Step into the Rainbow by Colin R Brookfield (little red riding hood read aloud .TXT) đ
- Author: Colin R Brookfield
Book online «Step into the Rainbow by Colin R Brookfield (little red riding hood read aloud .TXT) đ». Author Colin R Brookfield
There were only two letters on the doormat, which rather surprised Jill, given the amount of cards and letters that she had dispatched to friends and relations. It was with a feeling of confusion that she read the contents of the first letter. It was from the Country Cottages people.
Dear Mr. Spencer,
We were sorry to discover that you did not arrive as arranged at Bramble Lane. However, it is regretted that due to these circumstances, we are unable to refund your deposit.
Yours sincerely...........
All kinds of suspicions began crowding into Jillâs mind. No, heâs not that type of person. How many women have made that mistake? she thought, remembering how uncharacteristically quiet he had been on holiday â hardly mentioning his fishing.
âPeter, I need a word with you!â
âDonât be silly Jill, thereâs been a mix up. Iâll get a letter off to Mrs. Persill right away. No I wonât. George will confirm that he left me at Bramble Lane and just to further satisfy you, when he makes his usual trip tomorrow, Iâm sure he wonât mind parking his car at the end of the lane and taking a walk up to the Persillâs cottage. We can give him a large bunch of flowers to deliver on my behalf, and he can sort out this payment business at the same time.â
âDo I hear this right?â spluttered Jill, âYou stayed at a cottage for a whole week, seemingly unpaid for, with people who were not expecting you?â
âPlease,â said Peter, âIâm as nonplussed as you are. Letâs drop the subject. George will get it sorted out for us.â
Knowing that bad news seldom comes alone, Peter opened the second letter. He hoped that by doing so, any more bad news might be presented in a more favourable light.
âIt seems we have to see the solicitor at three-thirty this Saturday,â he said. âItâs about a parcel that was entrusted to them by grandfather, to be given to us after his death.â
The following Friday evening they were both waiting with some trepidation for George to knock on the door. They were having a cup of coffee in the kitchen when he arrived.
Jill opened the door. âAt last!â she gasped, âIâve been biting my finger nails over this. Come on in.â Jill took a surprisingly short time settling him down with a hot drink. âNow, whatâs the Bramble Lane story?â
âBetter sit down both of you,â he replied, âbecause you wonât get much satisfaction from the answer.â
Suddenly a cold chill went through Peter. âBefore you say any more George, I want to tell you both the full story. I couldnât bring myself to do so before, because I thought it was all too bizarre to be believed.â
After Peter had finished, they all went quiet. Then George broke the silence.
âIt so happens,â he said, âthat when Peter and I drove out of the village towards Bramble Lane, we were on what they called âthe old roadâ. The new road that replaced it, branched off sharply to the left just outside the village and, typical of rural villages, nobody had bothered to signpost it. Anyway, the roads came together again fifteen miles further on. I checked this new road and guess what? I discovered Bramble Lane right where it was expected to be but, it was not our Bramble Lane; this one was much wider with a tarmac finish, so I turned the car around and took the old road. I checked it twice from one end to the other and there was no lane to be found anywhere. I then went to the village library and youâll never guess! There used to be an AMBLE Lane on the old road and it led to a sort of cottage-cum-farm. The name of the people that lived there was âPersillâ, but get this, the Persills died over NINETY years ago. The land owners demolished the empty buildings; the unwanted lane had its hedges uprooted and the plough took care of the rest.â
Jill and Peter looked at each other in total perplexity. The story was unbelievable.
âItâs almost as if the cottage fulfilled the destiny of its name, doesnât it?â George said in wonderment.
The following Saturday, Peter presented himself at the solicitorâs office and collected the parcel.
âWell?â Jill intimated, nodding towards the package that sat on the end of the dining room table, âare we frightened to open it?â
âNot at all,â he replied, âI just thought you would like the privilege.â
Once inside the wrapping paper, they discovered a sealed letter and a bulging folder with his grandfatherâs name on it.
âI didnât know your grandfather whiled his time away with this sort of stuff,â said Jill as she opened up the folder and took out several pages. âDo you want to hear it?â
âWell, he wouldnât have left it if he hadnât wanted me to hear it, now would he?â
âWell I hope you like poetry,â she said, âbecause there seems to be a lot of it. Iâll just read you a couple of short ones. This oneâs called âBrief Allotted Whilesâ.
How many candles lit and guttered
that left their scent upon the air;
but that was in a bygone time
and not a trace is left to share.
So many feet have come and gone
that brought their sadness and their smiles
that left to each along the way
cherished thoughts, for brief allotted whiles.
The next oneâs called âThe Thrushes Songâ
Lesser moments come and perish
and then a moment left to cherish,
a heart thatâs touched by something gone
as flies away the Thrushes Song.â
âGoodness me Jill, even the poetry seems related to my experience. Donât read any more.â
Peter picked up the sealed envelope and opened it. Then having read aloud the customary preamble, he moved on to the more relevant details. It was in his grandfatherâs handwriting:
âAnd now Peter, there is something I wish to say that should have been said a long time ago.
Originally my name was William Persill and not William Spencer, as you have always known me.
