Living Again

Part 4

19 years later....

      David arrived at his parents' house for lunch on a cloudy day two weeks before Christmas. Both his mother and father were now in their seventies, but his mother still cooked a baked dinner every Sunday, and David had a standing invitation.

"I'm cleaning out the garage," his father said in between bites of baked chicken. "Could you help me after lunch to load some boxes of old rubbish into the trailer?"

"Sure Dad," David replied. His parents were planning to sell their house and move into a retirement village a few months later.

Half an hour later he was loading cardboard boxes from shelves at the back of the garage into his father's trailer in the driveway, ready for a trip to the tip.

Nearly nineteen years had passed since Angela's death, and David had turned forty eight a month earlier. He still worked at the research lab and had been recently promoted to assistant director with a very generous salary. The hours were still long, but the lab was closing at Christmas for six weeks for renovations, and David was looking forward to the upcoming long holiday. His social life had been almost non-existent for years. Ten years ago he had a brief affair with a woman who had moved into his unit with him, but they drifted apart, and she moved out six months later. He still thought of Angela every day and maybe this was the reason for his failed relationship with Joanne. Perhaps he would never find a woman to share his life again.

One of the boxes slipped out of his grip and fell to the floor of the garage bursting open with magazines spilling out. He started picking them up. "Hey Dad, how old are these magazines?" He looked at an old fishing magazine. "Look at the date on this, nineteen sixty one."

"They go back earlier than that," his father said. "I haven't read them for years and they have to go. Keep loading, I'll be back in a few minutes." He walked back up the house.

David leafed through the old publication, then picked up another one. It was dated April, nineteen fifty five. He opened it and flicked through a few battered pages. Practically a collector's item he thought. He came to the centre of the magazine and idly looked at the old black and white photograph of a boy about twelve proudly holding up a large fish he had caught in a fishing contest. Lucky kid thought David, and then suddenly a face in the crowd of spectators behind the boy caught his eye. It was a good photo and the people in the front row were clearly visible behind the proud winner. He looked closely. A woman with blonde hair was smiling alongside several other spectators. She appeared to be in her twenties, and she was the exact image of Angela. Obviously it couldn't be Angela, the photo was taken fifty years ago, it must be a coincidence, someone who resembled her. 

He leafed through more of the magazine. On the next page was another photograph at the same scene with the runner up of the contest holding up his fish. There she was in the background again, the Angela look-alike. Then he thought back eighteen years to Angela's last words to him and he started trembling. He had never told anyone what she had said that night, it was too unbelievable. He rolled up the magazine and put it into the back seat of his car.

He left his parents' house an hour later, thanking them for lunch and promising to visit them again soon. When he arrived home he opened the magazine under a desk lamp and searched around for his magnifying glass. He carefully examined the woman in both photos. The resemblance was amazing, it could have been her identical twin. Again he remembered Angela's last words. No, it couldn't be! He had to talk to someone about this. He picked up his phone and called his friend Paul.

Paul, who worked in a computer software firm and lived only ten minutes away, listened to the urgency in David's voice and agreed to come over straight away.

"What's up?" he asked as he came in the door. "You sounded worked up on the phone. Is anything wrong?"

"Take a look at the photos on this page and the next page of this magazine," David replied.

Paul sat down and looked at each of the photos. "Two kids holding incredibly big fish," he observed. "So what?"

"Now have a look at the people in the background. Use the magnifying glass."

A minute later Paul was gazing at him in astonishment. "This woman looks exactly like Angela. When were these taken?" He looked at the cover of the magazine. "Nineteen fifty five? Could it be her mother?"

"No it can't be," replied David. "Angie and her mother hardly resembled each other, and this photo was taken in Melbourne. I remember her mother once saying she'd never been to Victoria."

"It's just a coincidence then," said Paul. "An amazing coincidence, another woman who looks exactly like Angie. She'd have to be in her seventies by now."

"You're going to think I'm mad," said David, "but supposing that is Angela."

"What? You are mad if you think that. How could it be? She wasn't even born then."

"I know, but she told me something on the night she died. I haven't told a soul because it's too weird, but now after seeing these photos, it could actually make sense. If I tell you this, will you promise to keep it to yourself?"

"You're starting to worry me, but okay, I'm listening."

Keep reading for the amazing revelation made by Angela eighteen years ago
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