Full house today. Brian told of the harrowing experience of orphans who were shipped off to the Empire told that they had no family. Rosemary a love affair between a cat and a dog. Joan E a secret garden. Sheila naughty girl scrumped apples. John Family who were too ambitious with little talent. Sue a knock-out blow and a stolen pendant. Joan R a Christmas party and an unexpected present.
Pat embarrassed Brian with Nelly the Elephant.
Next month kissed him.
Two winners Ann's and Jenny's.
Ann's
I Didn't Even
After Tim left for his business trip to Germany, Ben and I went to the shops in the morning and then after lunch we had a quiet afternoon when he played with his cars and garage and I got up to date with some long overdue ironing. I went in to check on him after a while and found him curled up in the middle of the mat asleep. When he woke up later, he was very grizzly and I thought it was because he was missing Tim. However as the evening wore on it got worse and he had a very unsettled night. After breakfast, which he didn't want, I decided he needed to see a doctor and was lucky to get an appointment for later that morning. By the time I got to the surgery, he was sleepy and really not very with it. Waiting for our turn, seemed endless and as people came and went we appeared to sit there for ever. Eventually our name came up on the board and we went in. The doctor examined Ben, turned to me and said he needed to be admitted to hospital straight away. An ambulance was called and we were taken under the blue lights to The General. A myriad of things were going round in my brain. The word meningitis had been mentioned, but it was not definite. If it wasn't that, what was it? How would I get hold of Tim? How long would it be before he could get home to us? I must phone my mother and let her know what had happened. Hopefully she could come and be with me, although it wouldn't be for a while as she lived in Somerset. All this time the Ben was lying there in a semi conscious state quite oblivious of the turmoil going on around him. I eventually got hold of mum who said she would come as soon as she could. I contacted Tim's boss who managed to locate him and said he would get him home as quickly as possible. After hours sitting waiting by Ben's bedside, the nurse in charge suggested I go and get myself a coffee while I waited for mum as they were going to take Ben for some more tests. I was loathe to leave him, but made my way down to the cafe and got myself a drink and settled in a quiet comer away from everyone else. Suddenly I saw a shadow beside me and looking up saw an elderly man. He asked if I was alright as he could see I was upset. I didn't even realise I was crying until he spoke. He said he didn't want to pry, but if I wanted to talk, he was a very good listener. He had such a kind face I felt it would be churlish to not ask him to join me and began to tell him about Ben. I said that I felt guilty for not realising that there was something seriously wrong with him and that I must be a very bad mother. He patted my arm and said he was sure I was a very good mother and I mustn't blame myself as these things happen so quickly that often there is no warning. Before I realised it I found myself pouring out heart and telling him that Ben was
very precious as we had tried so long for a child and had almost given up when I found I was pregnant. It wasn't an easy pregnancy and he was born prematurely, but had made up for lost time and until now had been a picture of health. I have no idea how long I sat there talking and telling him my innermost thoughts, but as he had said, he was a good listener and I felt so at ease in his company. I glanced at my watch and mentioned that I was hoping my mother would be here soon and he said he must be getting along as well, but it had been lovely talking to me and I was not to worry my pretty head. Everything would be fine as my son was in the best possible place - just wait and see. He patted my arm and left. I sat there musing over the things he had said while time ticked by, when suddenly I saw mum coming along the corridor and waved to let her see where I was. I said I would get her a coffee as she sat herself down and went over to the counter. I asked the lady serving if she knew who the man was I had been talking to, as he had been so kind. She looked at me rather strangely and said I had been on my own all the time, crying a lot of it. I took the coffee back to mum in a trance and she told me that she had just come from the ward as she hadn't realised I wasn't there, but they said that Ben had stabilized. They didn't think it was meningitis and were very hopeful that he would soon begin to rally. I will never know if I've got a guardian angel, but if I have I think I may have met him.
jenny's
"I Didn't Even"
It was a normal Summer's day; my daughter was at school
and I was washing up the lunch dishes. The boys were playing in the garden, or
so I thought! My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a little voice with a
lisp, "Mummy, Kebin's on Mr Barnet's buth." Oh, for goodness sake, tell him to
get off," I said as I was hurriedly wiping my hands. "I can't, the buth has
gone," came the reply.
I rushed into the garden; the gate was still tied
up but the boys had made a hole in the hedge and escaped into the next garden.
Aged three and four, they didn't need a big hole!
The back gate opened
into a cutway leading to the road. Yes, the bus was gone and no sight of it.
Nothing was normal now! My heart was pounding! Mrs Barnet was in her garden,
so I asked where her husband was going.
Mr Barnet was a Corporation bus
driver. He drove a red double decker bus and sometimes would come home for his
lunch before going to a local school. He would park his bus in the road
alongside our houses. Today he was going to Glen Eyre School, to take the
children swimming. It was quite a long way from our house!
I didn't even
have a telephone in those days, so I ran to a friend's house nearby and phoned
the Police, and explained my three year old son was on the bus alone. I told
them where the bus was heading. The next thirty minutes or so were agony! I
pictured him panicking and falling down the steep stairs. The red buses still
had open backs then. He could fall off the platform onto the road and under a
following vehicle, or perhaps he was being thrown from side to side between the
seats - he wasn't very big! My mind was conjuring all sorts of horrors! Little
did I know he was sitting comfortably in the front seat enjoying every minute of
his adventure.
Only when Mr Barnet stopped at some traffic lights did a
passerby bring his attention to his little passenger, sitting all alone on his
bus.
The police were very good and soon caught up with the bus, and one
excited little boy's adventure was over, well, almost; he was transferred from
the bus into the police car.
He was returned home to the nervous wreck
his mother had become! Needless to say, I was too relieved to be angry!
