THE KITTEN 

By Tessa Harvey

    But there was his wife, lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the staircase. Dropping his briefcase, Jackson ran to his wife. Her lovely black hair was covering her face. Brushing aside her hair, he could see that her face was white under the smooth coffee-colour of her skin. Her startling jade-green eyes were closed. Gently, he felt for a pulse around her neck.
    At his touch, Velma roused, her eyes flickering open, then closing.
    Trying to move, she moaned in pain. "Where are you hurt, Velma?" anxiety clear in his voice. "I could phone for an ambulance. "No," Velma whispered, "please, no. Just give me a minute or two. Please Jackson," she continued, " could you stop, maybe with all the foreign gods stuff. I keep having accidents. I don't know how I tripped." The man thought 'rubbish' but held back from saying.
    An hour later, their doctor, a  somewhat robicund fellow, balding on top and with a somewhat forbidding manner, had descended the stairs with their faded threadbare carpet guarding the centre steps. 
    Pausing a few steps above the pale blue tiled floor, he slowly pushed his round spectacles further up his short nose. Dr. Jones eyed the apprehensive teacher sharply. "Well," the doctor finally ventured, "your wife is badly bruised and I am concerned about the blow to the head. Nothing broken."
    Jackson sighed with relief. No broken bones was a blessing. 
    "However," the doctor continued portentiously, still commanding the heights of the staircase, "Velma is seriously depressed." He watched shrewdly as Jackson paled then blushed. "You need to really care about her or there may be consequences."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE KITTEN   By Tessa Harvey     A storm swept in as the children were leaving school, the rain lashing almost horizontally on a freshening cold wind. The skies were very grey.  The children going by bus were helped up the steps of the vehicles as fast as safely possible. Most were shivering as the unexpected, almost freezing rain pummelled adults and children alike.      Some of the children scurried to the line of waiting cars or 4WD's, bringing friends with them for a lift to their own homes. One small girl huddled near Jackson in the door as he waited for parents to come. "Mum's sick and dad's working," the girl Daphne explained. "What will I do, sir?"     It had been a beautiful day earlier and the child had been going to walk home. "I will call Mrs. Bryant," he replied, " but I will ask your mother first." ------------------------------------------------------ VACATION     Harry, Henry and Anna were going on vacation! It was a...
Read more
THE KITTEN  By Tessa Harvey     There was a loud tapping on the principal's door, then the secretary peered around the door, looking a little flustered.      "Mr. Poulson is here to see you." The secretary sounded upset. The principal smiled at her.  "Five minutes.  Just discussing ideas with Mr. Bryant."      "There was no need to try to protect me, Mrs.  McLeod. You see, I will no longer teach anything but what is morally true, just as my grandfather did." Elspeth came  round her tidy desk and patted his arm.     "Mr. Poulson is here to talk about my resignation. The board have warned me about my lack of inclusivity and for advising senior girls that unborn foetuses are actually people from conception.     "I cannot betray Jesus. But you, Jackson, perhaps you could read Mark, chapter 13 in the Bible and the first five verses of the Gospel of John. They will change your life!"     Realising h...
Read more
THE KITTEN  By Tessa Harvey        A week later, Jackson Bryant   studied the class from the old teacher dais. His desk was not large. To his surprise, many old textbooks were revealed when part of the platform raised carefully, revealed the past of half a century ago.     His grandfather had been principal at this same primary school.     The door was flung open, and a happy smiling face appeared. A much smaller girl was anxiously peering out behind him." G'day Smiler!" called the teacher.     Immediately the little girl relaxed. "We was taking Harry to daycare," she ventured. "Yeah! He made an awful fuss. You'd a thought we was murdering him!" Henry caught the teacher's sterner expression.     Embarrassed, they said sorry and made moves to their desks.     Annie was really happy as half an hour later, she was writing her story. The teacher had asked all the children to write about their pets. BUT, he caref...
Read more