A Single Snowflake

  'Mmm my Grandfather told me about Gorus, said he had won the leadership in a game of cards' laughed Henderson.

  'Yes I heard that rumour too', laughed the Lady, 'But, I must continue, anyway after Gorus the Lazy came Paceful the Good, he replaced the tumbledown buildings that had been neglected by Gorus, had the farms restocked and bought order back to Shenka. After about a year of his rule he read those records that had been so carefully hidden away and tried to make sense of them. At this time Ralph the Mighty was just a very young boy, but a boy of exceptional wisdom and knowledge. News of his talents reached Paceful the Good, who called Ralph to serve as his personal Sage and advisor.' the Lady was in full flow now, Belle and Henderson hung on to her every word, her voice was sweet on their ears, it's musical flow enchanted them. The Lady looked away and smiled as she gazed on the portrait of Ralph the Mighty that hung on the far wall of her chamber. 'Handsome man isn't he, wise, strong and handsome, such a rarity these days'

  Belle followed her gaze and eyed the portrait, she saw a man with a mane of jet black hair that flowed over his shoulders, his brown eyes sparkled with pure wisdom and love, his mouth formed a smile of playfulness and intrigue; and a nose, oh that nose thought Belle, was perfectly formed, not too small and not too large. 'Yes he is a very handsome man and loved by all.'

  'Sorry Henderson' apologised the Lady, 'I hope us women are not embarrassing you.'

  'Not at all', replied Henderson, 'We all admire Ralph the Mighty, long may he guide us'

  'Good', said the Lady, ' Sorry again, I have strayed from the task in hand. Well where were we, oh yes I remember, after time and after many years of serving Paceful the Good, when that good man passed it was agreed by the whole of the Chamber that Ralph would indeed lead us. It is he who has chosen you both to take on a task so desperately important that I quiver with the very thought of it. If successful, and I must say I have the deepest faith that you will both succeed, it will save Shenka and calm the cries from Earth. What do you think dear ones, are you up for it, it will I add take you away from Shenka for a long time, apart from the few times you can come back to give your reports to us and to have a rest; but even then you must do that individually, one of you must stay on the Earth whilst the other is back here. '

  'How long are we talking about' asked Henderson.

  The Lady hesitated slightly, ' I am afraid to say it could be many Earth years; the longest any Shenka man or woman has spent on the Earth.'

  'That's a very long time, but if I have been called to do so then I will' said Belle.

  'I second that Belle, I am your servant my Lady' affirmed Henderson.

  The Lady sat back in her chair, the relief flowed from her body, but at the same time she felt an overwhelming love for the two who sat opposite her, to give up so much for the love of their land was more than anyone could ask for. ' I cannot tell you how I truly feel' she said, ' I have asked so much of you both, thank you.' The Lady rose from the table, 'Come we need to eat, there is a meal ready for us in my eating room, there are beds made up for you, there are clean clothes ready, for tomorrow we must make our way to meet with our honourable leader, the great Ralph the Mighty.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE ADVENT - EARTH YEAR 2008

  Marie lay back on her bed, and stroked her hand over her heavily pregnant stomach, she was trying to relax. Soothing music, coming from her CD player filled the air, the curtains were closed, to shut out the bright sun that blazed in the afternoon sky, the windows were open wide, the curtains stood at attention as no single breeze could move their stationary position.

  'It's all in your mind', she kept telling herself, over and over, 'Pull yourself together, it is all in your mind.'

  But her brain screamed, 'Listen, take heed of what happened, if this baby is a girl you are done for, he doesn't want a girl' but then another voice intervened 'Don't be silly, it is just a man thing, you are imagining things, stop being so sensitive.' The first voice answered back ' Think back, remember what he said,.

  It was no use, sleep and rest would not come, the music was not working, in fact it was making things worse, why play love songs when she felt no love, why was she so suddenly unhappy. It was all Jack's fault, he has ruined it all. Marie played everything back in her head, the conversations, arguments and tears. She pretended she was watching a TV drama being played out in front of her, she imagined Jack's thoughts, those thoughts which may or may not be true, but she believed she could read his mind and so those thoughts must after all be true.

