Comfort can come in many ways, the gentle tapping of rain on the window when you're curled up in bed, a jumper that smells just like someone you love, a grandmother humming silently as she sews, or the tea stained photo that reminds you that you're never really alone. Sometimes though , comforting someone seems impossible, especially when all they want to do is sob into your arms , oblivious to what's happening in reality. So you just sit there,contemplating if you should hold them or whisper small words that you're not entirely certain hold a value in their eyes.
At least that's what I was thinking as I held the shaking form of Veronica Finch. Why is she so upset? ...Well I can tell you now,that question is mirrored in my mind because you see the truth is, V hasn't lost a relative, she hasn't been burgled or injured in any way. No, she has in fact lost her purse. Her favourite purse I might like to inform you, I do agree that her behaviour is extreme to say the least.V isn't an ordinary woman though,she does have a... condition,as Dr Andrews puts it, which causes her to see everyday issues as bigger than they are and , as a result, can create devastating ( for her) yet amusing (for me) situations.
"Oh,but you don't understand!" She wailed,throwing her arms around and almost knocking her cat, tiddles,off the sofa.I winced,she could've won an Oscar for that."Come on now V...it's not that bad,not really eh?" In all honestly that's the sentence that I've been muttering for the past half hour and I'm getting rather sick of it. Veronica turned sharply and looked at me over her dark rimmed glasses,her mouth slightly agape "Not that bad?...ha!" Leaning forward slightly she flicked the end of my nose with her red nails "You don't understand!" She sniggered again."Understand what?!" I shouted in frustration."Its not the purse that I'm bothered about! Not at all,on the contrary it's what was inside the purse".There was a short pause.I waited for her to continue her gripping tale of 'lady loses handbag' but after a minute of staring into her wide glassy eyes, I decided to encourage V along."And what was inside it?" I asked sarcastically, it can't be that major,she's probably lost her bus pass or something,I thought to myself. There was a clink as Veronica placed the china mug onto the latest issue of 'gardeners weekly' that sat upon a small coffee table. She leaned closer and in a quiet voice whispered two words..."The book".
At first I just sat there,debating weather or not I should ring Dr Andrews and ask for him to prescribe her more tablets there and then,or just nod, smile, finish my cup of tea and leave. Neighbourly duties complete. However, I decided to humour her "And what book would that be V?" I asked. "The book that I found when I was on holiday with Albert, you silly girl!"...this is where I should probably explain that Albert was Veronica's husband, he died seven years ago and his photo holds a spot on Veronica's bedside cabinet. Smiling at me, she continued "We found it in an old shop in Egypt,Albert only bought it for 50p and said I could have it as a souvenir, of course we only realised what it was when we arrived back at the hotel" V sighed "...not that it matters now anyway, but the book contained notes made by some explorer, oh I can't remember who, some young fellow...anyhow the notes described a specific jar that is said to be worth millions of pounds!"
A jar. Millions of pounds worth of pottery. I didn't know what to think,it was true that Veronica and Albert did travel often but this was the first I'd heard of such an item . Besides , who would write a book about a jar? . To be honest it was the last thing I was expecting to hear."So,you're saying that whoever has your purse,also has a book containing information on a priceless artefact?" I felt stupid saying it out loud like that. Nodding eagerly, V began muttering something about Albert and I kind of...zoned out. Then a thought occurred to me. I held Veronica's hands in my own and tried to get her to focus once more."Um,V...what was the jar called?" I watched as the old lady's face crumpled in concentration"Erhm...yes...name...I think it was called,um, the water pot?, or was it the ocean jar?...something to do with water..." A priceless jar,worth millions and Veronica Finch had forgotten its name. Well , I did say that she had a condition. After at least two hours and probably five cups of tea, I managed to prise myself away from V's hold.
When I arrived through my own door and fought my way past Jasper, a loud jack Russell terrier, I ran a search through home of answers, google. In actuality I probably ran more than one search.A list, more likely and I'd tried 'water pot' and 'ocean jar' none of which arose anything of importance. I began to improvise,dashing across the keyboard I let my imagination run wild.'Puddle pot', 'Rain jar' and 'lake vase' gave nothing, I glanced across to where Jasper sat on my bed, chewing his mouse toy."What do you think jasper?" I asked, the dog just looked at me and gave a single bark in response. Maybe I'll turn out to be as mad as V when I grow old, there most likely isn't even a priceless jar at all.
Veronica had said that Albert and herself had found the book in an old shop in Eygpt so, perhaps I was missing something obvious. Then it struck me. The River Nile. I typed the words 'Jar of the Nile' into the search bar and clicked on the first result that came up. The site described a,said to be, priceless jar found only in Egypt. A match. Batty Veronica finch was right all along.