This is Sheila's story
State of Shock
Mavis was in a
STATE OF SHOCK. It had just been on the radio that her child-hood heart throb
had died. She had loved David Cassidy all these years and now – bang – gone.
She made a cup of coffee and sat down in her favourite chair and started to
think back. She could see her old bedroom with all the posters of him on the
walls. Her school books had his name everywhere with hearts and an arrow
through them and M loves D tucked into every space. She wasn’t alone, most
girls in her class had this crush as well. They thought that he was gorgeous
looking and wished that they were his girlfriend but they had to be content with
yearning from afar.
When they were a
bit older and were at work, Mavis and her best friend Jill actually went to one
of his shows. Afterwards, making their way home, they admitted to still having
a crush on him, but actually hadn’t heard him singing much because they were
screaming as much as all the others in the audience, and they hardly had any
voice left to prove it!
As time went by
boys – or should I say young men – came along and eventually Mavis married
James. Jill was bridesmaid of course. The day was perfect, even the weather
behaved and the sun shone all day. They had been saving hard and managed to buy
a little 2 bedroomed house. A very proud James carried his bride over the
threshold. They didn’t have much furniture, only the essentials, but they were
very happy and looking forward to their married life. A couple of years later,
on the very day that Mavis found out she was pregnant, Jill asked her to be
Matron-of-Honour at her wedding to Alan. Mavis was delighted to accept, and
after talking to James, decided not to tell Jill about her pregnancy because she
didn’t want to take any shine away from Jill on the run-up to her wedding –
which was only a couple of months away, and she could easily keep her secret for
that long.
A few days after
Jill and Alan came back from their honeymoon they called in to see Mavis and
James. After talking about how the wedding went and showing photos of their
honeymoon Jill suddenly said that she couldn’t wait any longer to tell them that
she was pregnant, and they had been in a STATE OF SHOCK at first but now they
were very happy about it and they wanted Mavis and Jim to be the first to know.
Mavis looked at Jill in amazement. “That was my news for you” she told Jill.
They both stared at each other, started laughing and both started talking at
once and hugged each other. James looked at Alan, “Congratulations” he said
shaking his hand,”I have some beer in the kitchen, lets leave the ladies to it
shall we?”
Sheila Benfield
State
of Shock
In
September 2001,1 was having my annual holiday in America. Each year
my cousin Rosemary would use her time share to show me different
places in America and this year started out being no different. We
had already been upstate New York to a hotel in the Catskill
Mountains. We
had spent an excellent weekend celebrating my birthday in a country
hotel featuring a very funny comedian. It was fun!
Now
back in New Jersey with a few days to go shopping and do laundry etc.
before setting off agaimthis time to Virginia Beach. We
were having breakfast before going into New York City to do some
shopping, we were watching the breakfast news when one viewer phoned
in to say an airoplane had crashed into one of the twin towers. He
thought it was one of the little planes carrying tourists, but when
the TV cameras swung around we could see it was a much larger plane,
and within minutes a second plane hit the other tower. We
were watching this horrific event live! We
sat in a state of shock. It really was horrendous and unbelievable.
September 11th.
A day America will never forget.
Had
it happened a couple of hours later we would have been in the city.Of
course the news was shown all over the world. I was unable to contact
my family to let them know I was OK.Fortunately my daughter worked
out that we wouldn't have been in the city as early as 9am. We
were glued to the TV watching all the terrible events of 9/11 unfold.
I can't believe its 16 years ago as the memories are so fresh.
We
carried on with our trip to Virginia and enjoyed ourselves but the
images wern't far from our minds. The people we met were extra kind
and more tolerant than those I had met on other tripsy America had
had a real shake up,
When
I had to fly home the plane was half empty so I got a good upgrade.
It would be a while before confidence in flying was back to normal.
It
was strange when I arrived back in England and switched on my mobile
I had several messages asking if I was alright. It was sort of eerie.
Jenny
State
of Shock
It
was a beautiful sunny morning and as Jane a finished her weekly
shopping she decided to go for a walk around Gotee in Eling. It
seemed as if all the dog walkers and families had the same idea.
Coming down through the dark side of the old church graveyard, the
bright sun hit her. How wonderful she thought shading her eyes.
Strolling along she spotted a couple on a seat oblivious to the
world. He had his arm around her back and tenderly kissed her temple.
Then Jane's heart froze. It was Jim, her husband of 10 years.
That
morning they had had a bit of a tif, nothing major, they had both
wanted to do different things on their day off. Watching from behind
a bush she noticed how tender he was being with her. Not recognising
the red haired women she quickly replaced her steps and drove home.
Robert,
their youngest would be waiting for her. In a state of total shock
she tried to gather her thoughts. Carefully, driving along she picked
up young Robert who was full of chatter. "Mum, did you hear what
I said?". He asked. "Sorry dear, I was thinking about
something else". "But this is important" he said "
I won a prize for my story and I can't wait to tell Dad". With a
great effort she flashed him a lovely smile.
Jim
came home looking somber. Robert jumped on him spilling over with his
news. Jane began to gather food from the fridge for dinner. A glass
of wine was put into her hand and as they clinked glasses Jim said
"Heres to the future". She forced a smile.
Later
that evening, Jim said "Jane I have something to tell you".
Here it comes she thought. " I saw my sister today and she has
split from her husband". Jim looked sad as he quite liked his
brother-in-law. "Oh Jim, I am so sorry she said bursting into
tears." Guess what, she has dyed her hair red, I hardly
recognised her". Jane silently said to herself "I will
never jump to conclusions again". She couldn't tell him why she
was so upset, and he concluded that his sister's problems had come as
a shock to her as they had always seemed so happy.
Pat