  She remembered that when she and Jack first learned that their first child was on the way, they were ecstatic, after five years of a childless marriage, after five years of yearning for a child, after five years of disappointment, finally their prayers had been answered. Marie was certain it was because she had been made redundant a few months earlier, the sixteen weeks wages had helped with the finances and then Jack had been promoted in his job as a sales engineer. 'Don't bother looking for another job yet' Jack had said, enjoy the coming summer, we don’t need the money.'

  The child was due to be born on 28th August, a summer baby, a Virgo, just my perfect child concluded Marie. She recalled those first few weeks, of Jack fussing around her, waiting on her, telling her to rest, treating her like a fairy tale princess who was so fragile that she could break if held too tightly. Of course by the time she had passed the sixteen week stage, Jack had eased off a little and had relaxed. One thing that Marie was so vehemently against was knowing if it was a boy or girl, she wanted the pleasure of the surprise, she wanted to hear the midwife say ' Oh Mrs Rose you have a handsome son' or 'Mrs Rose you have a beautiful daughter', it was to her part of childbirth, the not knowing.

  All was well until Marie took Jack to her anti-natal class, it was there he met some of the other expectant parents, it was there he got chatting to that awful man Bruce Evans a man who admitted that his wife had an abortion last time as it wasn't a boy, he had two daughters already and didn't want 'Anymore women in the house, cluttering up the cupboards with all their clothes and shoes and handbags and bubble bath and dolls.' No what he wanted was a son, 'See Jack, daughters are fine, but they don't appreciate cars do they, they don't like sport like we do, they can't even kick a football in a straight line, bloody useless if you ask me. Tell you what, things should go back to how they once were, let the women do the cleaning, cooking and bringing up the kids, whilst we go to work. I want a lad and that's what we are having' To be fair to Jack he didn't hold the same chauvinistic views as Bruce, but it did make him think, made him seriously consider if he too would not prefer a boy to a girl, and so to avoid any looks of disappointment when the child was born, he would try and convince Marie to find out the gender of the child she was carrying. What Jack didn't know was that Marie heard every word, she was only a few feet away, lying on a couch behind a curtain that shut off the midwife's cubicle from the main waiting room.

  The midwife heard too, she shook her head and spoke softly to Marie ' Poor woman, I shouldn't really say anything but I happen to have it on good authority that his wife only agreed to his wishes as she was afraid he would leave her.'

  Marie pulled herself up, rested on her elbows and leaned towards the midwife, 'That cannot be right, can it, I mean I have heard about these things happening in other countries, but not here, it's too awful to think about.'

  'They went private', said the midwife, 'Paid a lot of money too no doubt',

  'Well I have heard everything now', replied Marie, 'But I had better get back to Jack before that man puts anymore daft ideas into his head.'

  'I don't think you have anything to worry about' laughed the midwife 'He is so excited about being a father, isn't he. I wish all our fathers were like him.'

  'Yes I know, I am so lucky aren't I', agreed Marie, 'still I had better go rescue him, so I will see you next week.' Marie tidied herself up, made her next appointment, said farewell to the midwife and re-entered the waiting room.


  Jack looked up and grinned as she stood in front of him 'All is well then, mother and baby doing great ?' he questioned.

  'Yes, baby is growing as it should be, all is good, but I am a little tired and would like to get home now.'

  'Sure thing, lead the way and I will cook dinner tonight', Jack then turned back and spoke to Bruce 'See you next week then mate, same place, same time.'

  'If they haven't had the offspring by then' smirked Bruce.

  Marie glared at Jack then at Bruce, but neither men noticed. The journey home was very quiet, Marie said she was tired and just resting, but in reality she was playing over in her mind the conversation she and her midwife had overheard. She wouldn't have mentioned it if Jack hadn't have broached the subject the following night after dinner.

