It's hot, so hot, even though it's too early for it to be so hot. Her hankie is soaked, already.
Where is everybody? They should be here by now, shouldn't they?
All her makeup is running down her face, and she thinks her right stocking most have a rivet underneath the heavy skirts. Even her lipstick feels clammy. What would any of her classmates think of her if they ever caught sight of her like this?
They're late.
The wind blows cold. And then all of a sudden, warm and sweet.
She hears a voice filled with glory calling Susan but--
--But--
Their is a hand then, on her shoulder. Even though she's sitting against the bench.
Even though there should be no place for a hand there.
And a voice. Rasping. Like the last time she heard that voice Grandmama--
Do you love the world, Susan my sweet?
She loves
Her stockings and her lipstick and her pretty dresses
She loves
Her books, serious and romance alike
She loves
Her beaus with their shy smiles and smirks
Her stupid mutt of a dog Father bought home a long time ago even though he's ugly
Her warm bedspread
Her family
She loves
She loves
If you love this beautiful and imperfect world, then
Child, stay
The door to Glory opens, then, calling but
Susan stays
Susan stays.
And hears the tearing, wenching scream as the train her family is supposed to be goes sideways and howls off the tracks....
Susan screams then, too.
And waits.
And waits.
She mourned her family, and carried on.
Her parents had left her with some money, but not as much as she could have hoped for, as some of her less sensitive relatives had said. She went on with her education after a fashion, and managed to get a job as a schoolmarm.
She eventually married long after everybody else had given up on her doing so, to a Mr Richard Smyth, and even managed to produce some children, who were eventually named Lucy Susan Smyth and Peter Edmund Smyth. She would have liked to have a "Eustance" too, she decided later on, but that was not to be, though she eventually did end up with a grandchild with that name...
She had lived.
She had lived, in this beautiful and ugly world, full of both blemishes and potential.
As her sibs had not.
And now...
It was time. Whatever that meant.
She set up her table and basin under the full moon, adding herbs. Not that all that was absolutely necessary for this, but it did add a nice touch.
Summon thee tender, summon thee true.
Kith and Kin of blood, nurture, heart, or all...
She wondered who, or what, would come.
Eventually.
Strangely enough, she does not worry overmuch whether anybody or anything would come at all. She is at peace, about this at least, oddly enough.
She waits.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 06 Sep 2005 09:41)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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