pool

Addiction

Text: Addiction

from d., 04.04.09

Text

Rachel was asking, begging, to stop at Amelia’s house to work on their joint school project.  Amelia conceded that the deadline was looming and they really needed to consult together, to get it organised.  She also sympathised with Rachel –she found it difficult concentrate on homework before dinner in a house where her Grandma was babysitting her three-year-old twin brothers, and where Rachel herself was expected to help prepare the meal before her parents came home. And neither of the girls was allowed to go out anywhere once it was dark.

Amelia was trying to think of ways to avoid the visit.  She said her mother had been sick – which was almost true.  Some well recognised signs had appeared over the past week or so.  At first they had been hard to detect; the floor still wet one day when she came home from school, when her mother usually spent the afternoons in the garden, which, come to think of it, was starting to look a little neglected and bedraggled.  The next day, the washing was only just being put on the clothes-line, then the day after that her mother ordered a very, very rare take-away dinner, and yesterday the bathroom was still steamy and her mother’s hair was definitely wet as she kissed her ‘hello’.  The excuses had started too; her mother had claimed, on various days:  a long conversation with Nanna on the phone; an extra day’s duty as a volunteer at the Botanic Gardens; a sudden need to buy winter clothes (her mother hated buying anything at all, particularly clothes, and had never before been known to spontaneously ‘go shopping’).   Hmmmm.  Amelia was very sceptical.  She had seen it all before.

So she was terrified at what she would find today, after school.  She didn’t want Rachel coming and finding her mother in a befuddled state; perhaps even angry and defensive.

Talking too quickly, too brightly, she was parrying Rachel’s questions, and trying to put off the decision until she had assessed the situation.  She took two deep breaths as she rounded the corner to the cul-de-sac. She took another to calm her racing heart.  She peered at her house at the end of the street.

She let out her breath.  Somehow, even from this distance, she could see the garden looked happier, brighter.  Ah, now she spotted a sprinkler on the lawn.  As they got closer, she could see all the curtains were open, and the tiny corner of the clothesline that poked out from behind the house was empty – the clothes seemed to have been taken in.

“OK” she said bravely, taking a chance, “Come on in – we will ring your Grandma from our place to let her know where you are”.

As they opened the door, a really promising smell of fresh cooking greeted them.

“I’m home Mum,” she sang her customary greeting, in her customary tone.  “I see that you finished your book.” 

Tags

Alert Moderator

[Alert Moderator]

Comments

7 comments

Add Comment

  • Anonymous's picture

    16.04.09 — Robby J

    *Do the Best U can Everyday

    *Do the Best U can Everyday with Everything In Everyway -Surely this counts for something*

    I really felt u here in this experience u shared .. Thank u .... so much for giving me a chance to read this ...... Robby <3

  • Anonymous's picture

    08.04.09 — d.

    Kate, thanks for being

    Kate, thanks for being sympathetic. Yes, the techno-wizard JJ has been talking to me and suggested notepad. When one has come to these things later in life, one tends to use familiar systems, and I have never used notepad. So next time I feel 'inspired' to 'upload', I'll give it a go. It is rather like working in the lab all over again, trying to get the experimental conditions just right - and I thought I had retired!! Seems I just changed subjects.

    I don't mean to always seem critical, but I figure that if I find it awkward, so will a lot of other people, and they may not keep trying (or have the family techo support like I have when they really get stuck).

    d.

  • Anonymous's picture

    08.04.09 — Pool team

    d., even if you do mean to

    d., even if you do mean to seem critical, we really appreciate it. It's even more useful for us to know what's driving people crazy than what's working well. So please keep sending your feedback through.
    -k

  • Anonymous's picture

    06.04.09 — d.

    Thanks for support, been

    Thanks for support, been meaning to write this story for years - been there, the ideas fully formed, in my head. Does this happen to other people, or am I just very lazy?

    I guess Pool has given me a reason to write some of these things. It is a more attractive forum than the faded purple folder in my filing cabinet.

    Anyway, I'm glad someone liked it.

    d.

  • Anonymous's picture

    04.04.09 — Peter Ravenscroft

    Beautifully written. And

    Beautifully written. And what a kick in the tail!

  • Anonymous's picture

    04.04.09 — d.

    I have tried plain text and

    I have tried plain text and rich text, and I still can't get wys to be wyg. Even the 'preview' isn't the same as the final submitted article.

    d.

  • Anonymous's picture

    07.04.09 — Pool team

    Hi d. Wow it's frustrating,

    Hi d. Wow it's frustrating, isn't it. We're trying to figure out a solution here. In the meantime, I had a go at combining wys with wyg and it seems to have worked ok. I used good old Notepad. But we do need a better solution. I'll let you know.
    Cheers, Kate

  • Post a comment

    Terms & Conditions