  'I was thinking of getting the nursery ready, doing some decorating and maybe buying some furniture, thought we could look around at the weekend what do you think, Marie?' he asked.

  Marie looked up from the baby magazine she was reading, 'Well you know I am a little superstitious of doing things too soon, what if anything went wrong' she replied.

  'I am sure everything will be fine, I mean it is only six weeks away, and even if the baby was born now, it would be fine, I mean even babies born much earlier these days do well, it's just that I though we wouldn't want the smell of paint in the room would we, I mean that would not be healthy. So what do you think.' hedged Jack.

  'Well you do have a point I suppose, but can we give it just one more week and if everything is okay, then I can't see why not', answered Marie.

  'Great' said Jack, who was getting closer to the subject in his furtive mind.

  Marie smiled 'I know you are excited Jack, so am I, I just don't want to push fate.'

  Jack took his chance, 'Pity we don't know if it is a boy or girl, then we could really plan ahead.'

  Marie laughed, 'Jack ! You rotten thing.'

  'No', said Jack, 'I just thought that if we did know, well then we could do a bit of shopping, you know what I mean Marie, choose some wallpaper, well what I am trying to say is, that if for example it was a boy well we could..'

  Marie interrupted, 'I can't believe you are saying this, you are serious aren't you, bloody hell Jack, who has been filling your mind with such crap, no don't tell me I bet it was that awful Bruce person, yeah it has to be that horrible individual.' Marie would not admit to having heard the discussion between the two men in the clinic, no she thought let's see where this goes, don't tell.

  'He's not a bad bloke', argued Jack, 'we seemed to get on really well, I agree I don't see eye to eye with everything he says, but in a way I can see where he was coming from.'

  'So you think what he made his wife do was okay, do you', yelled Marie.

  'What he made his wife do, what are you on about Marie' replied Jack.

  'Have an abortion because it wasn't a boy, and don't tell me you don't know about that, I am not stupid' argued Marie.

  'What do you mean by saying he made his wife have an abortion, don't be stupid, she agreed to it as well, so it has nothing to do with us, nothing whatsoever', Jack argued back.

  'That's not what I heard, I actually heard he forced her to have an abortion, bloody hell Jack, it's not me who's being stupid here, how can you possibly agree to that' retorted Marie. Jack was silent long enough for Marie to gather her thoughts; the voice in her head whispered 'He only wants a boy, what you going to do if it is a little girly.' Marie took a deep breath, 'Okay, hypothetically if I could take a magic pill right now, and turn this child into either a boy or girl, which would you choose'

  'You know I don't mind what it is, but' Jack hesitated.

  'But what', Marie took a moment to compose herself, 'But what Jack, yes come on, out with it.'

  'Well if you really want to know, well then I would really love to have a son, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love a daughter either.'

  'Told you so', said the voice in Marie's head, 'He doesn't really mean it, wait until the child is born, he will be happy no matter what' said the other voice. Calm down thought Marie, but she couldn't, how could this be, what had happened to her husband, why was he being such a killjoy. It was not meant to be like this, she should be resting, chilling out, staying calm and being loved. 'You know what Jack, you have spoiled everything, I was so happy, but now OUCH', Marie clutched her stomach, 'Wow little one no need to kick so hard', she glared at Jack 'See what you have done, this baby does not like arguments and loud voices, OUCH, see there it goes again, another hard kick.' Marie imagined his thoughts. Imagined him thinking Just my luck, a bloody wimp, that's what I am going to get.' She stretched her arms out in front of her and looked at her wedding ring, her hands were puffy the ring was hurting, digging into her finger; a sure sign that her blood pressure had risen. 'See what you have done Jack' said Marie as she pushed her hand in front of Jack's eyes, 'Just look at this, it bloody hurts and I can't get it off.'

  'Get what off' snarled Jack.

  'My soddin' wedding ring, it is digging into my finger and hurting like crazy, my blood pressure must have soared, it's all your flippin' fault.'

