the street could be heard through the doorway. First, came the shouting. This was followed by a woman’s scream, then the crash and a cacophony of discordant piano notes.

As it happened, in his case, it wasn’t much of a struggle for him to convince himself that he was completely oblivious to the significance of the whole thing.

The writer made a beeline for his study.

His wife watched him rush by. She wondered what the emergency was. Moments later, she followed him in. He sat scribbling frantically, mumbling something about not losing something. Half aware of her presence, he held up a finger. She looked on until he had almost filled the page with writing. When he had finished, he looked up with a sigh. She approached and took in what he’d been up to. She shook her head slowly.

“Why on Earth didn’t you use the computer?” She asked.

With a weary shake of the head, he said. “Have you any idea how long it takes to fire up the computer and open a new Word document?”

Nobody ever found out what happened to the woman at number fourteen.

One day she was there and the next she was gone. It was as though her existence had been thoroughly wiped from the face of the earth. She had simply disappeared, along with all of her possessions. The house was left with just a few sticks of furniture, with nothing to show that she had ever owned any of them. The rumour-mill said it was some obscure government department, but that was just gossip. Naturally, her parents and her boyfriend made lots of enquiries and got nowhere. They even tried to get something put in the newspapers about it, but they didn’t seem interested. After a while people stopped looking for her and eventually no one even asked questions. No one, that is, except her boyfriend. He was convinced he could get to the bottom of it. He had found an ally in the old man who was a night cleaner at the local council offices.

The old man had gone through a similar experience when his cousin had vanished into thin air the year before. Between them they began digging. After gathering information from various sources, including staff members at the council offices, they felt they were getting close to the truth. Then… the questions stopped abruptly.

Nobody ever found out what happened to the cleaner and the boyfriend.

She looked down at the creature, struggling pathetically beneath her claws.

She had seen this mouse often enough, skittering around the back yard. Never walking, only ever running. It would however, occasionally stop dead, lift its ugly little nose and sniff. This, before scampering away again at great speed. However, this loathsome creature, loathsome but no doubt tasty, had made the mistake of coming around the corner of the house at such a rate of knots that coming face to face with she who was waiting, could do nothing but career strait into the soft fluff of her belly. She had simply been lazing, the way cats do, but on this particular morning, in the right place at the right time. Just because she could… she tightened her grip.

The mouse squeaked. “Oh! Not so hard. Please!”

“Hah! You’re in no…” whispered the cat.

“Position?” the mouse broke in.

“Yes. Position.” Said the cat. “You’re in no position to tell me what to do.”

“Yes, I am!” Came the indignant reply.

The cat moved its head from side to side. “You can believe that if you like, but you’re not.”

The mouse looked up into the cat‘s eyes with a resolute determination, and went on. “On the contrary, I would say that considering the circumstances in which I find myself at this very moment, my request is a perfectly reasonable one. Besides, I was not telling you what to do at all… I was only asking. Nothing more.

The cat relaxed its hold, just a little. “Well,” she purred, “aren’t we the feisty one.”

“I have to be, don’t I?”

“Oh! Really? Why is that?”

The mouse wriggled herself into a more comfortable position. “I have to be,” she repeated, “I’m a mother.”

“Ooh!” Said the cat. “How many?”

“Two.”

“Yuck! Two more horrible little creatures.”

The mouse’s eyes widened. “They’re not horrible, they’re both quite beautiful.”

The cat thought about that and asked, “Boys or girls?”

“One of each.”

“Husband?”

“Dead.”

“Traffic accident… cat?”

“Dog.”

The cat relaxed a little, but couldn’t think why. “No husband, now. It doesn’t work that way with us.” Her eyes clouded over. “Kittens; three. All gone. Given away.”

The mouse said, “Sorry.”

They both just lay there for a while. Neither fully understanding the thoughts that were running through the other’s mind.

Slowly, the cat lifted its paw.

The mouse rose up without hurry and shook itself off. It made its way along the wall of the house until it came to the crevice. It glanced back, then disappeared.

The cat went back to sleep.

On the face of it, they were just another homeless couple.

The sun was setting as they trudged through the town’s streets. He felt sure he could find a haven, regardless of how rough; somewhere they could doss down for the night. He was more than a little concerned about her condition. Nobody would have any idea how much he is in love with the woman who finally lays down to rest. In truth, as a couple, they would not be known by many in this place. He sits beside her, watching her sleep. It was as though he was on a mission. One that he didn’t understand himself. To the best of his ability he’s been looking after her. He only knows that it falls to him to protect her and the unborn child. The child is not his, but he will do his best to keep them both safe.

The open door catches the chill of the evening breeze. He pulls her blanket a little higher. She looks so peaceful, despite their wandering the streets for so long. He steps out of their temporary shelter and gazes up into a darkening sky with stars slowly appearing.

He peers into the grey distance at the dimming town of Bethlehem.

There once was a guy who liked writing,

With his blog-followers he was uniting,

He didn’t chat much,

Not a pen pal, as such,

But the silent connection was exciting!

It was kind of magical that it happened on that very day.

