Another beautiful day apart from the usual plane trails across the sky spoiling the clear blueness after the lifting of the flight ban due to the Icelandic ash. Nine of us met and read out some interesting stories. I read out Sue's as she was in Cornwall it was all about the halcyon days leading up to the second war. Joan Read described a party devoted to telling the truth. Joan told of a school prize giving book. My story was about giving a talk in a prison. Sheila pondered on sayings and wondered about new ones due to the latest technology. John took us to Vietnam and a soldier who found God. Ann a winner who buys up her old home after winning the lottery. Pat told us about Erasmus and his life. Brian a Japanese suicide warrior who died knowing his family going to the Nagasaki in the South Island would be safe.
Rosemary won the vote and is below.
Back to Monday next time and the subject words are "concealing all traces"
HONOURS
She had been born on the day the Queen's birthday honours were presented, so the family had called her Honour. They felt it WAS an honour that she shared this auspicious birthday and were quite proud of the fact, for they were out and out royalists! As she grew it seemed almost as though Honour KNEW how privileged she was to have such a name. She was gentle and obedient, always willing to listen and to learn - a real little lady, so utterly different to her two madcap brothers. THEY were boisterous and noisy, often trying to tempt Honour into their games. But she would have none of it! NO, she would NOT be drawn into their mischief, so eventually in disgust they got the message and left her alone. Don't get me wrong, she DID love to frolic and play like all youngsters do, yet seemed to be able to do so with a sort of constantly reserved and superior air.
"That's the result of Honour having been born on such a special day", her family would comment, and chuckled at the thought. And so it was that the name Honour really suited her 100%, almost as though she just HAD to live up to it!
But Oh, WHAT A SHOCK - A TERRIBLE SHOCK AND DISAPPOINTMENT IT WAS WHEN HONOUR'S OWN SON WAS BORN! For as he grew HE turned out to be just as mischievous as her brothers had been. Honour would sigh and shake her head as day after day he managed to get himself into one scrape after another. And the older he grew he became more and more trouble to her. He seemed to be completely out of control and whenever she gave him her disapproving look and tried to catch him to give him a piece of her mind, he always managed to outrun her and escape. She sighed again as he raced off into the distance without a backward glance at his anxious mother. She shook her head and thought that he should NEVER have been called Prince, for in no way did HE live up to HIS name as she had always tried to live up to hers.
So eventually it was quite a relief to Honour when the time came for her boisterous son Prince to go away to be schooled. Hopefully he would be disciplined, learn to behave himself, and have some of his high spirits knocked out of him THERE, before he returned to her!
One afternoon many many months later the sounds of a great commotion and whoops of joy came to Honours ears. Whatever could it be? Had her troublesome son come back and was up to his old tricks again? NO! Suddenly her people were gathering around her, patting her shiny chestnut rump and stroking her nose, laughing and shouting "Honour old girl you've done us PROUD! Your son Prince has just won the Grand National! What a wonderful horse he is. You must be SO proud of him!"