  'Can't you run your hand under cold water', replied Jack insensitively 'It might help.'

  'You need running under cold water, might knock some sense into you, OUCH, that was a punch this time,' cried Marie.

  Jack tried to calm Marie, he didn't mean everything to end up like this, he hadn't considered that Marie would react the way she did. He tried to take her in his arms and console her, but Marie pushed him away, 'Just leave me alone, I need to sleep, I'm going to bed.' Marie picked up her magazine, she looked at the picture of a happy family on the front page, it made her feel sick inside, 'It's only make believe', she thought. With that she carried the magazine into the kitchen and threw it into the recycling bin.

  *

  Marie needed sleep, she couldn't bear to think any more about the past few weeks, whatever will be then will be she told herself. At least she and Jack were trying to get along, they had agreed to put everything into perspective, blame it on hormones, stress and excitement. But this deep feeling way down inside was telling of foreboding, a warning, a sense of uneasiness that would not go away. Marie finally drifted off to sleep.

  *

  Meanwhile, in a different house, in a different street, in that same market town of Lembury which sat on the English side of the Welsh Marches, Stella Masters combed her long blonde hair in front of the full length mirror in her bathroom. She stood sideways and examined the size of her ever expanding pregnant shape, 'Oh to be able to wear my skinny jeans again, and even see my feet' she muttered. 'If only it wasn't so damn hot, I swear this is the hottest summer for years.'

  'Did you say something' called her husband Pete from the adjoining bedroom.

  'Oh, just talking to myself', Stella called back, 'Don't you think it is stifling hot, I can hardly breathe.'

  'I'll open all the windows if you like.'

  'Thanks, I could do with some air, but it is unbearable outside, wouldn't mind a cup of tea either' laughed Stella.

  'Your wish is my command' replied Pete.

  Stella turned on the cold water tap of the cream washbasin and held her wrists under the running cold water, she let the water splash up her arms and gradually felt the torturous heat leave her body. She tied her hair into a ponytail, ran a sponge under the cold water and then held it to the back of her neck until the sponge had absorbed the heat. Feeling cooler now Stella walked out of the bathroom, across the now empty bedroom, across the laminated landing to the top of the wooden stairs. On reaching the summit of the thirteen descending steps in front of her, she wondered why so many houses had thirteen steps in their staircases, she would always count when visiting friends and families homes, eleven, twelve, thirteen steps. She took hold of the handrail and slowly descended, counting each step until she reached the bottom. The television was on in the living room and she could hear Pete shouting ' Come on, come on, No don't let
him overtake, drive faster' When she entered the living room she witnessed Pete kneeling down in front of the television, urging on a Formula One driver. Pete didn't acknowledge Stella, but there was a cup of tea and a dish of fresh strawberries, sitting on the long coffee table next to her armchair.

  Stella sat down, 'These for me then' she asked.

  'Sorry Stella, I didn't hear you come in, yes of course they are for you silly, who do you think they are for', said Pete as he rose from the floor.

  'Oh I dunno, could have been for that woman from across the road, you know the one that always gives you those sexy smiles' teased Stella.

  'Which one is that then', laughed Pete, who was now sprawled across a sofa under an open window, 'The one who walks her two poodles, you know the one with the red hair and whose bum is too fat for those tight jeans she wears or the one with the short black hair and the little yellow shorts with red lips on them.'

  'Ah so you notice what they wear then' laughed Stella.

  'But of course, I'm a hot blooded male, what do you expect' joked Pete.

  'You still watching TV, sorry cos I didn't mean to interrupt your man fun' apologised Stella.

  'I'm bored with it now' replied Pete 'anyway there's still about a thousand laps to go, well it seems like a thousand laps, goes on and on for bloody hours on end.'

  'Well' said Stella tentatively, 'I was thinking about something, just wanted to see what you felt, but what if at the end of October, well the baby will be about two months old then, well what if I get my mother to come and babysit for a few days so we could get away, just the two of us.'