Scarred Roses

Chapter five: Common misunderstandings and consolation trinkets

For your reading-pleasure, here is a slice of peach-cake. It goes really well with a good cup of tea. And for your listening pleasure, 'Yesterday' a cover from the movie by Himesh Patel. I just thought it sounded so beautiful and simple. Enjoy!

"How many did you say you wanted Mr. Gowalia?"

"Just four, please! Two for the newsletter and a spare for each, just in case!"

Mr. Gowalia, our newly reinstated mayor, stood proudly in front of a blue-velvet backdrop, wearing a fine-cut, steel-grey suit with the mayoral sash of red and white over his shoulder and his great-war medals, all pinned in two, neat rows upon his breast-pocket. He did look very smart today, in his official mayor's garb, and he had every right to be. Today was his first day back as the leader of the Bolen community, and to make a grand start he telephoned me yesterday morning, offering a generous commission for me to take his picture. I would've taken the job without charge but he was cheerfully insistent on it, and anxious to have it done as quickly as he could. I think in his own way, he was trying to wipe away the unfortunate impression of our wartime Mayor-the one we all despised for taking his job. It was a good idea, considering every effort the wartime Mayor made to shove his image into everybody's faces.

I took four, as he requested. Two duplicates of him, smiling jovially with his hands behind his back, and another two with his wife, who sat on a stool beside him, with his hand resting affectionately on her shoulder. I thought they made a much nicer couple than the previous mayor and his wife; both of them were attractive sure enough, and wore very expensive clothing, but neither had the bright, radiant smiles or the obvious adoration that Mr and Mrs. Gowalia shared. They didn't just look happy together, they radiated happiness. The kind of love Audrey and her friends could only dream about.

"We're all done!" I announced as I detached my camera from the tripod. "I'll post this film to the studio in Krakow and they should have the prints to me in about a week."

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Gowalia said, smiling. "Hazel, we can't thank you enough. I feel like this might just be exactly what the village needs."

"Now dear, a villages well-being can't be determined by a few photographs-however good they may be." He said, winking at me in a fatherly sort-of way. "But it'll at least be a start at getting things back to normal. Bolen was a cheerful town before the invasion, and I'm determined to make it cheerful once again."

"Spoken like a true mayor!" She gushed, pecking his cheek. "Hazel dear, would you like some peach-cake before you go? I made it just this morning!"

"I've got to get to the post office if I want to get a stamp for this-but can I take a piece home with me?"

"Of course! You just pack up and I'll wrap some up for you."

As I folded my tripod and placed it back in its' case, Mayor Gowalia disappeared from his living room and reappeared with a small, white envelope clutched in his meaty palm.

"For your services," he said gently, handing the envelope to me. "I do hope you consider going back to school Hazel-you've a great talent, and that talent and go along way with a proper education."

"I have been considering it Mr. Gowalia." I said, "has there been any word on the school reopening?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid. After the school was closed, our invaders took what materials from the school they thought useful and didn't leave much behind. It'll take a while yet to build up enough supplies for a new term, and even then, there's young ones like you, who finished rather awkwardly in the middle of the year. You'd have quite a bit to catch up on before you can start a new term."

"Please let me know if you find out anything more," I said to him. "It'd be a nice surprise for my parents if they found the school back open by the time they come home."