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
