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All Change

by Elbowsnitch 

Posted: 13 March 2008
Word Count: 279
Summary: For the Tremors challenge...


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Many things remain the same, that’s confusing. Sky, trees and two kestrels circling, touching wingtips. What’s different? The pain. My cracked soul. Not knowing where to find anything. Broken china on the path. A bonfire of mattresses, chairs and precious things (her woodworking projects). I packed a box and taped it. She said, I can’t bear you being here, please go away. She was sitting in bed now. This is a mess, she said, and you’ve created it. Because I’d insisted, then changed my mind. Too late. She said, I can’t afford to be at your mercy. What gives you the right?

I can hear the soft achey roar of a plane moving through clouds. Back in London, in my mother’s house. When she goes into a home, quite soon, I’ll have to leave. And go where? To a rented place. So now I think, these are my thoughts, the right house will save you, the wrong house will ruin you. My tarot cards – justice and judgement in the near future. (The occupational assessors? My own conscience?) The harsh queen holds a sword. Little mummies sit up in their coffins, wave their bandaged arms. They want to be picked up and comforted. This is all about mothers. Hers dead, mine living. Mine cries, “There’s no hope for us, Mum.” She says “I tried to be a reasonable mother.” Fruitful female and male victory, both reversed. So now, I go looking for tall buildings, fire escapes, access to the roof or high windows. Now the amniotic fluid is drained. I miss my old lazy, happy life. Don’t be hard on yourself, she said, the world will be hard enough.






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Comments by other Members



V`yonne at 16:09 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
Don’t be hard on yourself, she said, the world will be hard enough on you.
Certainly true! I loved the Tarot bit too. I'm a bit confused by the relationships here
Hers dying, mine living. Mine cries, “There’s no hope for us, Mum.” She says “I tried to be a reasonable mother.” Fruitful female and male victory, both reversed
So this is a man who has gone back to live with his mother and his ex's mother has died and they have parted or... Probobly tying myself in unforgiveable knots of not having read well enough.

As ever wonderful use of language and tightly constricted emotions.

tiger_bright at 18:42 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
There's a quite wonderful cadence of despair running through this, Frances, from the bonfire in the opening paragraph to that low achey sound of the plane (brilliant description of the sound - that's exactly how it is!) and then the seeking of the high buildings which is both exhilirating and frightening (does she mean to jump, or simply to ascend?). I liked the links between the mothers, the symbols you used. It's a fascinating response to the challenge, too.

Sarah

tiger_bright at 18:43 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
One thought, for what it's worth - do you need "on you" at the very end? Could it finish with "the world will be hard enough"?

V`yonne at 18:52 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
I think the person means to jump.

tiger_bright at 18:57 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
What's great is the ambiguity - it can be read either way and therein lies the genius, the enriching - the reader's (subjective) response is integral to the power of the piece, I think.

crowspark at 22:05 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
Brilliant! Love that opening. External things remain the same, but not the inner landscape.

Strong theme of high place, kestrels,
the soft achey roar of a plane moving through clouds,
tall buildings.

The kestrels are together but the first para is about what is lost. Wonderful second paragraph. The sense of loss evoked by the plane, the tarot cards suggesting guilt and judgment and that fabulous image of:
Little mummies sit up in their coffins, wave their bandaged arms.


Now the amniotic fluid is drained.

I enjoyed the play on "mummies."

I don't know why but this makes me think of Yeats, the center cannot hold, swords, tarot cards and mummies.

Wonderfully complex, scary ending tempered by that last sentence.

Loved it.
Bill

Forbes at 23:37 on 13 March 2008  Report this post
Frances - this piece seems so full of pain. I follow it pretty much up until

My tarot cards....both reversed.


and I got lost. I am not able to resolve the meaning within. sorry. I understand the link to re-birth (finding a new house), but the looking for tall buildings seems an indication of possible suicide.

All in all a very unsettling piece, and I am sorry to be dim at unraveling that passage back there.

Avis



Jumbo at 00:27 on 14 March 2008  Report this post
Frances

Tremendous stuff!

Some phrases in this really pile on the emotion

What’s different? The pain. My cracked soul. Not knowing where to find anything. Broken china on the path. A bonfire of mattresses, chairs and precious things

and also...

the right house will save you, the wrong house will ruin you.

I too felt that your character was looking for somewhere to jump from, but I can see how this piece could be read differently, and perhaps the meaning you take from it depends on your state of mind as you begin.

A great read. Thanks for sharing it with us.

john



Elbowsnitch at 09:17 on 14 March 2008  Report this post
Thank you very much Oonah, Tiger, Avis and John. Tiger, I think you're right about those last two words - have changed.

Frances

Cholero at 22:57 on 14 March 2008  Report this post
Frances

A bonfire...of precious things
-terrific intensity in that, a great image defining the situation.

The kestrel image is nice, two predators in intimate, maybe accidental contact...

I can’t afford to be at your mercy. What gives you the right?
-lovely witheld judgement here of is she being self-justifying, or is she right...

Nice, the quiet internal references which resonate like notes in a song of regret: cracked soul/broken china, bonfire of mattresses/sitting in bed

Loved this:
I miss my old lazy, happy life


My tarot cards – justice and judgement in the near future. (The occupational assessors? My own conscience?) The harsh queen holds a sword. Little mummies sit up in their coffins, wave their bandaged arms
. -this spooked me, goes right into how unsettled MC feels, on the edge of reason, frightened, startled.

If I found anything not quite right it was the mother theme which read like maybe it was a thought that grabbed you at the end rather than running right through the piece, so that This is all about mothers. didn't feel quite right; I didn't feel like I had enough information about it.

Didn't understand why, if it's the voice of MC's mother, she says
“There’s no hope for us, Mum.”


I can hear the soft achey roar of a plane moving through clouds.
-just terrific, beautiful.

Lovely, eloquent, understated stuff.

Pete



ireneintheworld at 15:49 on 15 March 2008  Report this post
amazing flash frances. i really felt the hold of aged madness, the guilt and desperation of the child, son/daughter...doesn't matter which. i've been there and it's a very crazy place! beautifully done.

irene x

tractor at 17:37 on 15 March 2008  Report this post
Hi Frances,

disturbing but definitely interesting. I took the looking for tall buildings being a reference to the Tower in Tarot which If I remember correctly signifies change. I may be being too mystical.

Cheers

Mark

Elbowsnitch at 18:37 on 15 March 2008  Report this post
Thanks very much, Irene and Mark.

Frances

choille at 20:44 on 16 March 2008  Report this post
Hi Francis,

Really moving & sad with scary bits - all the little mummies wanting comforted.

Terrible the toll of the parenting the parent stuff.

The chaos of emptying a house sets the pace and creats that unsettled feel all the way through.

There is nothing as confusing as moving - can't find anything syndrome.

Lovely images and sounds of achey planes.

Frightening ending - makes me want to shout Don't jump.

All the best
Caroline.



Elbowsnitch at 10:38 on 17 March 2008  Report this post
Thank you very much, Caroline - appreciated.

Frances

Nella at 10:11 on 19 March 2009  Report this post
Just popped in on the Random Read. This is really good writing - so full of emotion, unsettling, disturbing...
Thanks for the read.
Best,
Robin

Elbowsnitch at 10:13 on 19 March 2009  Report this post
Thanks very much, Robin!

Frances


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