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Who was Miss Elizabeth?

by Heckyspice 

Posted: 25 June 2004
Word Count: 385
Summary: This is based on a true event. A friend of mine, did find such a letter in his house, hidden inside a wall cavity. The names have been changed and the date has been moved forward a few days. Sometimes it takes time for a voice to be heard.


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Who was Miss Elizabeth?

Why did she feel compelled to cut the letter into tiny squares, put them back inside the envelope and then hide them away inside the wall cavity for 53 years?

I held the pieces of the mystery in my hand, the letter now patched together by sellotape, and the smudged envelope with a simple address; Miss Elizabeth, c/o Ivy Hotel, York. The date on the letter was December 5th 1941. It had been hidden from the world for 63 years.

I discovered the letter while renovating the cellar in the house, it had been stuffed into a hole behind some bricks. At first I thought it was just some old bill or shopping list that had been discarded along with another families’ debris. Opening the envelope the pieces of the letter fluttered out like lazy butterflies. The first piece I picked up had intriguing words, half smudged but urgent. Words like abandon and consequence. Words that needed to be pieced back together.

The letter was on the table and I could now read a father’s plea.

Dear Lizzy

I hope you know what you are doing now be careful
The hard things that you and I have known must not make you decide otherwise
Lizzy your mother misses you and the bairn
Look after her and do not get into bother I know what you like when you go dancing Lizzy
You must not abandon your family so quickly Lizzy
The consequence of fooling about will get you more of the same
Write soon and be good
Look after the bairn Lizzy
Do not give Mrs Morgan reason to send you away Lizzy you are not on holiday this is the way things have to be
God bless you both
Your Father Edward


It was all one sentence. No punctuation, just thought upon thought. You could sense the tears that fell when the ink was drying and the tears that fell when the paper was torn.

I had no idea how the letter came to be in my house.

The life of Miss Elizabeth may have ended many years ago but the love of her father had not died. Somewhere they may now be looking on and reading back the letter to each other and adding the postscript they both deserved.






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Comments by other Members



Jubbly at 12:38 on 25 June 2004  Report this post
This is a lovely story Heckyspice. Full of mystery and intrigue all the things I adore. Wonderful descriptions too, especially 'lazy butterflies' and the line about the tears falling on the ink. Gets you thinking eh?

Well done and thanks for sharing

Jubbly

Okkervil at 17:17 on 25 June 2004  Report this post
Yeah, this is really nice, effortless to read, and pleasantly thought provoking, in a fuzzy, sad way.. reminded me a little of perhaps, those terrible laundry places with nuns that Catholic girls would get sent to if they had babies when they weren't meant to. I've just read that bizzarre E.A.Poe story with the cat (and the wife) bricked up in the wall, but this of course, isn't the same thing. Ahem.
Thanks, indeed, for sharing!
Bye!

James

Account Closed at 20:08 on 25 June 2004  Report this post
Yes, touching. Like James said, makes you think of the Magdelaine Sisters. Leaves us wondering what happened - especially as it's true.
How about writing their story as a novel?
Elspeth


anisoara at 22:44 on 25 June 2004  Report this post
Hecky -- Yes, I wonder what happened next and how the letter came to be in your wall. What was her relationship to the house? It's a msyerty ('mystery' I meant, but it's such an awful typo I thought I would leave it on show!). It's a mystery.

Ani

Dee at 07:36 on 26 June 2004  Report this post
Hecky, this is a wonderfully disturbing tale. And nicely written.

Just one little picky-point: you’ve got 53 years in one paragraph and 63 in the next.

Did your friend do any research? I would have been agog to find out who Lizzy was! She could have been in a similar situation to my Lily.

Great little story though, which leaves me with more questions than I started with.

Dee.


Becca at 08:48 on 26 June 2004  Report this post
Heckyspice, that story made my eyes prick. I loved the simple way you laid it out, and the urgency of the father writing to the daughter really came across strongly. You mentioned at the top that it was based on a true event. Was the writing in the letter a quote, or did you invent it? Either way, I found it really moving. Dee's right it does leave a lot of questions, I quite don't mind that though. It reminded me a little of when you look through old postcards in junkshops and read a few sentences on the back and wonder about the people. I liked as well, that it wasn't set too far back in time.
Becca.

Mrbyte at 10:27 on 26 June 2004  Report this post
Very nice Dave, very nice.
well done
small typo maybe?

"I know what you like when you go dancing Lizzy"
should there be a 'are' in there as in

"I know what you are like when you go dancing Lizzy"

both work but have different subtle emphasis on Lizzy's character

It left me wanting to know more. perhaps this could be a jumping off point for a longer piece?

Steve


matheson at 15:23 on 26 June 2004  Report this post
Hi

yes..this seems either a portal into something bigger and more intriguing or(as Becca said...) that snippet on a postcard..flavoursome and enigmatic. Nice phrasing ...I liked the 'lazy butterflies' and very much the sense of words which DEMAND to be peiced together. Will you write more of it?

regards

John

Nell at 08:34 on 27 June 2004  Report this post
Hi Dave,

I'm coming late to this, so can only echo all of the above. The story works beautifully as a short, yet the knowledge that these people are/were real begs for it to be expanded. It might be possible to find out who they were via the deeds of the house, old records etc. I know that would be a major undertaking, but there's something about the father's voice as it speaks across the years that brings Lizzie vividly to life - her story is demanding to be told. She may even be alive, and the 'bairn' too. Beautifully written, moving, haunting even. I keep seeing her tearing up that letter and placing the envelope in the wall.

Nell.

Heckyspice at 12:51 on 28 June 2004  Report this post
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the comments. I guess this could grow into a longer story, I may well do that at a later date.

Dee, I did not spot the error in the years, thanks for that.

Becca, the letter in the piece was invented but the language was a good facsimile of what had been written. Any typos would refelct the author of the letter and his thoughts.

It is fascinating reading snatches on the back of old postcards or letters and trying to piece together what was happening to the writer or the reader. That's what inspired me to write this piece.

As for what happened to Lizzy (her real name b.t.w was Patricia)I will ask my friend D.C if he has discovered any more clues about her. The postcript may get a coda.

David


Bianca at 07:35 on 29 June 2004  Report this post
David

A bit late I know, but found this lovely piece whilst browsing.

How thought provoking. I've neen turning it over in my mind and have thought up all the reasons she is in the situation - the obvious being unmaried mother - but there must be more to it. It has acted as a little teaser really - I want to know the story behind it all. A novel in the making I think.

Shirley

Mooncat at 16:41 on 14 July 2004  Report this post
Heckyspice,

I agree - this could make a great novel. It's full of intrigue, mystery and sadness.

Marie


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