WEP - LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL APRIL 2023

 

 

WEP CHALLENGE April 2023 – LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

N.B.

I have never heard of this film, never seen it.  I took the title as my theme, presumably not relatable to the film.

HERE IS MY STORY:

 

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Jorja trekked up the hillside, her feet hurt and her hips were beginning to protest never mind what her back was saying.  She pumped her arms, breathed in short pants until she was at the top.  She sat on the rock which had already been smoothed by many bottoms taking a rest.  The cold granite feel of the rock seeped in to her bones, through her bloodstream and into her brain.

Life is beautiful.

She drew in a deep breath, tilted her head up to the sky and let out an almighty scream.  Once she started, she couldn’t stop.  Gasping for breath, she counted her heart beats – too fast.  She needed to slow down her pulse.  Steadily she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth.  Again.  Again. Again, and again. 

Several minutes or maybe hours passed by.  Luckily, she had the place to herself, maybe because of the early start.  Up at dawn after a sleepless night, hubby snoring lightly.  She left him a note so he didn’t worry, ‘cos he would worry that she wasn’t in a good place.

Life is beautiful.

Why did people keep saying that? 

What about her life that was so beautiful?  She knew she was on a real downer but she was doing her best to get out of her funk and the only way she knew how was to go back to nature and the wonders of the world.

Life is beautiful.

Who kept saying it?  Why was it in her mind all the time?  It was as though some other entity was trying to break through and help her.  She heard the voice.  It was comforting.  The cynic in her vied with the spirituality of her nature.  She knew spirits would help her.  They always had done.  She couldn’t tell anyone because she’d been accused of being ‘weird’ of being ‘witchy-like’, of being ‘odd.’

Somebody once told her she wasn’t any of those things.  She was unique and special. 

Life is beautiful.

Someone was coming, she could feel the rhythmic thump of feet as they traversed up the hill to her resting place.  A slow breath touched her face.  A hand placed gently on her knee.  She looked in to her husband’s face and saw compassion, understanding and all the love in the world he could give her without speaking.

Life is beautiful.

As she felt his calming presence, she took a deep sigh and nodded, turned and gave Gerry a tremulous smile.  He murmured ‘it’s alright.’  He was never one for a lot of words but it was more than enough to know that he understood her.

They held hands and looked out on the vista.  Jorja heard the call of the birds as they soared and floated on the draughts, so beautiful and peaceful to watch.  They didn’t have a care in the world, except survival and looking for the next meal, other than that they enjoyed the wind, the freedom, going where it took them. 

Gerry opened his back pack and took out a thermos of coffee, poured her a cup and then one for himself.  They sat there in quiet contemplation, sipping the black aromatic coffee, the smell re-energising as much as drinking the liquid did.

This, this is what made her life beautiful.

Back to reality and the hurt from the deceit, the secrecy but hey-ho life threw you the bends in the road, potholes to navigate, she would not fall through them again, she’d come so far, even leaving her family to live on the other side of the world. 

Ha! Family! Such a dysfunctional lot of self-centred, egotistic, manipulative women …….. somehow, they snagged men who believed in them, believed every lie that came out of their mouths.

Stop it, Jorja, just stop it. 

Telling herself off seemed to help.  She couldn’t change what had happened.  She couldn’t change what people thought, she could only move on.  Help where she could and she would help.  She would hold the hurt deep inside but she would help.

Two weeks later and now she really understood that life truly was beautiful.  The new born grandson was a joy to behold.  He was just gorgeous.  She didn’t know her heart could expand to take in a love for the new baby as well as encompassing the love she already felt for her granddaughter.

Life is beautiful.

A new home for her and her husband.  A new baby.  A new life to enjoy, to watch grow, to nurture, to love, her family was expanding. 

Thanks to the benefits of technology, she could share her joy with friends and family, pictures, face-time, Skype, Zoom and all the other benefits this technological revolution has brought into their lives, so much quicker than six weeks waiting for an air mail letter or hard copy photos. 

Yes, life is beautiful when you allow it to be.

 

A baby boy as easy as pie

New born blue eyes

All knowing

All seeing

Born wise

Born before dawn

With a mighty yawn

A stretch of his fingers

Long limbs, gangly

Murmurs, and baby sounds

She held him against her chest

Feeling less stressed

By the minute

Heart beat to heart beat

Rhythmic

Tick, tick, tick

Joining in unison

With her beautiful grandson

 

Life is beautiful

Life is full of joy.  You just have to watch for the moments, drink them in, treasure them, remember them and pull them out when the going gets tough.

She has to move forward, let her daughter and little family enjoy themselves and grow as a unit. 

No interference.

She would not interfere.

She has learnt from her own lessons, from her own mother, what is not the right way.  Jorja’s way is different, there to help but not interfere. 