I was born and raised by my parents to the age of twelve at âSanscroftâ, in Amble Lane. Sadly though, my father suddenly became very ill and eventually died. My mother struggled on for about another year against impossible odds through a very severe winter, then fell seriously ill herself.
I remember her saying to me during her last moments that I was to have the gold ring with the sovereign in it. She said, âYou remember the city gentleman that stayed with us for the fishing, the one that caught a piece out of his left ear with his fishing gaff, and gave us the seven and sixpence when he left? Well, I put the seven and six aside for a rainy day, youâll find it with the ring, in the drawer by my bedâ.
Well, after my mother died, the land owner kindly found a family called Spencer to take me in, and eventually I was given their name.â
Their concentration was suddenly broken as something fell from the folder that Jill was holding. It rolled across the table and came to a halt in front of Peter. It was the ring.
âThatâs impossible!â Peter exclaimed. âI gave it to that small boy last wee...â With his voice trailing off, he hurriedly fetched a small pin and pressed it into the aperture on the side of the ring. With a sharp click its claws sprung open and the sovereign fell to the table, the thin gold base upon which the coin had rested carried the initials W P.
Jill stared at the initials. âThis is incredible! And yet, you gave this very ring to a young William Persill.â She stared at Peterâs damaged left ear. âThe man that gave him that ring also damaged his left ear with a gaff, stayed for one week and paid seven and sixpence.â
In Peterâs clenched hand, there was a tiny silver framed picture of a pretty yesteryear young lady. He put it back in his pocket for good; perhaps too much had been said and shown already.
There was something else inside the folder, so Jill tipped it out. A small drawstring bag dropped heavily onto the table and jingled like old money.
Gentle Clouds and Other Things
Upon these high blue vaults,
a fitful artistâs hand at play
that in a trice dissolves, and then
refashions in another way.
Across those wind awakened skies
of shifting shapes that scurry,
that scarcely for a moment frame,
and thence to new life hurry.
Then earthward cast their mirrored forms
to dance the lands and sea
and hold the eye enchanted
at each fresh geometry.
And yet, this fugitive of form
bereft it seems of being,
belies a constancy of life
that is elusive to the seeing.
But little changed, the Phoebus eye
its battles for ascendancy,
and Selene still the parian form
playing interlunar truancy.
Though when the world slept silent
of all breathing animation,
those restless but attendant clouds
were playing mother to creation.
Yet, constant still upon the air
in freshly formed attire,
faithful to its melting moods
that gently downwards spire.
So weeps to earth their progeny
like tears of sparkling gems
in the magic of the alchemy
that from golden Phoebus stems.
Fond Memories
Fond memories haunt their favourite places
favourite things and favourite faces,
things of yore that gather lustre,
tucked away awaiting muster.
Either Way, a Price to Pay
Love unlooked for, never found,
by chains of fondness never bound,
nought to care for or be cared
of loveâs felicities impaired.
Love like wine has tendencies,
its fondness forms dependencies,
but wine excluded from the list
is untasted and thus unmissed,
no intoxicants to make their call
through their symptoms of withdrawal.
But love that stayed and never flew
that grew into a part of you,
one day it must be torn away
and maimed, insipid life must stay.
Yesteryearâs Dreams
Small girl tucked up in her bed
the candle flared, the shadows fled,
thoughts and pictures filled her mind
shadows returned to chase and find.
Over toys and dolls they prance
that join in the lively dance,
the candle guttered, ceased to shine
a sleeping child, as clocks strike nine.
She Shames the Sun
Her radiance doth put the sun to shame
to cause it hide behind a cloud its flame.
When night in folly makes its presence found,
her luminescence casts its light around,
confounding night, dawnâs chorus thus misled,
causing creatures of the night seek early bed.
Primordial Mysterium
Floraâs colours scents, verdant hue,
Knew long the earth ere fauna grew,
âtis bound to be this way around,
for faunaâs needs arenât barren ground.
Things to taste, to smell, to see,
serving no receptive faculty,
No eye yet born to gaze the land,
Nor imprinted foot upon the sand.
Yet implicit there in floraâs form,
the opening of the eye would certain dawn.
Should I Trust These Eyes
Sat well that smile upon her face
untrespassed by a frown
evoking heady imagery
that none but she could crown.
Though should I trust these smitten eyes
that know of images and nothing more
that are times too eager pleasing
that have served me false before.
But my feelings tell me I succumb
to thoughts presaging shame
for not once did I consider
her fears could be the same.
Pussyâs Deliberations Upon Paws and Effect
Would I cringe in terror
in a haunted house?
No, Iâd fall asleep with boredom
unless Iâd found a mouse.
But you wouldnât find a human
spend a night in there,
could this mean cats have problems
not seeing whatâs not there,
or could the answer to this riddle be
that ghosts just play unfair?
Imagine us in uniform,
would we be officious,
would all unregulated things
seem to us suspicious?
Calvinistic reformations
and dubious moralities,
are we cats that paranoid
about our own mortalities?
Are all moggies superstitious?
Does a walk around a ladder
seem to them,
the more judicious?
Do we
Comments (0)