I DRAW A CIRCLE

 

I draw a circle

As a symbol

To demonstrate my love

I do not start

To draw a heart

Because a heart can break

So, I draw a circle

As a symbol

For a circle goes on forever

Mornington-By-Mere – (88) The Widow and the Widower

 

Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Marcus Clooney lived at number 4 Brewery Cottages with his son and daughter.

 

But this story takes place away from Mornington when he was staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere and was not at all happy because he had reached the age of 58 and had acquired an unfortunate body shape, and the consequence of that was that gravity had become his enemy and a simple mirror was now his nemesis.

In the privacy of his own home he was able to minimise his exposure to the spiteful honesty of the looking glass and therefore perpetuate the falsehood that he was 20 years younger and 4 stones lighter.

He had found to his cost however that he could control his exposure to a much lesser degree in the wider world.

For example shops and stores all possess a multitude of polished surfaces and shopping centres are all bedecked with glass and mirrors, but by far the worst in his experience were hotels, in particular the one he was staying in at that moment.

It was a nice hotel, no question about that, in fact it was a rather grand and elegant place and the venue for what he very much hoped would be a dirty weekend.

However the downside to staying in an above average Hotel was the number and the positioning of mirrors.

A whole wall in the bathroom, a full length mirror in the hall and another monster above the writing desk (come dressing table), but the worst by a country mile was the bathroom.

There is nothing that dents the confidence more than seeing your naked form as others might see you if you were fortunate enough to reach that level of intimacy with them.

It was when Markus was in the shower, that he caught sight of himself, and the full horror of what he saw was not even diminished when viewed through the steam in the shower, the water droplets on the shower door and the condensation on the mirror.

In short the image did not leave him possessed of any self confidence in fulfilling his hopes of soon reaching that afore mentioned level of intimacy with a not unattractive widow of his acquaintance Rebecca Vineyard, in the room across the hall.

Marcus’s face had stood the test of time well enough but his body had been badly abused

“I bet Rebecca looks better in the bathroom mirror” he said out loud

 

He was quite presentable for his age when dressed in his dinner suit and the accessories, and without being conceited he was confident he could leave her satisfied, so to speak, if he got that far but his great fear was that he would leave her disappointed with his natural appearance.

 

Fellow Mornington resident Rebecca Vineyard meanwhile, was having much the same internal discussion as she stood before her own mirror, though even after 3 children and a hysterectomy her body had not reached the level of decline that his had although everything generally was a little further south than it used to be.

Finally she deemed herself satisfied with the final look, she just hoped it would suffice for him, for she had expectations.

However the final presentation was only achieved with undergarments that pulled her in and held her up and her fear was that the way she looked at that moment might well be enough to get him into the bedroom but with everything removed she was worried he wouldn’t go back for seconds.

 

After they ate dinner they sat at the table drinking and eventually they bade the long-suffering waiter a good night, even though it was almost 3 am, and headed, somewhat unsteadily towards their rooms.

Accompanied by raucous laughter they stumbled into the lift and unable to press the button for the floor that they actually wanted they decided to hit them all.

When they reached the first floor Rebecca announced

“This is me”

Markus was on the same floor and said

“Would you like me to see you to your door dear lady?” he asked and attempted a bow

“That would be very gallant kind Sir” she responded trying to curtsy.

He walked her rather unsteadily to her door and once she had managed to finally use the swipe card correctly and open the door she announced.

“Come in for a nightcap” she suggested and before he had chance to decline she dragged him into the room where after some intense negotiations it was decided that coffee was the order of the day.

“You can make the coffee while I just make myself comfortable” she instructed and when she emerged she was wearing only a nightie which left little to the imagination

“Wow” he exclaimed and five minutes later they were in bed together and Rebecca confessed

“It’s been a long time”

“How long?” he asked

“Too long” she replied and kissed him

 

The next morning at the breakfast table they sat across from one another, Marcus wore a smug look of satisfaction while Rebecca wore one of tiredness.

The “exhaustion” however did not prevent her from taking him back to her bed before lunch.

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

 

Always and forever

My love for you will burn

And the one and only thing

For which I yearn

Is that you will notice me

And love me in return

Mornington-By-Mere – (87) Sleeping Arrangements

The Armstrong’s lived at West Side Farm on the other side of the village where there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside

While their kin, the Appleby’s and the Hancock’s had farms at the other end of the vale and they had all worked the land for many generations.