That will be her mantra – do not interfere and then life will be beautiful for everybody.

 

Word count 977

 

 

 

 

 

Starting 2023 theme with the YEAR OF THE MOVIES

Our first challenge is GONE WITH THE WIND

I would like to thank the WEP team for all their hard work behind the scenes to come up with such brilliant themes, overcoming personal challenges to keep WEP a success. 

Here is my contribution to our first challenge of 2023

TAGLINE:  The world is changing. 

THE RETURN

Fly my beauty

Fly on the thermals

Spread your wings

Soar high

Swoop and feed in flight

Come back to me my beauty

Speed back with the wind in your feathers

Land on my wrist

Bring your message

As I praise your effort

You reward me with sounds of joy

 

Run my beauty

The wind blowing at your rear

Taking me to our destination

Slow your place, beauty

I’ll give you your head

Take me far and wide

Scout the locations

Find the oasis in the desert

The palm fronds wafting in the wind

Gone with the dust of the sand

We will run further

 

AKRAM

Akram was tired, so very tired.  He’d been travelling for four months trading with many people, swapping stories, finding out the world news, some of it quite frightening, he wasn’t sure how safe life was going to be in the future.

His loyal companions had picked him up when he was homesick and feeling down, as he did the same with them. Together they made a brilliant team whether they were selling, buying, importing or exporting, always having each other’s backs.  Not everything went smoothly on this trip, unfortunately some fighting had been involved and he had a few scars to prove it.  He wasn’t looking forward to explaining that when he returned home to Ariana.

A cry went up from the lead horseman who pointed in to the distance.  Akram followed the direction of the finger, there – there was the first glistening dome, if he squinted, he could make out the spires of the beautiful palace.  

As they entered triumphantly through the city gates, marvelling again at the brick structures built by the ancients of old, he felt euphoric but also slightly edgy.  He looked around and could see slight signs of neglect, the maintenance of the buildings was not up to his standard.  How could it have deteriorated within the few months they had been absent. 

The stench became overpowering, drains were overflowing, refuse was piled up in the streets, horse dung and other animal droppings added to the smell.  He would certainly be calling the council the first opportunity he had.

First though, the major thought in his head was to greet Ariana and his son, she would have to wait a little while. He could see her through the upstairs window, looking down at him from their bedroom chamber, she smiled at him, he could feel her love and patience emanating through the air.  She understood he must tend to his horse first, then himself before he would be able to greet her properly.  She would not want to kiss him with the odour of travelling that had seeped in to the fabric of the cloth he was wearing. He would also bathe but quickly, there would be time for luxury wallowing in hot water the next day.

Akram bounded up the stone stairs, he stopped outside the door to their quarters, he was suddenly nervous, a grown man like him, strong, powerful, mighty, the leader of the city, a respected businessman and the thought of greeting his wife had stopped him in his tracks.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, smoothing his hands down his tunic, he gathered his courage and opened the door.

Ariana turned slowly as he entered, her eyes took him in, she drank the very essence of him, he could feel the love pouring out of her heart and in to his.  As he looked, he could see the perfect roundness of her tummy, full of child, her figure encompassing their passion.  A couple of deep brown eyes peeked out from behind her skirts.

‘Eyad, my boy,’ Akram knelt down as Eyad rushed to his father and fell in to his embrace, he picked his son up and moved to Ariana, using his other arm he gathered her to him, breathed a huge sigh of relief as they stood, foreheads together, two united (plus one and one waiting) as their love for each other and their small but growing family emanated from them.

 

ARIANA

He was back. He was back but for how long this time?  Oh, she understood his work, she understood the toll his leadership took on him.  She understood she was his haven, his oasis, his rock, his safe space. 

She understood her job was to keep him happy, to look after their children, to bear more children as and when they were fortunate enough to have more.

She understood the world was changing.  She understood there were wars to fight, diplomacy to negotiate, horrendous acts of violation against races, genders, creeds, too many to mention.  She understood being a woman with her man.  Not everybody understood their way of life. 

She was the power behind the leader, never seen to demean him in public, a smiling, beautiful face with their lovely family.  In their bedchamber, they would discuss all aspects of their lives.  Her perspective gave him new outlooks on ways to approach others.  He was always grateful to her for her guidance and wisdom.

She knew she had what others might call second sight, visions, the problem was knowing a timeframe.  Ariana sighed and snuggled closer to Akram, she felt his arms encompass her as their love for each deepened, became overwhelming at times.

ABDALHADI

Abdalhadi knew the time had come

He had to take Akram away from home

Again, they must journey far and wide

To remain neutral or take sides

To preserve their lands

Travelling through the dust and sand

A fortune to be made or lost

 

 Word count: 931