(See: Part 5-
https://hive.blog/freewriters/@joshuaslane/story-time-on-the-mighty-frigate-silverton-28ap24-sally-may-part-5 )
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[Ferry dock…Armadale, Isle of Skye…]
We set off on foot, my gait a little unsteady as I tried hard to get used to the slight blur in my right eye. A small flock of seagulls squawked loudly above us, and looking up, I was sure they were welcoming me home.
~ ~ ~ ~
I didn’t give a damn! One good eye, one bad eye? One and a half good eyes?! What difference did it make to me now! My head wasn’t right- I’d admit that much. Oh sure, the Navy rehab center was all good and well. The food was fine and we had a swally🍺 or two to wash it down. There were some good men waiting in with me and we played table pool at night. But, I didn’t give a damn! What was wrong with me? Something just wasn’t right inside and I couldn’t get my arms around it.
Being in Elgol again did have it’s advantages, my mother came to see me almost everyday. A bit much even for a grown man my age. But a mother’s love has no boundry in years. I was lucky to have her…
“Yer yak 👁️ looks better taday Joshua…” She said as she took a seat next to my bunk.
“Ye say 'att everyday mammy.”
“Coz it’s true!” She said with a smile that always melted my heart, “Hoo's yer vision?”
“Hmmm, a wee bit better than lest week.”
“Ye see, better everyday!”
I didn’t reply. My gaze was distant…
“Whit is it Joshua? Yoo’re nae yoorself…” She prodded as usual, “Is it coz o’ yer best mukker Richard?”
I took a deep breath….”Richard’s a part o’ it…”
“What’s th' other part son?”
“Blatch mammy! Ahh don’t knows!” I barked, immediately regretting it, “Ahh’m sorry.”
She gathered her bag and put the fresh baked biscuits she brought on the table next to my bunk…
“Blueberry… yer faither’s favorite.” She replied softly as she got up.
“Cheers fur makin' ‘em mum…”
She nodded as she squeezed my hand and walked out.
…………..
Sally May sat at her desk in the small upper-level efficiency apartment. Down below, in the cobblestoned street, horse drawn carriages slowly made their way back and forth.
“Ahh’ve got to git oan…” she said to herself as she sat with her chin in her hands.
In front of her was a piece of paper and a quill. Next to it, a black bottle of ink that seemed to match the emptiness that she felt inside. After a long pause she picked up the quill and dipped it in the open bottle. First writing the date on the top of the sheet, she then wrote the name that always gave her the faint pain in her chest…
‘Dear Joshua,’
She stared down at the sheet for a long time. Her mind hundreds of miles away, far to the north, the small village that she had only a slight recollection of as a child and only visited briefly as a young adult.
No one even recognized her there anymore and when she took the schooner back to Dornie she thought,
‘Mah Aunt was right…it’s nae guid goin’ back. Mah parents ur only a distant memory an' th' townsfolk o’ Broadford didn’t remember me at aw’…’
A large crow cawed outside as it soared across the street and landed in the high branches of a tree.
Sally’s mind jolted out of the past and back to the present, back to loneliness, back to an uncertainty that was so unlike her normal self. She inhaled deeply and re-dipped her quill…
‘Ahh was jist wonderin' hoo yer rehabilitation was comin' alang?” She wrote slowly, ‘It’s bin a month, an' I’m hopin' 'att th' doctors an' nurses at th' center arenae forgettin' tae make ye dae yer yak exercises? Please dae remember!’
She paused a moment. “Am Ahh bein' a glaikit (stupid) wee hen?!”
Doubts welled up in her heart, “He’s an officer…probably can’t bide tae git back tae brine, tae his comrades…”
In a brief moment of despair she suddenly grabbed the letter and meant to crumple it up and toss it in the waste basket next to her desk. But something stopped her. She smoothed the wrinkles back out and wrote on…
'Th' hospital haur is doin’ weel. Things hav settled a bit. Mah workmate still talks aboot ye! She still remembers yer smile! Weel, if ye think o’ it, ye can alwa’s write me haur in Poole tae lit me know hoo yer doin'. Th' Navy hospital has a public mail drap.'
Very best o’ wishes,
Nurse- Sally May
With that, she carefully folded the letter and tucked it into an envelope and addressed it:
Navy Rehabilitation Center
4VX+63C Elgol, Isle of Skye
C/O Petty Officer- Joshua Gaven Slane
Weel, it's gettin' late, an' th' oil in me lamp is nearly gone mates. We'll continue uir chat anither days!" 😉 -Keptin
Curated by #hensofhife
!LADY
bock bock bock! 🐓🐓🐓
I thought of #lassiesofhife in keeping of 17th century Scottish anthropological context but it's the Keptin's story. 🌹💕
!LOL
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He had skeletons in his closet.
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"Guid swatchin' hens!"
Lots of people ask me will Sally ? And I say Sally May 🤣
!LOL wow...
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"Haw! Haw! Guid one mate!" 😉 -Keptin
Aw man, you know how to leave us on a cliffhanger!
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"Me whole life is a cliffhanger mucker!" 😉 -Keptin
!LOL well said! 😆
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😉 -Keptin
So far away, two hearts sick apart.
"Aye, stoaner times fur both!" 😉 -Keptin
Greetings Keptin,
Your words communicate...we feel the pain...the bittersweet sorrow of both.
Miss Sally May is opening the door for the officer to dialogue...perhaps there will be soul rapport between them.
He had best brush up on his vocabulary and objectivity..after all she recognises he is an officer and most likely anxious to be with his men....interesting.
Cheers!
"Sae true matie! Sae true! Haw! Haw!" 😉 -Keptin
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When you mention your mother and even I look at the photo, I say that the mother's love never has reservations, we can always count on our mothers and then you mention the cookies, I imagined the scene, she pampering you ,man, take good care of her, mothers are the greatest treasure we have
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