Story Challenge 7

[Gemini]

"One morning in May, just as she thought things were going well at last......"

[Clover]

Is it number 7 already? I must try and get thinking a bit earlier this time.

[Daisy]

I'll have to start thinking! Lots of possibilities, Gem.

Please don't be shy, ladies - everybody's contribution is welcomed and appreciated. Give it a go! xx

[Clover]

Well I'll take the plunge and go first


“One morning in May, just as she thought things were going well at last Jan had a phone call that could change her life.
She had been a widow now for nearly five years and was at last beginning to live her life again. Her neighbours were friendly and she enjoyed pottering about in her small garden. She could even look at the special rose David had planted for them on their Ruby Anniversary with a wry smile instead of the memories it conjured up bringing tears to her eyes.
Jan’s greatest joy was her family, especially her granddaughters Jess and Poppy. Though they lived over three hundred miles away and visits were few and far between they were her pride and joy. Six months ago her daughter Amelia and son-in-law Bob had been on the verge of emigrating to Australia and Jan was devastated at the thought of losing them and her beautiful granddaughters to the other side of the world. At the last moment Bob had been head-hunted for a job in England and the family had decided to stay, much to Jan’s relief.
Things were indeed going well that morning in May when out of the blue the phone call had come.
The excited voice of Amelia blurted out
“Hello Mum, Guess what? We’re moving after all!”
Jan’s heart gave a flip as she tried to steady her voice
“Oh are you darling? What part are you going to?”
“Canterbury” squealed Amelia
“Oh” replied Jan fighting back the tears,” That’s in New South Wales isn’t it?”
“No silly, Canterbury in Kent, near you.Bob's been offered an even better job down there so we’ll be moving as soon as we can find a house. Keep your eye out for us won’t you?”
Oh yes I certainly will” breathed Jan.

[Gemini]

Oh Clover what a lovely story! And Phew, I was bit worried for Jan then!

Thank you for starting us, off, hopefully there will be some more!

[Daisy]

Clover - That 's lovely and really expresses how all our long-distance grannies must feel. I had my heart in my mouth for Jan, thinking her family was going to Australia after all.

[Gemini]

One morning in May just as she thought things were going well at last, Emma sat staring at the blue line in the window of the little white stick in her hand.
'This cannot be happening!' she said aloud.

Emma and Dan had 3 children. Poppy, aged 12 arrived in their last year at university. A bit of a shock to say the least, but the couple were very much in love, and hoped to be parents eventually. Poppy just nudged things forward a bit! Emma's and Dan's parents were happy (if a little surprised) to be made grandparents and both Grandmothers helped out a lot, allowing Emma to do her finals and after a few months begin her teacher training.

Five years later, once things were on more of an even keel, and the family more financially secure, Jacob, the planned baby arrived. Then two years later, along came another surprise in baby Luke. Emma's GP told her she was incredibly fertile, and her babies seemed to overcome all methods of contraception! Luke was a good, adorable baby, and arriving only 2 years after his brother fitted into the family well.

.Things had been hard financially in the early years, and childcare a bit of a nightmare, juggling between 2 grandmas, after school club and nursery.
The time for Emma and Dan as a couple seemed to almost disappear for a while. Love and determination got them though that patch, and things were good now.
Emma loved her teaching job, and felt she really belonged in the school she had taught at for the past 4 years
Now Luke was settled into school, the older 2 becoming more independent day by day, life was much easier. Last summer they went to the Algarve on their first foreign holiday as family, something they had hoped for for a long time.

Recently Emma hadn't her usual energy. As a working mother with 3 children she did get tired, particularly towards the end of term, but this felt different.
Then she started to leave her morning coffee, the one requirement to kick start her days. Then she noticed her waistbands becoming tighter.....
She confided her fears to Dan the previous evening once the children had gone to bed. He visibly paled at the idea of another child. 'Surely you can't be pregnant?' he asked. 'There only one way to find out' answered Emma, 'I'll do it in the morning.

