Bubbles and Gum Wrappers
"Hello Mum,"
Mum. That word stuck with her. It had a meaning; she knew it did. Almost. The meaning was almost there. But gone again. Oh Well. That boy was here again. She must give him something. She must give him something. Terribly important. I must give him something. She thought that; until that thought, too went pop! just like a soap bubble. "Bubbles!" Soap bubbles. Pretty soap bubbles. She tried to catch one but they kept bursting as she touched them.
"Help me! They are all disappearing! Help me! I can't let them escape!" The boy, such a kind boy, tried to help.
Neville saw his mother chasing something. "Bubbles," she had said. He reached his hand into thin air and brought down a non-existent bubble. "Here you are, Mum. Beautiful and just for you."
Alice looked at his hands and saw the most beautiful bubble she had ever seen. Luminescent colours danced across the surface, she stood there; enrapted by its beauty until it too went "Pop!" Gone were the colours; gone was the brightness, but she remembered her manners, as it was only polite. "Thank you." She looked at the boy with the kind eyes.
"You're welcome, Mum." The boy said quietly.
That word again. It had meaning. It had to. She screwed up her face in an effort to remember.
Suddenly she focused on the boy again. The word "Neville" came into her head. She looked at the boy inching toward him lest the bad people should see. "Pssst." She sidled up the boy.
Neville looked at his Mum, almost expectant, although he knew better. She looked at him, clear-eyed for a second or two. "Neville." She said and looked at, not through him as she usually did and smiled a small smile. Neville looked hard at his mum, "Mum?" he said hopefully. She looked at him cocking her head sideways her visage clear until it was not.
Alice looked at the boy and slowly his visage began to change, she was back in the dark again "No! No! Won't tell. Won't tell. Can't make me." Shaking her head as if shaking could loose the thoughts within, she backed away from the creature that would invade her mind once more. Cowering away from him she began to whimper, "No! No! No more! Please!"
A voice harsh and pitiless came into her head; again the same refrain, "Tell me what I want know and it will stop. Otherwise it never will. Never."
She cried, "No! No! Make it stop!!" She crumpled to the ground, sobbing. And a bright light exploded within and she knew no more.
Arms encircled her, squeezing. At first she fought against them, struggling to be free but then she heard a soft warm voice, "Shh-Shh! You're all right. I've got you. You're safe now. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. I won't let them." She looked up and saw short, dark hair and a kind and strong face. Reaching a hand to stroke that face, she said, "Frank? I was strong. I didn't say anything."
Neville closed his eyes as she touched his face looking at him with love in her pale blue eyes. He stilled the pain within him and looked at his mum's face inches from his own as he held her. "I know, Alice." He said in a full voice, "You were wonderful. I'm very proud of you." He looked over at his dad, sitting up his bed staring up at the ceiling mumbling to himself silently as he counted on his fingers, only to laugh and start pointing at the ceiling again. At least I'm sure he would have been. An attendant came to take her from him, but he shook his head. They sat on the floor for a bit until his mum seemed calmer and had lapsed into humming softly to herself. Neville knew it was time to go. He stood up and gingerly lifted his mum off the floor.
"I have to go now, Mum."
Leaving? The boy was leaving? No! she thought. Alice began to panic. Something she needed to give him. Something she needed to give him. She began to smack her forehead. What was it? What was it? The men started to step forward but the boy with the kind eyes stopped them.
Seeing her agitation, Neville asked gently, knowing the question to be futile, "What is it, Mum?"
She stared at the boy, trying to remember. Protection. She needed to protect the boy. She felt this with every fiber of her being. She needed to protect him from that dark place of pain she could not seem to escape. Must protect. She rummaged around her bed and the surrounding environs hoping to find protection of any sort. Her eye fell upon the very thing. It glowed with an indescribable essence. It would protect the boy, the very important boy. Why he was important she still did not remember, could not remember. She had tried so very hard, but again came the pain and the dark place and she could remember no further. This would work, she knew it would; she could feel it. She picked it up. Oh this would work. She again sidled up to the boy, grabbed his hand and pressed the luminescent power into it. Gently but quickly, she closed it, lest the bad people should see. She looked into the boy's eyes. "Protection." She glanced furtively to the side. "Take. Go! They are coming!" She skittered away fretfully; muttering "Won't let them find me this time, not this time."
Neville looked at his mum, tears forming in his eyes as he saw once again her shrink in fear and hide in her corner mumbling. He looked down at his hand that she had so gently closed and opened it; as always a bubble gum wrapper.