here.
‘Friend?’ I
said suspiciously, ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ll
see.’
‘Yes Mum.’
‘Call me
Laura,’ she said to Marcia, ‘I really hate to be turned into a
person with no name.’
‘What do Jared
and Janey normally say?’ Marcia was being awfully subdued. I think
that we were getting on so well that she was preparing for some
kind of initiation. After what I told her… it was perhaps
inevitable in a way.
Laura laughed
at being so questioned.
‘I’m still the
same person inside, as I always was. You will find that there are
some things in this family that go right out the window at the
nearest opportunity. I prefer my name… but Jared has a little
difficulty with that. You will understand when Leo gets back with
Karis.’
‘I err… can I
help you?’ said Marcia, and then directly to me, ‘you go find them,
I’ll stay here.’
I wandered out
into our huge untidy garden. I felt better now, and the sky was
clearing. This was like the Summerland place. I thought about the
fields of silver flowers, and was stung with a longing to see them
again, in a way that took my breath away. I caught sight of Karis
then. She is petite like Janey, perhaps slightly taller. She has
darker blondish hair that curled in an untidy torrent; sort of a
natural messiness that I would love to try to paint. But she is
always doing something, and probably wouldn’t sit still long
enough. She has a distant amused manner; and is one of the few
people I know who, as an adult actually loves ice cream. She lives
on the east coast and makes her way as an illustrator and craft
artist. She makes jewellery and does hand weaving. And as far as I
know has made it her business to avoid men in general, and certain
people in particular. So the news that she has a “friend” with her
has got me intrigued.
I can see Leo
then. He’s a big man, rather like Oliver, but very tall, so he is
in proportion, and seems a giant next to most people. Leo has a
crown of natural blonde curls like a halo and the most hypnotic
eyes; sort of blue-green. I am quite in awe of him. He is
everything that I think I should be, but woefully I am not. He
looks like a mythological Greek god, as if he had done a sitting
for a carving in marble. His manner is oddly arcane. But there are
reasons for that. It is not anything I can say to anyone without
both my parents’ permission. We are on the edge of a war zone you
see. Not one that most people would recognise. Our house is a
strongly guarded place. This afternoon it is peaceful and hums with
the bees and the other sounds of summer. I want to run towards him.
But instead I stand feeling a little sulky and shy. Karis and my
father together. It is quite too much. I always forget this bit of
coming home. There is a mental adjustment to be made very time. It
is not to do with normal stuff… but what Janey has called for a
while now “Supernormal”. I think it’s a good word. Laura is a
person with her own dark secrets. She has a history that is as rich
and as extraordinary as this tale I’m telling you. We are all story
tellers. My father has more stories inside his head that he would
care to count. He is someone who you cannot simply introduce to
people without preparing them first. Leo has trouble with some
aspects of our modern life. And the reason will become clearer. But
switching from one state of being to another is why it is like
that. I’m sorry for being cryptic. There is no other way to say it
except by going into explanations of a forbidden kind. I wish I
could just say. But the lock in my mind silences me on that front
too. It is like wearing metal bracelet cuffs all the time. You know
they are there, but after a while you no longer register their
presence. I want to be normal…. And yet as I watch them walking in
the garden, I feel so thankful that I know these people and I am
part of who they are. I am Leo’s only son. And it still feels
strange to think it because of whom and
‘Friend?’ I
said suspiciously, ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ll
see.’
‘Yes Mum.’
‘Call me
Laura,’ she said to Marcia, ‘I really hate to be turned into a
person with no name.’
‘What do Jared
and Janey normally say?’ Marcia was being awfully subdued. I think
that we were getting on so well that she was preparing for some
kind of initiation. After what I told her… it was perhaps
inevitable in a way.
Laura laughed
at being so questioned.
‘I’m still the
same person inside, as I always was. You will find that there are
some things in this family that go right out the window at the
nearest opportunity. I prefer my name… but Jared has a little
difficulty with that. You will understand when Leo gets back with
Karis.’
‘I err… can I
help you?’ said Marcia, and then directly to me, ‘you go find them,
I’ll stay here.’
I wandered out
into our huge untidy garden. I felt better now, and the sky was
clearing. This was like the Summerland place. I thought about the
fields of silver flowers, and was stung with a longing to see them
again, in a way that took my breath away. I caught sight of Karis
then. She is petite like Janey, perhaps slightly taller. She has
darker blondish hair that curled in an untidy torrent; sort of a
natural messiness that I would love to try to paint. But she is
always doing something, and probably wouldn’t sit still long
enough. She has a distant amused manner; and is one of the few
people I know who, as an adult actually loves ice cream. She lives
on the east coast and makes her way as an illustrator and craft
artist. She makes jewellery and does hand weaving. And as far as I
know has made it her business to avoid men in general, and certain
people in particular. So the news that she has a “friend” with her
has got me intrigued.
I can see Leo
then. He’s a big man, rather like Oliver, but very tall, so he is
in proportion, and seems a giant next to most people. Leo has a
crown of natural blonde curls like a halo and the most hypnotic
eyes; sort of blue-green. I am quite in awe of him. He is
everything that I think I should be, but woefully I am not. He
looks like a mythological Greek god, as if he had done a sitting
for a carving in marble. His manner is oddly arcane. But there are
reasons for that. It is not anything I can say to anyone without
both my parents’ permission. We are on the edge of a war zone you
see. Not one that most people would recognise. Our house is a
strongly guarded place. This afternoon it is peaceful and hums with
the bees and the other sounds of summer. I want to run towards him.
But instead I stand feeling a little sulky and shy. Karis and my
father together. It is quite too much. I always forget this bit of
coming home. There is a mental adjustment to be made very time. It
is not to do with normal stuff… but what Janey has called for a
while now “Supernormal”. I think it’s a good word. Laura is a
person with her own dark secrets. She has a history that is as rich
and as extraordinary as this tale I’m telling you. We are all story
tellers. My father has more stories inside his head that he would
care to count. He is someone who you cannot simply introduce to
people without preparing them first. Leo has trouble with some
aspects of our modern life. And the reason will become clearer. But
switching from one state of being to another is why it is like
that. I’m sorry for being cryptic. There is no other way to say it
except by going into explanations of a forbidden kind. I wish I
could just say. But the lock in my mind silences me on that front
too. It is like wearing metal bracelet cuffs all the time. You know
they are there, but after a while you no longer register their
presence. I want to be normal…. And yet as I watch them walking in
the garden, I feel so thankful that I know these people and I am
part of who they are. I am Leo’s only son. And it still feels
strange to think it because of whom and
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