But they were very close knit families and every year they had a family holidays together similarly they often got together oh high days and holidays

 

So on Boxing Day of 2017 it was the turn of the Armstrong’s to host the Hancock’s and Appleby’s who journeyed to Mornington for a celebration meal.

All three had large families and when the children grew up and had girlfriends and boyfriends no one knew until everyone arrived exactly how many people they had to accommodate for food and sleeping births.

Given the distances involved and the fact that drink was normally taken in liberal quantities there was always a lot of people who stayed overnight which often caused a bit of a reshuffle on the accommodation front.

In the case of West Gate Farm it was further complicated by the fact that the lady of the house, Beth Armstrong, insisted that the unmarried couples sleep in separate rooms.

Mainly because she was a good Christian woman and didn’t want anything unsavory going on under her roof.

 

So the result of the segregation meant Peter Armstrong’s girlfriend Glenda had to share one of the spare rooms with his cousin Alana Hancock he was forced to endure their enforced separation on the lounge sofa as he had had to give up his own room for his aunt and uncle.

 

He found it difficult to drop off, partly because it wasn’t very comfortable but mainly because his head was rerunning the conversation he had an hour before with his girlfriend Glenda, in which she had told him she was breaking up with him.

But it wasn’t that so much that was troubling him because he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t actually mind.

 

After tossing and turning for about an hour and then just when his eyes were beginning to get heavy he suddenly had an acute need to pee so Peter tiptoed his way upstairs to the loo and relieved himself.

He was yawning as he stepped back onto the landing and was not really paying attention and so he bumped into Alana Hancock coming the other way.

There was an instance of recognition and then she pushed him back into the bathroom and planted a wet sensual kiss on his lips.

He had always had a soft spot for Alana but he thought she was out of his league, but that aside she was kissing him, however he immediately disengaged and said

“We can’t be doing that”

“Why not?” she asked

“My girlfriend is in the room you just came out of” he pointed out

“Not according to her” Alana said

“What?”

“Glenda told me she’d broken up with you” she said

“Oh yes” he said and kissed her

 

When they returned to their own beds Peter still couldn’t sleep but instead of his head being full of thoughts about his ex-girlfriend Glenda, it was now full to overflowing with images and thoughts about his new girlfriend Alana.

I GIVE TO YOU A ROSEBUD

 

I give to you a rosebud

Held twixt my fingertips

As a symbol of my love

That cannot be eclipsed

The purest, sweetest rose

As red as your sweet lips

Mornington-By-Mere – (86) Light the Blue Touch Paper

 

Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and it was on that side of the village where Smithfield’s Farm was located where 26 year old Kathryn Smith lived and worked.

But on November the 5th she was not at the farm because on that night she was up at Mornington Field for the annual fireworks display.

 

When the show was over they skulked in the shadows until everyone else had left before they themselves, headed out through the gates.

It was dark in the lane and just ahead of them they could see there was a dog walker smoking a cigarette while some kind of Terrier snuffled in the grass.

The man took one last drag on it, making his face glow red and then he flicked it into the darkness and it span through the air like a Catherine wheel.

This, Norman Hargrave thought was quite appropriate as he and Kathryn had just been to a fireworks display up at Mornington Field and the smell of the gun powder was still thick in the damp night air.  

 

But despite the cold and damp of the night neither Norman nor Kathryn were in any particular hurry to get home.

So they walked slowly hand in hand as if they were teens on their very first date together, or even their first ever dates, a couple of virgin teens wanting their first date to last forever.

In fact they strolled as slowly as it was possible to go without actually standing still.

The reason for that was that they were not eager to return to their own homes.

So although they were in love like a couple of teenagers that wasn’t the reason they ambled so slowly in the cold damp night air because while their hearts were filled with love, their minds were full of fear at being discovered by their respective family’s, which was why the kept to the shadows until the time came for them to be able to walk openly in the sunshine.

JUST TO KNOW

Just to know each day

That you are here

To listen and love

And abate my fear

 

Just to know each day

That you really care

To share and laugh

And abate my despair

 

Just to know each day

That you are with me

To make each new day

A fresh treasured memory.