A/N: I was speaking to lemacd the other day and she worked out that I was a bit bored (which if you know about the craziness of my real life you would NOT be able to understand how that is even possible, but anyway…). So she set me a writing task. The task was to write a one-shot where something lost is found and where one character displays a strong emotion. So here it is! Please read and review (receiving reviews is so good).
Disclaimer: I do not own The Sound of Music or any of its characters.
The Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey sat at her desk. It was that day again. That day every year that she dreaded. A day of remembering, a day of sorrow. No one knew what this day meant to her but thankfully the other nuns had respected her request for privacy and so she had been able to spend time reading her Bible and in prayer. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was now time.
She got up from her desk and went over to the bureau under the window and opened the drawer. There at the bottom was her mother's Bible, worn and tattered from the many years that her mother had treasured it, loved it and read it daily. It was precious. Only on this day would the Reverend Mother think to fetch it from its place safe in the bureau drawer and today was that day.
Opening it carefully, she did not read the contents of the Bible for it was the same as her own precious book. Instead she retrieved a letter folded and tucked safely away within the pages of the old book. As she held the old piece of paper, she sighed. Yes, it was time to read this again.
Before she had a chance to return to her place behind the desk, a sharp knock came at the door. Surprised as she had told the sisters not to disturb her, the Reverend Mother placed the letter on top of the bureau and went to answer the door.
As she opened the door she faced a very agitated Sister Berthe who was just about to knock again on the door as the Reverend Mother opened it.
"Oh Reverend Mother, forgive me, especially since you asked for privacy today." Sister Berthe quickly said.
"What is it my child?" The Reverend Mother asked tenderly. While she was slightly perplexed that she had been disturbed today of all days, she was a loving mother to the nuns in her care and she knew that she would not have been disturbed if it hadn't been for a good reason and it would not do to be cross at all.
"Well Reverend Mother." Sister Berthe began quite shrilly. "It's about Maria, of course." Sister Berthe quickly inclined her head back towards the darkened passageway beyond the door way where the Reverend Mother could see Maria lurking in the shadows, head bowed.
Reverend Mother sighed. Not Maria again. Ever since the girl had come to the Abbey, the Reverend Mother had been constantly bombarded by stories, complaints, and incidences about Maria, especially from Sister Berthe. Looking between the clearly agitated Sister Berthe and a morose, sorrowful Maria, she made her decision. She quickly ushered Maria into her office, as she didn't want the poor girl to mope in the shadows while she left the room to find out from Sister Berthe what the problem was with Maria.
As the door closed behind her, Maria sunk into the nearby chair. Nervously biting down on her lip and then chewing on her nails, she waited for the Reverend Mother to return. Maria knew she was in trouble. Nothing about the situation was funny but for some reason Maria couldn't help but laugh softly to herself. Clapping her hand swiftly over her mouth lest she be overheard by the Reverend Mother from outside the door. Maria stared up at the ceiling and swung her legs out in front of her as she thought back to events from earlier that day.
It had been a hot day and naturally Maria had wanted a drink of water after attending to her duties in the vegetable garden. After carrying her large basket of beans across the stone courtyard, Maria stopped and waited for all the other nuns to go ahead so she could quickly sneak a drink from the water pump in the center of the courtyard. She knew that what she was doing was somewhat forbidden as it was not the designated time but she was thirsty. It really was a hot day, the first of many hot days to come as the summer had started. The Abbey held no particular insulation against the weather extremes: very hot in summer and deathly cold in winter. Maria supposed that living in such ways was just another part of becoming a nun that she was trying to learn. Although Maria did pray and try and was learning - she really was, it just didn't seem to be fast enough, well at least on this day anyway.
After waiting for all the other nuns to leave, Maria started up the water pump. After a few pumps the cool, clear water came flowing out and was so refreshing when Maria scooped handfuls into her mouth. When she had drunk her fill, Maria went to stop the water pump but to her dismay, the water continued to pour out. Maria quickly scanned the empty courtyard to see whether she could call for help but it was no use, the water continued to pour out of the pump no matter what Maria did to try and stop the pump from pumping the water out. Very quickly the water trough was full and the water poured out over the edge onto the ground.
Maria started to panic. Looking up again she saw Sister Catherine walking reverently down the outside corridor. Maria called out to her for help. Sister Catherine quickly made her way over to Maria and almost immediately discovered the problem with the pump and shut it off. Unfortunately though, there had been a large quantity of water that had spilled onto the stones and had made them quite slippery. As Sister Catherine and Maria went to leave the pump to re-join the other Sisters, poor Sister Catherine slipped over in the water.
After that, well all sorts of chaos broke out. Sister Catherine was crying in pain with her twisted ankle, Maria was apologising profusely and trying help Sister Catherine up and get her to hobble over to sit down on the bench, Sister Margaretta and Sister Berthe arrived to find out what all the commotion was about, which was followed by Maria receiving a severe talking to from Sister Berthe. Shortly after that Maria, was brought to the Reverend Mothers office by Sister Berthe.
