A TANGLE OF LIGHT 

By Tessa Harvey


    "I never knew who your dad was. It was one night returning from the hospital to the Nurses' Home. The shift had been longer than usual. Several desperate emergencies. A little girl with a savage dog bite. The finger could be saved, the bones would heal, but the father, an arrogant paramedic claimed it was the child's own fault. He delayed getting treatment too long."
    She paused, remembering. "But, mum, that's sad and I do care, but you loved me once. Was it because I became a teenager? Was I so very ugly?"
    Annabelle was horrified. "No, of course not - it's just I became afraid. You wanted to be a nurse, and I thought what happened to me would happen to you.
"Your dad was not kind, abusive really. But I didn't talk to you. I tried, but it was easier to drift away. Will you forgive, try and understand. Give me another chance."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 A TANGLE OF LIGHT By Tessa Harvey         The road was awash with a seething mass of foam-flecked water. The ambulance lights stabbed through the darkness tinging the turgid flow with blue, red and gold.  Two paramedics slid out, fighting to keep their balance in the strong swirling torrent. With commendable efficiency, despite the appalling conditions, they checked the elderly lady, ascertained her condition and agreed she could be safely moved.     There wasn't much choice. To linger was impossible. They slid the stretcher bearing the unresponsive woman into the ambulance. The designated driver scrambled into the driver's seat, already drenched, shoes soaked. His partner, a woman, pulled Adrienne into the ambulance. She was in no condition to protest. Shocked and pale, trembling violently, she half-fell into a seat. The doors were hastily closed.     Easing some of the sodden clothes from her patient, the older health worker made the ...
Read more
Image
 A TANGLE OF LIGHT By Tessa Harvey     Adrienne gulped the last of her drink, scraped back on her chair deliberately, knowing how much that had annoyed her mother. Her face was bitter and angry, her eyes stormy and grey.     "Why should I give you a chance? Who ever gives second chances?" "God does," was the quiet reply.     "Oh, how convenient. Let's have God now and all be perfect." She swayed on her feet, suddenly exhausted. Her mother helped her to her room and Adrienne lay on the familiar bed in the pretty room she had once thought a prison.     Exhausted, she fell asleep in seconds. Her mother watched her for a while, saw how the girl's face softened in sleep, becoming an older version of the child she had allowed to drift away, to neglect. How cruel had she been.     She went quietly out of the door and reached for her neglected Bible. Perhaps God would make a way where there seemed to be no way - heal her own mother's heart ...
Read more
Image
A TANGLE OF LIGHT  By Tessa Harvey     Adrienne walked away from the hospital. It was a beautiful day. Blue sky etched the red colours of a small perfect maple, the cherry tree leaves sang a symphony of gold, orange and green whispering in the wind. The cold was sharpening. Adee wondered what to do. The man she had known as dad was leaving. It was hard, though he had rarely been kind.     Somehow she had never quite measured up. Not clever enough or pretty enough, shy rather than assertive. Her shoulders sagged.     Despite feeling the Presence of God in her nan's hospital room, smelling that beautiful perfume from heaven, she still felt sad.     Gran wasn't yet out of danger, though there was hope now. Then arms wrapped around her, and she startled, dark hair flying, eyes widening in dismay. Oh God, not Jono.     It was her mother. "What's wrong?" Adee snapped gracelessly. "Now you're alone, I guess suddenly you want a daughter. We...
Read more