A SWEET CHILD Copyright P.Audcent 2014
Its strange how stories seem to create themselves without too much thought by the author, this is one where I had the title but nothing else, so I just kept on tapping it out on the keyboard!
In every ones life a special person drops in and makes an immediate impression, this happened to Daisy Westbury. She was kayaking one sunny day along the river Avon,
she had her bathing suit on and a safety blown up floatation device around her middle, so she felt very safe as she enjoyed the river bank and all its vegetation. The willows dipping their fronds into the water fascinated her, so she paddled closed to one very old willow that had little birds climbing up an down the yellow branches.
What puzzled Daisy as she gently manoeuvred across the river towards that great willow was that all the tiny birds were a bright blue and green colour. She had seen documentaries with such fauna but always from distant shores, sadly she had left her mobile phone in the car, she would had definitely taken a photograph if she had it with her. Suddenly she felt something hit her knee inside the Kayak, so she felt under under her leg and produced her own mobile phone. Suddenly a small voice entered her ear apologising for frightening her. So she drifted closed to willow fronds that, like a curtain, hid the trunk of the tree. She used her paddle when she met the river bank and swept the fronds aside, here sitting against the trunk was a small child, a girl she thought, but it could have been either.
“Why are you here so close to the water, where are your parents?” A startled Daisy called to the child.
“I love the river. Please take my photograph, with my lovely birds.”
Daisy grabbed her mobile and turned it on, or rather tried to but she had forgotten to charge it up.
“I would love too but there are two problems, the first is it needs charging and the second one is I cannot print out a picture for you.”
“No that's fine I don't need the picture for myself, and if you wait a minute your phone will charge up.”
“Why are you here anyway, you aren't at school, are you playing hookey are some such?”
“What is Hookey? I live here.”
“By the river?”
“Yes by my lovely old willow, the tree protects me and I can go out and help other souls just like you, now your telephone should be ready now.”
Daisy felt the child was so certain, she tried the start button once more and her mobile leapt into life.
“Do you want a smiley photo or just a ordinary plain one?”
“As I am please.”
Daisy selected the camera and focusing she took the picture. She checked to see if she had captured the little birds as well and indeed they were all there and in focus.
Gracious , Daisy thought they must have all stopped climbing all at once just for this photo. She looked up and they were still moving about the child's body.
“They are my friends, you know we get a lot of sad people along the pathway behind so I send out one of my little birds to make them feel better. Of course they cannot see them but that does not affect the outcome. People feel so much better and go away much happier.”
“Well that's a kind thought, you must be a very special person to think like that.” Daisy looked up after shutting down her mobile, but the child had gone.
She leaned over to the river bank and finding a small branch she snapped in half and drove both pieces in to bank so she could find this tree again, then she paddled back to the boat house and pulled the kayak from the water.
“Did you go far?” asked the owner of the boat shed.
“Just down to that big old willow.” said Daisy.
“Funny you know, you have a big smile on your face. But when you arrived and paid me the hire money for my kayak you were very drawn looking and if you don't mind me saying you were kind of tetchy.”
“Do you know this child?” Daisy bought out her mobile and switched it on then showed the photograph she had taken to the boat man.
He looked at it carefully.
“Can't be here, those are foreign birds.”
“No, the child?”
“No child there just the birds on the willow leaves, but they can't be. Look no blurring, I reckon you stuck these on yourself, do you remember those girls fooled their parents with photo's of fairies and elves in the twenties. I reckon you just gone and did the same.”
Daisy smiled and shook her head, then she remembered the sticks she had stuck in the ground, but she thought now she would not come back, looking up at the boat owner who seemed a little angry.
“I had a lovely day, thank you very much.” and then to herself 'I wonder if it was a boy or girl.' Then in her head came 'What difference would it make.'
xxx