Tuesday's Tales - Picture

Welcome to Tuesday's Tales  

 

Once again, many thanks to all those who drop by each week. I also appreciate, and often act upon comments and suggestions left.  Many thanks.

 

My story continues on from last week. Norma's name has been changed to Amanda, and in this clip she's struggling to come to terms with information that will change her life. . ~~I am also using NaNo to continue with this story. :-)

“Your grandfather is waiting for me,” her grandmother said again. “And I am ready to go home.”

Home? Did she no longer consider this house her home? Unfair, even unreasonable as it might be, the thought triggered a sliver of jealousy, abandonment, and yes, anger. Had all the love been false? Offered as a sense of duty? She almost wished she’d never left her bed this morning. Wished she could unheard what she’d learned this evening. Wished that the black thread of jealousy would fade away.

The question hovered in her head, growing, darkening, and sharpening. And in the end it refused to lie down.

“Did you ever love me, or was it just a token duty emotion?”

With surprising strength her grandmother leaned forward, caught Amanda is a strong, hard hug and crooned her denial. “Of course it wasn’t duty. Nor was it from guilt,” she added before Amanda could open her mouth.

“You were such a pretty baby we all fell in love with you the moment we saw you. That doesn’t mean we didn’t intend to find your rightful home. We did. All of us, except your mother, of course.”

The dilemma, Amanda thought, what a dilemma, saving her daughter-in-law’s sanity and possibly even her life, or doing the rightful thing and returning her, Amanda, back to her rightful parents. Perhaps she was callous, as perhaps she was unreasonable to judge when she’d never faced such a dilemma, but Amanda felt sure she would have returned the child and risked the consequences. As it was they, her non-family had made their choices and it looked as though she’d be faced with the consequences for the rest of her life.

A rock and a hard place didn’t even begin to cover the situation she found herself in.

“Go on,” Amanda encouraged when her grandmother stopped speaking. It was obvious to Amanda her grandmother was fading fast, and she was desperate to hear everything the older woman had to say before it was too late.

“The key,” her grandmother repeated. “Do not lose the key. There should be another matching box that shares the same key. Your grandfather had them built to share the same key.”

Another box? “Where? Where is this other box?”

Her grandmother slumped back against her pillows, her eyes shut, her breathing coming in shallow gasps.
She looked round the room and her gaze settled on the picture of the lilacs. For a moment she couldn’t turn away from it. When she looked round again her grandmother was staring at her.

 

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