It all began innocently enough. Just a smile across the counter. Nothing more. Just a smile… but what a smile! She must have looked really dumb, just standing there ogling him. It was when he asked her if everything was alright, that the pounding in her chest started. Anyway, that’s when she surprised herself by licking her lips and apologising, saying how much she was looking forward to her break when she could go up to the café and get a coffee. He smiled again, saying what a good idea. She had watched him go, weaving his way through the shoppers. It was a busy day in the department store. She had quickly pulled herself together and moved along to serve her next customer.

When her mid-morning break came, she was relieved by another lady assistant and she made her way to the café. The moment she entered; she saw him. He gave a polite wave along with the smile, of course. Her heart had begun thumping again as she approached. He immediately began apologising for taking the liberty of waiting for her to appear. She had just smiled back, shaking her head. Next thing; she had sat, while he ordered their coffees…

The rest of it was a whirlwind.

They talked for the best part of an hour, making her late back to her department. Her fellow worker was very understanding when told why she was late. Then came the meeting after work, in the Italian restaurant they had decided on. Finally, he had driven her home. With a brief kiss, she had gone in. Behind net curtains she had watched him drive away.

Now, she was lying in bed thinking about it all, for an age.

It had been all she could do, not to invite him in. That might have put him off; giving him the wrong impression or something.

…and to top it all; all this, on her forty-fifth birthday!

When they arrive, he never asks, but he gets told anyway.

The shocking weather and the exorbitant price of fuel, as icebreakers. He gives a friendly grunt. Then comes the heavy stuff. They talk about the neighbour’s dog that continually barks in the evening or the boy bullying their daughter at school or how their son-in-law lost yet another job because of his drinking. The listener just pulls a face, grunts and nods. Then there’s their sister’s marriage break up. He’s always pleased to see you and understands better than most why you’re there. Of course, he has stories of his own, like how his brother-in-law won a small sum on the lottery, just enough to take the family out to dine at a swanky restaurant and how well behaved his two kids were and how much they all enjoyed it. But, you’ll never hear about that.

No, the one-sided chatter continues while he’s busy with his scissors, they just keep on snipping.

He never asks, he just grunts. But he always listens.

He became frustrated because his doctor didn’t seem to be fixing his problems.

When he got home that evening, in a desperate state, he sat down in front of his computer screen. He began to search for alternate medicine sites. He found quite a number and was surprised to find one in his home town. It was a natural healing shop that only saw patients for a consultation who had made a phone booking. He did this and a week later he attended his appointment. It was only a small shop that mainly sold herbal remedies. The young girl at the front desk checked the appointment book then ushered him through to a room at the back. It was a pokey little room, just room enough for a desk and two chairs.

However, the thing that immediately caught his eye was the beautiful splash of colour on one wall. It was a mandala. He had always been fascinated by these, with their intricate geometric configurations. This one was particularly captivating with its radiating red and blue leaf-like construction. It hung on the wall behind her.

The old woman at the desk asked him to sit down and explain why he had come to see her. He had a job keeping his eyes off the art piece, but he nevertheless managed to give the woman a detailed account of his conditions. There were two things that troubled him the most, a constant ringing in his ears and early hair loss. The old lady cackled a little and told him that would be easy to fix. She had a tablet for each of the ailments and explained that they were very fast acting medications and needed to be taken one week apart.

Shaken from his reverie, he was surprised to find the old lady’s wrinkled hand being thrust at him. She was holding two tablets. She explained that the pink one was for the ringing in his ears and the orange one was for his hair loss. He was told to pay the girl at the front desk on his way out. Taking one last look at the mandala, he thanked her and left the room. He paid the girl at the front. It wasn’t cheap, but it was dawning on him that if the old woman was right, his problems were about to be fixed.

When he got home, now in a pretty excited state of anticipation, he filled a glass with water and sat down at the kitchen table. He carefully placed the two tablets, side by side in front of him. One of them would fix his hair problem and the other the horrible ringing in his ears. He asked himself which of these did he want to put right first? He felt there was little in it. Then it dawned on him that he had no idea which tablet did what! He couldn’t remember. He simply hadn’t paid attention. Well, he thought, I want them both fixed, don’t I? So, he scooped them up and swallowed both at once with the glass of water.

In that moment, the ringing in his ears grew very loud and all his hair fell out!

She always enjoyed her morning medication.

She went to the cupboard and conscientiously took the box down and placed it on the kitchen table. At the tap she filled a glass with water. Sitting at the table, she carefully opened the container.

A pill for maintaining optimum blood pressure, a pill for infection control, a pill for weight control, a pill for better sleep, a pill for better self-control, a pill for the alleviation of stress, a pill for stronger motivation, a pill for greater patience, a pill for better listening skills, a pill for good judgment, a pill for improved creative thinking, and a pill for the eradication of toxins.

A pill for improved goal setting, a pill for greater self-awareness, a pill for increased empathy, a pill for improved social skills, a pill for improved flexibility, a pill for improved problem-solving, a pill for easier decision making, a pill for better conflict resolution, a pill for stronger self-discipline, a pill for good judgment, a pill for moral rectitude, and a pill for greater calmness.

She swallowed it and washed it down with water.

Sighing with satisfaction, she said, “How good is that? All that in the one pill!”