Clown

One

It all began with my mother.

No, she wasn’t the blame for it all. She could never do such a thing. She was always so angelic and perfect, everything I aspired to be but could never become.

She got sick.

I remember the day perfectly. I was at the kitchen table typing furiously away at some essay that I procrastinated on. Classical music played from my speakers. There was a pot bubbling away on the stove. My mum was still working at the school and wouldn’t be home for another hour. It was a mundane afternoon for me.

The telephone rang from the counter. Both my mum and I have cell phones and no one but telemarketers use land lines. I grabbed it and said,” Hi there, this is El speaking.”

“Hello.” A deep voice responded,” Are you the daughter of Ms. Calder. I have to speak to her.”

“Yes. I’m sorry but she’s not here right now. Do you want to leave a message?”

He sighed. “Can you tell her that she has an appointment with Dr. Allen? I need to talk to her. This is an urgent matter we need to discuss.”

I walked over to the stove and stirred the soup. “Well, we can run over to your office if you’re still open past five.”

“Yes you can. I’m sorry about this being all impromptu, umm…Emily?”

I smiled. “Thanks so much.”

“Ok, bye now.”

I hung up the phone and went on about my business, thinking it was just a bit odd but not anything terrible. My immediate concerns were focused on how I was going to finish this essay in time, not on the call. Soon the soup’s savory aroma filled the room with its warmth. After a few minutes, I fell into a writing frenzy that caused me to forget about the whole world.

The door opened, making me jump and rush to Mum who was clearly exhausted.

“Hey,” I said quickly turning down the stove. “How was work?”

“Self-rewarding yet tiring…it was the same as always.” She, or Debbie as most of her students called her, was a speech pathologist who worked with kids who couldn’t quite communicate with others. Twice, the district threatened to fire her due to her eccentric methods which worked. But everyone loved her, save for a few district superintendents.

I stirred the soup and remembered the phone call. “Oh, someone called and said that you need to go to Doctor Allen’s office immediately. I can drive us if you need me to.”

She yawned and rubbed her eyes but she waved my suggestion away. “It’s probably the test results from the lab. You should come along too; you look like you need a break.”

I turned off the stove and we both hopped in her small station wagon. After a few minutes of trying to turn it on, we were off. As we drove, the small town seemed to fly by. Alderley Edge is a fairly small village. Everyone here seems to know everyone. If something happened in the morning at the café, someone’s Nan who has seen the end of Second World War heard of it by mid-afternoon. I loved it nonetheless. Looming clouds ominously floated by. I shrugged it off. It was probably another storm passing by. They always end up doing exactly that.

When we finally got to the office, we had to rush in because the winds began to be stirred up around us. A middle-aged secretary greeted us, “Hello. The doctor is waiting for you in the back.”

We entered the room and found the doctor standing near his window muttering,” It’s coming soon.”

“Excuse me?” I asked. Mum slapped my arm, signaling me to shut up.