Tuesday 4 October 2011

Chapter Fifteen

As Jo stayed home and read her cookery book
 Joshua went to the park after school and fished
 He was even successful in catching a huge trout
 When he got home he spent some time chatting with Cosmo 
 Before getting stuck into the household chores 

 When Jo got home from work it was time for her birthday, not that much changed...
 They had autumn salad to celebrate
 And then Joshua asked his mother for some help finishing the cleaning
 Jo unclogged the toilet while Joshua washed the dinner dishes
 Then she read him to sleep 
 Joshua was up before Jo on saturday morning and spent the time before she woke up playing dolls with Cosmo 
 They had leftover salad for breakfast
 Before Joshua got everyone on cleaning duty again
 Jo got quite worried when she saw Joshua asking thin air for help with the cleaning
 Cleaning dishes seemed a never-ending task
 And Jo would swear the papergirl delivered far more than one a day
When Jo had to go to work in the afternoon, Joshua went down to the river behind their house to fish 
  There weren't any leftovers left so he had some ice cream for his dinner
 Sunday morning, Jo made more pancakes for the two of them  
 When she was done Joshua persuaded her to collect the laundry in the house and go to the laundrette
 Once they were done with that, Jo took Joshua down to the graveyard to tell him about his family and visit their graves
 After hearing the tragic tale, Joshua did his best to comfort his mother
 As Jo headed off to work, Joshua stayed there, fishing
 As night fell, he spotted a ghost hovering by the family graves, going over he greeted her

"You look almost exactly like my mother you know"
"That's because I'm her twin sister young Joshua"
 "How do you know my name?"
"Because I've been watching the two of you of course, Jo is my twin after all"
"So do you know what's wrong with Mama?"

"Oh child, your mother's broken, I've told you we're twins but we were always more than that, we were never apart, neither of us could ever cope without each other, we were always too much a part of each other.  When I died she lost part of herself and I don't know if she'll ever be whole again"
 After a long conversation with his dead aunt, Joshua went home and pondered everything she'd said as he ate his tea.
 The next day was his badging ceremony at Scouts, alas Jo wasn't able to make it as she had work  
 When the ceremony was over, Joshua went over to the graveyard again, his aunt Jasmine had promised she'd be there whenever he needed her
 He told her how much he hated school, and wished he didn't have to go, Jasmine listened patiently and when he'd finished she told him that he still needed to go, the government insisted upon it and would take him away if he didn't
 As Joshua realised that there were worse things than school, Jasmine began to tell him stories about her and Jo's youth and the things they got up to.
 When Joshua got home, Jo hadn't made it back from work, checking his phone Joshua found a voicemail message from her telling him that she'd been sent over to the Science Lab to cater for a party and wouldn't be back til late 
 And it was very late by the time she got home, Joshua was already in bed and asleep
 That night Jo dreamed about the promotion she'd been given at the end of the party, a reward for working late
 The next day was Joshua's birthday, so before work Jo went shopping for a present for him 
 She couldn't find anything suitable in the consignment store, but the bookshop had a beginners guide to gardening and Jo remembered Joshua saying he wanted to learn to garden.
 She still had plenty of time before her shift started so she read in front of the Bistro until it was time to start work.
 
 After school, Joshua decided to spend his last afternoon as a child at one of the local ponds
 He happily fished the afternoon away, catching lots of fish
 He was enjoying himself so much that he lost track of time and in the end didn't quite make it home in time for his birthday
 Instead he aged up by the side of the road
 When he got home, Jo was waiting for him with his birthday present
 Then as he began eagerly reading, she made some stu surprise for them, using some of the lovely fresh fish he'd caught that day 

7 comments:

  1. Joshua got attractive! It was nice to see a bit of her old family though her twin sister. I hope Jo can heal. She owes it to her son.

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  2. I'm not sure I like his looks as a teen, his cheekbones are a bit too big for his face.

    And Jo can't heal until he's an adult at least, it'd ruin all the work I've done on deadbeat parents!

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  3. A Birthday on the side of the road. Oh my! At least Jo got a promotion. And I wonder if Joshua will ever tell his mother about his conversations with Jasmine?

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  4. Poor kid! I am sure that the stars and crickets sang him a birthday song.

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