It was half term, and Poppy was going to her friend Jenna's house for the day.
Emma phoned her friend Claire to ask if Jacob and Luke could possibly come over to play with her boys that morning, promising to return the favour later in the week. She needed an empty house for this.
After dropping the boys at Claire's to play with William and Sam, Emma went to Boots to buy a pregnancy testing kit.
She came home, followed the instructions, and now was sitting staring at that that blue line. Just then her phone rang. It was Dan. 'Well? Have you done it?'

Emma was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, then Dan heard a quiet 'Yes. The test is positive.' An answering silence on the other end of the phone.
Then Emma heard Dan say 'Put the kettle on darling, I'm taking advantage of my flexi time and getting out of here early. I'll bring cakes to celebrate. It's not every day you learn you are going to be a daddy again!'
Emma wiped the tear from the corner of her eye. Good old Dan, he was always there, always knew what to say. They had each other and 3 wonderful children, one more beautiful baby would complete the family.

While she waited for Dan to come home, Emma Googled 'Vasectomy Clinics'.

[Daisy]

Gem - what a lovely story. I'm so pleased Emma and Dan were delighted about their fourth baby - and the last sentence made me laugh out loud.

[Clover]

Gem a lovely story with a happy ending.You just felt the vibes of a really happy family.Thanks Gem.

[Plantaholic]

Lovely, you really should get your stories printed Gemini

[Gemini]

Thank you Plant, I think everyone who contributes here is talented

Just bumping this up, for any more contributions.

[Daisy]

I've half-written mine! The rest is still in my head, just waiting for a few minutes to transfer from head to computer.

[Daisy]

I've half-written mine! The rest is still in my head, just waiting for a few minutes to transfer from head to computer.

It's taken rather a long time to get from my head to my computer, but here is my Story Challenge 7. I'm sorry it ended up taking longer than I'd planned.


One morning in May, just as she thought things were going well at last …. the phone rang. Sally picked it up on the third ring. “Hello, Sally Thompson”.

“Good morning, Sally. It’s Avril Dixon.”

Avril sounded very upset.

“Hello, Avril. You sound worried. What’s the matter”

“I am, I just don’t know what to do. It’s Dee. She says she’s not going to go to her Maths A Level exam on Wednesday. She’s crying all the time. She’s done no revision at all over the week-end and I just don’t know what to do. I feel like shaking sense into her, but I know that won’t help.”

Sally sighed inwardly. Dee was one of the College’s best all-round students, very able, bright, cheerful, sociable, in fact she had been the Student Union Committee’s social secretary, and a very good job she’d made of it too. She had the conditional offer of a place at Oriel to read History and had a bright future ahead of her. She could hear Avril crying at the other end of the line. Avril, widowed some years ago, was a brilliant single mum. Dee was a late addition to their family - her much older brother was a successful business man in Australia, and her older sister was a translator at United Nations in Geneva. Avril had worked hard to be both mother and father to Dee, as well as running a busy hairdressing salon in town, and Sally had a lot of time for her.

“Well, first of all, don’t worry about the revision. Dee is already well-prepared for her exams, and last minute revision isn’t always helpful. Where is she now? “

“She’s in her bedroom. I can hear her crying but she doesn’t want me to go in …. oh, Sally, I’m so out of my depth with this. I just don’t know what to do.”

Sally looked at her watch. “Look”, she said, “It’s nearly lunch-time. Would you like me to come and have a chat with her?”

With obvious relief in her voice, Avril said she’d be very grateful. Sally drove the couple of miles or so to the pretty cottage and parked outside Avril’s tidy front garden. Avril was waiting at the door - pale with anxiety.

“I can’t thank you enough” she breathed, “I’ll make you a cup of tea. Would you like a sandwich as well - it’s not trouble, honestly, it won’t take a minute …” Sally smiled. “Just a cup of tea would be perfect, thanks, Avril. Can I go up and see if she’ll talk to me?”

Avril nodded, and Sally made her way up the narrow stairs and tapped gently on Dee’s bedroom door.

“Dee, it’s Sally from College. Can I come in, please?”

