Hear Me
Page 24
‘No, you’re right. They can’t.’
‘Do you remember that time we went to Antonia’s and Liss fell face-down into her spaghetti? I laughed about it for days.’
Elsa smiles. ‘So did I.’
Nat leans forward, her elbows perched on her knees and her chin resting between cupped hands. She blinks rapidly. ‘She was one of the most caring people I ever met. I’ll never forget her stopping the entire school bus when she about seven because I wasn’t on it. She thought I’d missed it and apparently kicked up such a fuss the driver just had to stop and wait for her to come and fetch me. I had to leave my gym class and get on still wearing my leotard. I remember being so angry and embarrassed, but afterwards it touched me.’ She blinks rapidly for a few seconds before walking over to the open French doors. She looks out at the distant ocean with pensive eyes. A gentle breeze breaks through the humidity and flutters a few strands of hair across her cheek. She shudders out a long sigh and turns back to Elsa with a sardonic expression stamped across her face. ‘Funny old thing, this life.’ Her voice breaks. ‘I never expected our baby sister to go before us.’
‘Me neither.’
‘I guess she’d want us to keep going,’ says Nat.
Elsa nods and a warm glow tinged with sadness fills my spirit. Nat’s right; that’s exactly what I wish for them: long and happy lives. Karlos will pay because it’s part of the very design of life itself. An image of Karlos always looking over his shoulder rises and I shake my head in pity. I wouldn’t want to be him for all the sardines in the sea, not that I even really like sardines.
A soft mist filled with light surrounds me and deep in my spirit I know that the time has come to say goodbye. ‘Stay well, you two,’ I whisper. ‘No-one will ever separate us, just like those three Karoo hills.’
Epilogue
And so now it all makes sense
this time of mine called life;
and with all its hills and valleys, smiles and sorrows,
it was still mine!
Cast a calm eye on life, on death, not cold,
for its truth lies deep with our Creator
and the ties we share with our own precious web of close humanity.
Guard it while you can,
and if Time whisks it from your grasp,
don’t despair;
That end is nothing but a new beginning.
Sale Kahle!
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
Acknowledgements
Grateful thanks to my editor Yvonne Barlow for her superb editing and her readers for believing in this story. Much thanks also to my fellow writers for their valuable feedback and their time: Timothy Bertram, Anne Jenson, Dave Key, Anthony Lansing, Emma Marshall, Kathleen Marshall, Dilys Rose, Tracey Rosenberg, Cynthia Rogerson, Stephen Thompson, and of course my wonderful daughter Simone.
Julia North is a dedicated and passionate writer who writes about gritty reality and the human condition. She has previously published two books and is a member of the Salisbury Writer’s Circle. She lives in Salisbury Wiltshire.
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© Copyright 2017 Julia North
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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