Memory Lane

37. Five years of loneliness

37.       Five years of loneliness

Five long years past, the war grinded on across the world. It was mid-June, and beneath the crumpled husks of old houses and rubble ridden streets stood the bruised Nitch home. The roof had seen tiles chip off, while small flakes of sharp shrapnel coated the manicured bushes surrounding the property. It had been just over a month since the Third Reich had been vanquished and the bitter conflict had ended in Europe, but despite the sense of joy and pride in victory, there was something still missing in the lives of Fred and Madeline. For years, the two had stayed together, through thick and thin, raid after raid until now. Yet in their souls were holes in the shape of a young boy who had been forced from them by the bombs.

Everyday saw romantic laughter dwindle to a deep silence, not a single sound of giggling or running through the hallways. They both knew it had been for the best to send Peter away. Their spirits were only kept afloat by letters they received from him. Over time, they both saw how their son's handwriting had gotten better while he apparently enjoyed his time at the cottage in Kent. The most recent letter gave the two further hope, as the government had given permission for evacuees to return to London. Peter told his parents he was coming home. The minute they read the news, Fred and Madeline simply hugged in relief. Finally, the family would be reunited again.

Days had passed, with both parents looking out from the front garden onto the neighborhood road, waiting for someone to come. Finally, on a sunny afternoon, Madeline and Fred saw a young man walk along the pavement to their right, stopping at the front gate. The elders took a second to examine the fellow. They did not know what to expect from this person. He was tall, with brown hair, long black jeans, and a yellow t-shirt. After a moment, tears and smiles slowly began to appear on the watching faces when the young man said the words:

"mum?. Dad?" the teenager said.

"my boy" Madeline leapt off her seat and rushed over to her dear Peter. She could remember his clean brown hair and playful innocence as if he had left just yesterday.

"well, look how you turned out" Fred walked over to join in a group hug before the front gate was opened and the embrace continued.

"it's nothing much really. So, what did I miss?" Peter spoke from the center of the hug. He had started to sound more like his father and was nearly reaching the same height as him too. Five years through the worst of puberty had been kind to the fifteen year old.

"too much, son. Too much" Fred let several tears escape down his chin, filled with regret at missing the years when his little boy changed into a young man.

"well, can't stay out here all day. Come on, let's go inside. I'll put the kettle on" Madeline broke the hug and quickly skipped along the front pathway into the house, leaving the door open behind her.

"back then, I thought I was heading off to a school in god knows where but being out there in the country was quite an adventure" Peter recalled his memories. Kent had been a little slice of heaven for the boy. Wide open spaces, streams, trees, grass, the whole shebang. The family who had taken him in during the war were a very nice elderly couple on a farm, who had instilled in Peter manners and respect towards his superiors, what he may have learned in boarding school except with more dirt and fun.

"I guess life's full of little adventures like that" Fred looked up into the clear blue skies above, free from the droning of the Luftwaffe or whistling bombs.

"were you and mum okay while I was gone?" Peter turned to his father.

"you could say that" Fred showed a playful small grin on his face.

"what's that supposed to mean?" Peter raised an eyebrow. 

"well, it looks like we've got a lot to catch up on. Don't want to keep her waiting inside. Should really get in before she starts" Fred laid an arm over his son's shoulders and walked him into the house before closing the door. Peter would soon learn of his father's own adventure, not on the high seas or a battlefield, but in the caverns of his own mind. Inside Fred's head, Anima had built a larger house outside the rebuilt False Vision City, on the mindscape plains near the site of the original shack. She continued to paint those wonderful color comets that slashed across the sky above, content and at peace.

The city of the ideal was now more rustic and realistic compared to the glitz and glamor of the elite before Fred arrived, smaller in stature for many buildings but all the more promising in future. Silhouette regularly visited the Brain Librarian for friendly chats in the alcoves of the reconstructed halls, while out on the vast mindscape, the liberated Ego rode across at breakneck speed on a black horse, brushed by wind and heading out to make his own way in the unique world he lived in. Ego never thought he would get a new lease on life, to be his own man without being looked down upon by anyone. Now, all he had to answer to was the call of the wild as he rushed to the setting purple sun on the horizon.

Copyright © published by C.Lmauve, 2021.

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