Thinking back over the incident, Maria quietly scolded herself. If only the silly pump had stopped then none of this would have happened. If only it hadn't been so hot today. Thinking about how hot it was Maria realised how hot it was inside the Reverend Mother's office. She tried fanning herself with her hand but it was no use. Maria then considered taking off her wimple so she could run her hands through her short hair to cool herself down. Thank goodness that she had had the sense to cut it short when she had entered the Abbey for she didn't know whether she could have coped with having long hair under her wimple in this heat. Unfortunately as for taking the wimple off, well she was in enough trouble already.
Maria looked up and saw the large window above the bureau behind the Reverend Mother's desk. Yes! That would do, some fresh air! she thought.
Maria quickly went over to the window and undid the latch. She had to lean up over the bureau to reach it. Maria tried to pull the window open but it was stuck. She gave it a few huge tugs and finally when it opened, it suddenly caused Maria to fall backwards with the force of her pull. As Maria fell backwards, she accidentally knocked over several items that had been sitting on the top of the bureau. Maria let out a gasp as she tried to catch the last of the ornaments before they fell. Thankfully none were broken and she hastily replaced all where they had come from before the Reverend Mother returned. What Maria did not realise was the old letter that had been on top of the bureau had slipped off and fallen down the back of the furniture.
Maria stood at the window feeling the fresh air wash over her face. All of a sudden she heard the door close behind her. Jumping slightly as she turned around, Maria saw that the Revered Mother had returned and she stood smiling at the young postulant.
"When The Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." The Reverend Mother told Maria gently with a smile.
Maria let out the deep breath that she had been holding and quickly went to kiss the elderly nun's hand. After gesturing for Maria to take a seat, the Reverend Mother calmly and sympathetically explained that she was not angry at the earlier incident and that she had spoken to Sister Berthe about it and also reassured Maria that Sister Catherine's twisted ankle would be fine after a few days rest. The elderly nun reassured Maria again before lovingly dismissing her.
As she closed the door, the Reverend Mother sighed. Indeed Maria was a problem but how to solve it? Maria needed guidance but how and from whom? She shook her head as she didn't know, but today was not the day to be thinking about it. She quickly offered a prayer for guidance about Maria to the Lord before going to retrieve her precious letter from the bureau.
As she approached the bureau, straightaway the Reverend Mother saw that the letter was not there. Immediately a deep sinking feeling was felt down in the pit of her stomach. Where was the letter? She knew there was no way Maria would have taken it so she began searching for it. She had noticed the window that Maria had opened and thought perhaps that the wind may have blown the paper out, as it was so fragile. A quick scan of the outside courtyard was fruitless and after several further minutes of frantic searching high and low she came to the conclusion that the letter was lost.
She sat down at her desk feeling defeated. A wave of deep sadness and sorrow swept over her. Ever since her mother died on this day so many years ago, she would read that letter that her mother wrote and somehow not feel so sad about losing her. The Reverend Mother had loved her mother deeply and missed her dreadfully even more as every year passed. Usually she would not pay it any mind except for on this day, the anniversary of her death. But now, the letter was lost. The letter, with the exception of her mother's Bible was the only thing left she had from her mother. That's why the letter was so precious to her. Now the letter was gone, the Reverend Mother felt a deep emptiness not felt since the day her mother died so many years ago now.
Silently she began to weep. She wept for the loss of her mother so many years ago, she wept for the loss of the letter. She knew all the words on the paper by heart but she wept for the lost of never reading them again, for never seeing her mother's beautiful handwriting again. Closing her eyes as her tears stopped, the Reverend Mother offered up another prayer to the Lord.
As she opened her eyes, she cast them downwards and something caught her attention just poking out from behind the back of the bureau. The Reverend Mother got down on her hands and knees to look closer and to her delight; she could make out the tiny edge of the piece of paper that was behind the bureau. Reaching down to pull the piece of paper out, she knew instantly it was her mother's lost letter.
Sitting back down at her desk, the feeling of happiness of finding the thing that was lost was immense. She let out a huge sigh of relief and offered another prayer but this time a prayer of thankfulness. As she opened the letter to read its words, her thoughts returned to Maria. How to guide her? How to solve a problem? The poor child had been so lost after the death of her own mother so many years ago when she was a child. What she needed now was some sort of mother figure to advise her.
Reading the words on the page before her, an idea came to mind. The Reverend Mother smiled. Yes, her mother always did have a way of being a loving presence to her, a way of stopping her feeling so sad. Maybe this was the way forward for her to support and guide Maria? She made up her mind to speak to Maria the following day. The elderly nun nodded to herself as she again read the precious words of her mother's letter, her mother's favourite things.
Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles, warm woollen mittens…