Hanging in the Balance
By Dustin Fry
1. Prologue
|
A |
s I looked through the grimy train window, I could barely see my
mother’s sad figure mouthing those three simple words. Three simple words, yet they mean so much,
“I love you.”
Reality dawned on me as I looked to my younger siblings. Tears were streaming down their faces and as their older brother, they looked up to me and I knew if they saw me crying it wouldn’t be much help to them. Nevertheless my eyes just wouldn’t obey. I must have made a pitiful sight sitting head in hands, trying to restrain the tears that poured forth. Only one thing was hovering through my horrified mind at that moment. This couldn’t be happening.
My future was hanging in the balance.
2. The Train To
Harwich
|
T |
he train was like a black ghost interminably roaming through the thick blanket of fog surrounding us. It was a cold mid-winter day. An air of silence settled on our cabin.
My name is Will, short for William.
I’m 14 and my brother Ben is 9. I have a sister Elise who’s 12. Our lives
changed completely at the start of World War II. For better or worse I don’t
know, but I do know that right now my siblings and I were preparing for a long
journey from my hometown of
Almost two hours into the trip my brother Ben finally broke the eerie silence in an attempt to lighten the mood with a fun remark saying, “Shoot! I can’t believe we have to go live with Miss Cruella the Cruel again!”
“Now Benny, Cruella’s not cruel. Otherwise she would never be taking the three of us in, and giving us food, drink, and shelter” said Elice.
Elise was always such a “goody-goody two-shoes” and seemed to have a soft side for everything. Even old hags like Cruella.
“Heck, who knows we might actually find a bit of fun over at Cruella’s place. At least Tom’s nice. After all he’s the one we’re actually related to and those woods must be overstocked with adventures just waiting to be unlocked. Now let’s get some sleep. We got but five hours o’ sleep last night”
But my last remark wasn’t needed. Ben and Elise were already sound asleep, snoring like hogs. I giggled a bit, forgetting the situation we were in, thinking that those two could win a snoring contest any day. Then reality struck once more and I went back to my somber mood and decided to keep an eye open. You can never tell when danger will come, but I hadn’t slept at all the previous night and I just couldn’t stay awake. Just two minutes into my guard duty, my eyes were anything but open and I was nodding off.
3. The Reunited
|
C |
HOOOOOOO! CHOOOOOOO!
“Hey. What the…?” I mumbled,
startled by the sudden clamor.
Then before I could end my sentence
the train conductor began booming out “
Ben yawned and stretched his arms saying “Oh boy I slept like a babe!”
“Well let’s get going, don’t want to be late, do ya’?”
The sturdy
train conductor waddled on in and in some odd Scottish accent said, “The lass is
rights don’t, ya’ know? It’s
Ben and Elise literally jumped at the sudden entry of the odd man and I was about to thank him for his opinion and get a move on, but Ben was one of those nine year olds who never seemed to shut up and he beat me to the punch saying “ I doubt you would fancy being a’ wakened up by some burley old train conductor you’ never met!”
Elise was about to chide Ben on being so impolite when she noticed the train conductor actually laughing at Bens remark.
“ha ha ha,
oh I guess I wouldn’t fancy a man like me barging in on a peaceful
“Well thank you Di, but we’ve got to get a’ movin’. Oh, would you be so kind as to point us in the direction of the town hall? We’re meetin’ our Aunt and Uncle down there.” I said.
“‘Course I would lad! It’s Right at the center of Harwich, shan’t be hard to miss owin’ to the fact that Harwich’s not very large. In fact this be one of only two railways that lead to Harwich. The town hall’s the biggest structure in our fine little village. You can spot it from anywhere in or around Harwich.”
“Well best be going Will. C’mon Ben. Oh and thank you again!”
“No need to thank me quite yet lass. How’s about I accompany ye to the town hall, eh?
“Well, I guess we could use the company. Could cheer us up, don’t cha know?
And so we set off, somewhat startled that the day had passed so quickly. Di didn’t do much cheering up though on account of he was actually somewhat silent and he mostly walked with his hands held behind his back with the occasional “is your aunt nice.” And “I hope you have fun.” Then we stepped onto the small dirt grounds surrounding the town hall
There was a presence of sadness and sorrow as we said our goodbyes to Di and just as it was reaching a point where even I shed a silent tear for our precarious predicament Ben sobbed
“I miss mum! I remember how she’d always take us into town and we’d buy groceries then we’d stop at the end and have some taffy and we’d always go swimming in the bay at Autumn time and she’d always tuck us in for bed each night and, and, and… I just miss her so much!”
Then Benny’s jaw dropped as he stared into the dark blue eyes of Mary Lee Sue, or… “MOM” as her sweet melodic voice reached our ears “It only took me until 10 minutes after you left to realize that if I am to lead any life then by far the happiest one would be a life with my three favorite people on this earth. You might have heard somewhere that there are only two railways to Harwich… You took one, and I took the other. It left ten minutes after yours. Apparently mine was faster. I’m sorry I didn’t come with you in the first place and…”
Her sentence was cut short as three siblings charged forth only to be grabbed by one Mary Lee Sue in a bear hug that was strong as a rhino. The only thing stronger than that hug was the love shared by the four people in it.