Tales of the Heart to Warm your Soul

Rosemary's World

The sun is shining brightly in the sky. Rosemary waves through the window, as her son drives his brand new BMW out the driveway with his wife, Elena. The car's rear tyres kick gravel, as it drives off on the dirt road leading to the house. The car turns left at the end of the driveway as her son fades away.

Rosemary sighs deeply. Her son didn't say much; in fact he said nothing at all when he visited. He came and went, carrying something. Strangely, he was soaking wet. A lot of memories and moments flooded back to her: some good, and some bad. She reminisced about her son – Malin, frequently. It never helped that her husband was always away hunting outside in the forest, or fishing in the Spring Lake – famous for its beauty and tranquillity. She wanders through the house, her slippers slapping along the laminate floor making her way to the attic.

Inside, she walks towards a large box; the box read MALIN'S TOYS in black ink. The box had seen better days. Rosemary lifts the lid to be greeted by a welcome memory. On top of a large pile of board games and old kaput electronic toys sat a VHS copy of Jurassic Park. She lifts the tape, running her sleeve over the top, only the dust doesn't move. The film's red and yellow logo with the T-rex skeleton remained mattered with dust.

Dirty old thing, Rosemary ponders.

She remembers one particular Sunday night. She sat on the sofa beside Malin. While on his 'throne' – an ancient looking armchair which he bought from Goodwill was Ashur, her husband.

"Dad, can we watch Jurassic Park?" Malin asked.

Ashur didn't say a word, but continued to watch his sports on his televideo. His eyes were glued to the screen as though he was bewitched.

"Ash!" Rosemary barked, but even that didn't get his attention. "Let him watch his film."

"Daaaaad!" Malin whined. "Please!"

Ashur turned his head to meet Malin's. "Fine, pop it on then."

"But I don't know how the VCR works."

Ashur stood up, caterwauling, before placing the tape into the VCR. The movie automatically came on, playing the scene where the Tyrannosaurus Rex breaks out of her paddock. Ashur pressed down the Rewind button on the remote, the film playing in reverse until it reached the beginning.

Two hours later, towards the end of the film, Rosemary snuggled up with Malin, causing him to shiver. Ashur noticed he was shaking. The house was warm from the summer heat wave The Springs was used to this time of year. It was mid-July.

"Are you cold, honey?" Rosemary asked Malin, touching his forehead, as he quivered again. "Ash, give him a blanket, will you, love?"

Without a word, Ashur stood, stretched the entirety of his body before proceeding to a little cupboard under the stairs. He returned with a red polar fleece; he threw the fleece at his son as he sat back in his throne.

Malin burrowed up in the tiny, warm fleece, the blanket covering his entire body, but yet he still felt cold. It was part of the movie when the Velociraptors were in the kitchen, hunting for Tim and Lex. Malin kept pulling the blanket up to cover his face, as he didn't want to see the scary dinosaurs eat the kids.

Back in the attic, Rosemary climbs down the ladder at a steady pace. She had climbed up and down that ladder too many times, as well as almost breaking her neck once or twice on the way down, as a foot slipped off a rung. But this time, she manages okay.