Sally took the mumbled reply as a ‘yes’. Dee was curled up on her bed, cuddled up to her large and rather threadbare teddybear. She looked young, frightened and vulnerable and Sally’s kind heart went out to her.

She sat down gently on the edge of the bed and tickled Teddy behind his one, battered ear. “Ted, what’s the matter with Dee, do you know?” Dee managed a weak smile, and Sally waited quietly.

“I can’t do my Maths exam”, she whispered. “I can’t remember anything at all - it’s all a blur and there’s no point, I’ll fail, I know I will.”

Sally paused, and looking at Ted said “I think your mistress has got exam nerves, Ted. What do you think?” She gently nodded the old bear’s head in agreement. Dee’s tears were rolling down her pale cheeks and she shook her head. “No, it’s not exam nerves. I really really can’t remember anything - I can’t even remember whether the exam’s in the hall or the gym. I can’t find my candidate number. I don’t know what time the exam starts - I just can’t do it.”

Sally stood up. “Well”, she said. “We can fix some of those things. Your Mum’s made me a cup of tea so I’ll go down and drink it while you get dressed and we’ll go in to college together and check out where you are. You can even see which desk you’ll be sitting at.” Sally paused at the door, smiling, “Teddy, make sure Dee’s downstairs in ten minutes.”

Avril handed Sally a welcome cup of tea and they sat down at the kitchen table. “What is it?” The anxiety showed in Avril’s face. Sally smiled. “It’s classic exam nerves. I’m going to take her into college now and get her to sit in the desk where she’ll sit the exam, check her candidate number, that sort of thing. I’m sure she will be fine.”

“I hope so” replied Avril. “She’s worked so hard all through school and college and I want her to get her reward for all that work. There were loads of times when she could have been going out with her friends, but she stayed in and did extra homework.” Her kindly face crumpled. “She’s always said she wants her Dad to be proud of her.”

Sally smiled reassuringly. “Look, here she comes now.” Sally was pleased to see she had done her hair up in a chic but messy up do and had made up her warm brown eyes with a touch of eyeshadow and mascara. “Let’s get going, Dee”.

During the short journey back to college they talked about hairstyles and what was the best thing for frizzy hair on wet days. Sally parked in her usual spot and they walked round to the hall where Dee’s exam would be held. The room was empty so Sally took her in and showed her where her desk would be. Dee visibly relaxed, and Sally suggested they went back to her office to double check the exam timetable.

As they walked down the corridor they heard a voice behind call Dee’s name. They turned round and Dee’s face broke into her usual grin. “Hi, Si” she waved. Si, Simon Stephens, had been on the Student Union committee with Dee and they knew each other well. Simon was studying Sports and Leisure and was going to take up a sports scholarship in America in the autumn. He was the college pin-up and all the girls loved his natural charm. His undeniable good looks helped, too!

“I’m just going for a coffee. Have you got time to come and join me?” Si gestured towards the coffee shop. Dee glanced at Sally and at her almost imperceptible nod, Dee said yes, of course she had time.

“Thanks, Sally” smiled Dee. “You’ve been great. I’ll be ok now”. Sally smiled and waved. “I know you will’ she whispered under her breath as she walked off towards her office to phone Avril and put her mind at rest.

—-oOo—-

Three months later

It was exam results day, and Sally was in her office dealing with the usual mountain of queries the day’s news brought with it.

Her office door burst open with the briefest of taps to herald the arrival of a huge bunch of flowers and a beaming, excited Dee and an equally happy Simon.

“Sally, Sally - I did it! I’ve got three A*s and an A and I’ve accepted my place at Uni.” Simon, not to be outdone added “Me too and I’m off to America.” He glanced at Dee ‘But I’ll be home for Christmas, and all the holidays”. He squeezed Dee’s hand.

Dee gave Sally a big hug. “I’d have never done it if it hadn’t been for you, Sally. I’ll never be that silly again.”

[Gemini]

A very good story as usual Daisy! I always get lost in your stories straight away, and your characters are very believable.

I'm glad it ended well for Dee

[Plantaholic]

I enjoyed that Daisy, thanks for taking the time.