Monday 10 December 2012

The Awakening by Ray

At last!  A second offering from the Grosmont Writers!  This one is courtesy of Ray.  It's mysterious and more than a little sinister, and we hope it's the beginning of something much longer.  Ray, you'd better be at home slaving away over the next installment or there'll be trouble!

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The Awakening
By
Ray

His eyes opened. The white ceiling looked back at him… Where was he? …Who was he? …He had been walking… walking... yes but to where? He had been on his way to work… No… he had been on his way back home... Home... to whom…? From where? The work had been dirty. He remembered that much… He lifted his hands… but they were clean.

  How long had he been lying here? He heard voices outside… distant mumbling voices that did not sound familiar… voices… who had said the fond farewells to him as he went to work that morning... It was that morning that he had gone to work… wasn’t it...?

  He closed his eyes and the darkness enabled him to see more clearly. He was walking along the old waggonway. It was all so familiar. He felt tired…. well you would do after a twelve hour shift at the Dolly… The Dolly… That’s where he had spent his last twelve hours… hewing coal and swallowing coal dust. He heard a whistle from the other side of the hedge as the coal wagons from his efforts were hauled towards the town by a panting black engine. Hannah would have his tea ready when he returned. The bairns would be playing outside the front door. It was much better in the summer when there were still a few hours of daylight when he returned from work… How different in the winter when he left home early in the morning in the darkness, worked for twelve hours in the darkness and then returned home in the darkness. The darkness… oppressive…

  He opened his eyes to rid himself of the darkness… He looked again at the ceiling… He turned his head slowly to survey his situation and his neck ached. It must have been a heavy shift. He usually didn’t suffer from aches and pains. How old was he…? He was still a young man. Closing his eyes he remembered that the Dolly had been his second pit. He had started as a putter at the Peggy when he was fourteen. He had worked at that for about four years, building up his stamina and insensitivity to the pain before he progressed to the coal face as a hewer. He had met Hannah about the same time on a Sunday outing organised by the Chapel… They had started walking out and it was not long before they were being married in the same chapel... and only seven months later that young Tom was being christened. It wouldn’t be long before Tom would be going along with him on his first shift. His life was mapped out for him but his sister Margaret’s was yet an open book. The teacher at the village school had told them that she was clever, but as a miner’s daughter what doors would be opened for her?

  He heard a voice… He thought that the voice was talking about him… He opened his eyes again and saw a man he did not know. He was young, tall and he wore a white coat. He was talking to a nurse… He thought it was a nurse but the white clad figure was wearing trousers… He looked at the figure and yes, the shape was that of a woman. They were saying that he was stable and the police would be coming soon to talk to him.

  He wondered why the police would want to talk to him... He had never crossed the boundaries of the law… apart from the odd poached rabbit.

  He closed his eyes again to greet familiarity. He thought about popping into the Three Horseshoes for a quick pint before his tea but walked on realising that one pint would lead to three. It was a fine night and he contemplated an hour on the allotment after his tea. He had a fine crop of taties and carrots this year, and Hannah would soon be making good use of them in the kitchen. He began to ache again and he opened his eyes. The room was stark and clinical. The voices continued a little way off and he was alone. A sudden thirst came over him. Looking around the room he saw a tap over a sink and he moved to fill the empty glass that was beside his bed with some water. He slipped out from beneath the sheet and taking the class he moved unsteadily towards the sink. Filling the glass he raised it to his lips and looking into the mirror he saw a man he did not know.