Snippets of Downshire Life – Candlemas Day

 

Dave Torrison was a Junior Doctor at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere and shared a house in town with two Nurses, Tony Torlini and Mark Tongue and another doctor, Mary Macintyre, who all worked at the same Hospital.

It wasn’t a huge house and nor was it in the smartest part of town but it was perfect for them as it meant that they had a relatively inexpensive place to live that was close to work, which was ideal for all of them as they worked shifts, and it meant that split between the four of them their expenses were very manageable. 

They were all single, though were all looking and all quite pessimistic regarding their prospects in the relationship department given their working hours.

But they all got on well and made the most of their situations.

They all had hopes and dreams though, of finding the right person and settling down.

 

Purplemere was one of the largest towns in the Finchbottom Vale, and the Vale was nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, and those who were lucky enough to live there thought of it as the rose between two thorns.

The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.

But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.  

There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third of course was Purplemere.

 

It was on the eve of Candlemas day, the festival of the purification of the Virgin Mary, which marked the last day of Christmas.

Falling midway between the winter and spring equinox it was a time for looking forward at the bounty ahead.

Dave felt it was like the end of one chapter and was optimistic that it was the beginning of another.

The end in question was his four-month relationship with control freak Maddie, or mad for short.

The morning after breaking up with her he rose early, showered and dressed and after walking down the stairs he paused as he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

It was a figure lying on the sofa and he recognised it to be Mary Macintyre even though she had her back to him lying on her side, because the sweeping curve of her hip to her waist was like a mountain slope, and it was a view he had admired many times before.
He must have spent a full five minutes gazing at her sleeping form, clad only in a nightgown, then he tiptoed in and draped a throw over her before tiptoeing away again.

The reason he was up so early was that he was heading to his parent’s house as he hadn’t seen his Mum or Dad since Christmas and she had called expressly to ask him to go round for tea, he agreed as he knew they would be pleased to hear he had dumped Maddie.

Although he was twenty years too old for his Mum’s idea of Sunday Tea, he was glad he went and passed a very enjoyable few hours with them.

 

By the time he got back to Purplemere it was after ten o’clock and he was surprised to see there was still a light burning in the window and there was no car parked on the drive, so he assumed the light was left on by one of his housemates to deter burglars.

He parked the car on the drive and went inside not knowing if anyone was inside or not but as he went in all was quiet.

So he went straight upstairs and got into bed as his shift started at 6 am, but as it turned out he couldn’t sleep so he got up again and got ready for work and he was at the hospital just after 4 o’clock.

His first port of call was the coffee cart and with his drink in hand he made his way upstairs and thought he would sit and drink it in the “on call” lounge.

He opened the door and the room was in darkness and as he pushed the door open the light from the hall flooded into the room and then he did a double take.

In the corner of the room was a small but functional bed but that wasn’t what surprised him.

What had got his immediate attention was the sleeping figure of a Doctor wearing hospital scrubs and it was a figure he was very familiar with, for laying on the hospital cot in the foetal position with her back to him, partially covered by a hospital blanket, was the curvaceous figure of Doctor Mary Macintyre and not for the first time he just stood and admired the view, especially her perfect round bum which was visible beneath the blanket.

Not that it was just her physical attributes he admired, he liked everything about her and he loved her body and soul, he had done since the moment he first met her.

But he had held his feelings in check because it had taken a long time to find a group of people he was happy to share a house with, and he thought having a relationship with one of them could get messy if that relationship failed, or worse than that what if he asked her and she said no, how awkward would that be and what an atmosphere it could evoke, so he kept his own counsel and went out with a succession of girls who failed to measure up to Mary. 

With a sigh he had one final look and closed the door and went along to the staff lounge where he sat and drank his coffee.

 

He sat there sipping his coffee and was questioning his position regarding her and then after about ten minutes she appeared, and she was looking gorgeous even before she beamed a smile at him.

He watched as she walked over to the notice board and unpinned a colourful flyer, then she turned back towards him, still wearing a smile, and laid it on the table in front of him.

He reluctantly diverted his gaze from Mary and looked down at the flyer which was advertising the upcoming Valentines Ball, and then he raised his eyes to her again.

“I like dancing, if you were wondering” she said “In case you ever get fed up of just watching me sleep”

She beamed another smile at him, partly for his benefit but also because she knew by his expression that she had not miscalculated the situation, before she turned on her heels and left.

 

So it was on Candlemas day, the festival of the purification of the Virgin Mary, when his life took a positive step forward.

It officially marked the last day of Christmas, and fell midway between the winter and spring equinox and he really felt it was like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

The end in question was his relationship with Mad Maddie and now it appeared that Mary was his new beginning.