Tales

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Richard stirred uncomfortably in his sleep.’  Next to him his wife, Maureen, woken by his heavy breathing, rose silently to go to the bathroom.’  Returning, she looked down sympathetically at her husband.’  She could just make out his form, now darker now lighter as clouds scudded across the half- moon shining silvery-pale into the room..’  It was a sultry London summer night and’  they had slept with an open window to let in any light breeze.’  Maureen, climbing softly into bed, nudged him gently.’  Richard woke with a disconsolate grunt.’  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œWhat’™s the matter, Dick?,’ she asked just above a murmur. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œIt’™s that dream again,’ he mumbled then plunged back into it as if’  desirous of returning to …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  I was born in the Seaboard town of Portsmouth. Although both my parents were English, my grandfather, Robert, came from Nantes as a boy of eight. As far as my memory goes back, my dream was to one day own a sail like Gramps. A twenty-one footer it is, with a gleaming white deck, a brown, wood-grained hull, a cabin for two and an eighteen horse-power engine. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  The two of us would go sailing on week-ends to see, as Gramps would say with a twinkle in his eye, just to see what was over the horizon. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Of course at the age of fourteen I was already pretty expert at sailing though handling The Queen alone in heavy …

‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œA lifetime,’’  Edwin thought to himself as he stepped off the airliner at Heathrow into the cat-walk which would take him to the main building.’  A man in his late sixties, he was small and of slight stature, his grey hair still showing some of the black it used to be.’ ‘  ‘œAlmost forty five years to the day,’ he continued his thought,’  his camera, overcoat and hand- luggage making his walk look a little like a waddle. ‘ ‘ ‘  As he moved along the narrow corridor with the throng of passengers jostling and nudging, he got a glimpse of the outside from time to time through the windows.’  He smiled at the light November drizzle; the overcast sky and wet …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  At the very crack of dawn when the panther and the tiger slink through the jungle after prey; when the great cats of the African plain stir to make a predawn kill, that is the time that the alley and back- yard cats, too, stir and begin their wanderings.’  Their nature was formed millenniums before man cultured the smaller of the species to keep his home free of vermin and as a playmate of sorts.’  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Heredity pulses strong in their veins, and their nature, indelibly stamped within their indoctrinated genes from prehistoric times, is too strong a force to be denied. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  So it was that a certain nondescript black and white male, walking the council pavement …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  5.30 a.m. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œHal- Awake?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œYea.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œPenny for ‘˜em.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œAin’™t got any’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œLiar!’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œ ‘˜mnot.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œWha’™ d’™ya think of Gloria?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œDumb.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œDumb?’  She’™s beautiful!’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œDumb.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œThen why were you with her half the night?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œChecking out what makes her tick and dumb.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œDidn’™t look that way to me.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œI can’™t help that.’  But the party was great, wasn’™t it?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œHal.’  You avoiding the question?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œJulia throws a good party. Spends a lot.’  Champagne – genuine French.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œYou’™re still avoiding an answer.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œCheryl, you should know by now that a little competition keeps romance alive.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œAh, Hal. Now you’™re admitting.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  ‘œDon’™t ever look to the world or life to treat you fair, Olivia.’  Remember, what you get is what you strive for – your achievements – your successes.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  The’  Matron’™s words, though serious, were spoken kindly.’  Olivia, now eighteen, was taking final leave of the only way of living she had known since babyhood. The only homes she could remember were the various institutions for the homeless.’ ‘  The first, when she was just three.’  That had been followed by’  ‘œThe Three Oaks Boarding School for Girls’ and, finally,’ ‘  the ‘œMary Hopkins Home For Young Women.’’  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Olivia, with the blessing of the staff and of the Matron in particular,’  had now to begin to fend for herself. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  …

‘ ‘ ‘  Edwin, walking at a brisk pace, felt he had now as much time as he needed to think things through. Regain some peace of mind.’  Time to bring his life that had become so besirk back to some sort of equanimity. It saddened him terribly that his marriage to Maureen, so wonderfully begun had soured.’ ‘ ‘  ‘œHow could I have known that Maureen would not be abole to cope with my absences?’ ‘ ‘ ‘  Their whirlwind courtship began after Jock’™s great party in Albion.’  Edwin had been bowled over by that small girl with hair the colour of freshly cut hay and the eyes of a summer sky.’  Had lost all sense of direction.’  Maureen, a common enough name had suddenly …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Vitorio turned restlessly in his bed.’  Before his eyes swam nightmarish images which would not let him rest and an unbearable scream pierced his brain.’  Already the fourth night and his dear Bertha had had no option but to ask him to sleep in the spare bedroom.’  He felt at his wits end for lack of sleep.’  It was causing him a dizziness, at work he was often fraught with fear.’  Vitorio’™s work was on the steel girders that had risen now to one hundred and twenty meters above the street level.’  Sometimes the view of Genoa, the harbour and the sea would become a swimming, spinning blur with him at the vortex.’  At such times he had the …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  I’™m Abe – Abe Ahronson. Ben and I became friends as naturally as only kids can at five. Although we were different in build – Ben being heavier and tougher than me, we quickly became that close we might have been twins – inseparables from Ben’™s fifth birthday, fifty eight years ago. We went through the same schools and even college though not on the same subjects’  -‘  Ben opted for a PhD becoming an expert in wild plant extracts for industrial and medical usage while I took a degree in Civil Engineering ‘“ concrete structures. Raising families and the race of living did not prevent us from frequent contacts and long hikes through natural, rough country. We would …

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  To everybody in the village he was simply Fixit – or Mr. Fixit when formality was required. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  The tall, portly, man with the heavy eyebrows and thick, greying, curly hair seemed to have no other name.’  In fact if one were to have asked the villagers for another, none would have known.’  ‘œFixit will do it,’’  was a phrase for any one of a hundred things the old man would do for the town council or any one of a hundred kids.’  ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Fixit also had other meanings for the kids.’  It meant also warmth and friendship.’  They accepted the things that Fixit did with just such candour as receiving a favour from a parent. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘  Fixit was …