We’re back to Sophie, who has been fetched by Dragon, and agreed to go when told by Fairy this was the only way to save her fading mother.
Perched precariously on the back of a dragon, Sophie’s mind had gone to that place where she believed she was in a dream, that none of this was real and soon she would wake. Worry niggled at her brain, that there was something wrong somewhere, and when she woke she would be overwhelmed by it once more.
The back of a dragon is not a good place to sleep, although her two small companions had no problem, curled around each other like twins in a cot. Pixie snored gently, his mouth open. Fairy lay very still, her eyelids flickering, her pink lips twitching in tiny smiles. Pleasant dreams.
Below them, a vast forest unfolded, hilly, lit by moonlight to turn its darkness silver-edged. Beautiful.
The forest reminded Sophie of the one at the back of her cousin Janet’s home in the countryside, a couple of hours from Sophie’s home. Except much, much larger. She had no idea where she was going, and her questioning of her companions revealed only that Princess Janet needed her. Princess Janet?
The light turned from silver to gold as dawn broke over the forest. Sophie thought she should wake about now and go back to her real life, but the dragon flew on and Pixie and Fairy slept.
Now an ancient castle came into view, set on a hilltop and surrounded by equally ancient trees. The dragon descended. Sophie peered down into a wide courtyard bustling with people. They appeared to be servants, plainly dressed and going about tasks such as pumping water, carting hay into stables and mucking out, and carrying trays laden with loaves and other food.
Sophie’s stomach rumbled. A rare thing in a dream. And then they landed, and all the people in the courtyard stopped to stare at the dragon and its passengers. Some cried out in terror. Others simply gawked, and one old man came forward, waving his hands, crying out something about a green giant and blessed is the dragon and whomever it carries.
Green giant? Sophie shivered as if some visceral memory played in her chest.
But now she tired of the drama, of dragons and fairies and pixies and silvery forests. She wanted food and rest and to find out what was going on.
‘Princess Janet sent for me,’ she told the crowd. ‘Perhaps someone would be kind enough to take me to her?’
Dragon let out a gentle stream of fire to underline the request. Before anyone could respond, Janet herself was there, running across the courtyard, calling, ‘Sophie, Sophie! I’m so glad to see you. We have things to do, you and I.’
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A quiet protest at the ageing process and its associated duties. Names have been changed to protect the innocent/guilty (LOL)
BUT NOW SHE TIRED OF THE DRAMA
Daisy loved her grandchildren, most of them made her day a delight when they were in her care.
She and her husband Stan now had six, the combined result of their three children who led busy lives divided between work, socialising and organising the kids weekend commitments.
As such, they relied heavily on Daisy and Stan to babysit and ferry the children to school and sporting events when they were unable to do so.
As the grandchildren grew older, this had become an increasingly frequent commitment. So much so, that Daisy and Stan were finding much of their time largely taken up with driving to the kids’ games and training and constant babysitting so their parents could organise everything else.
At first, the elderly couple – now in their 70s – didn’t mind the increased workload. Most of the grandchildren were easy to look after and thoroughly enjoyed the company of their ageing grandparents.
All except their daughter’s two children. A boy and girl, respectively aged nine and seven, they had recently moved from interstate to be nearer family support following the parents’ separation.
The trauma of the split combined with what appeared to be a lack of discipline as they grew made them unpredictable.
Happy and content one minute, they could fly into a rage and either run into the street or slam doors in a fit of pique the next.
Daisy and Stan did their best to cope with their rapidly changing moods but, after several months of traumatic adversity, now she tired of the drama.
“I can’t cope with these two anymore,” she confessed to Stan. He had already reached that conclusion some considerable time earlier.
“We will have to tell Susan we just cannot take the children to school in the morning and pick them up afterwards,” Daisy continued. “We never know how they are likely to react. She will just have to make alternative arrangements.”
If the truth be known, the couple was becoming extremely tired and lacking the energy to manage the caring role on such a regular basis.
Not only that, but other aspects of their lives were being neglected. It had become difficult to catch up with their own friends and planned projects around the house were being postponed.
And as for holidays – well, trying to organise time away in between babysitting duties was proving virtually impossible.
“Our children don’t seem to be as well organised as we were,” Stan commented. “I don’t remember either your parents or mine doing much babysitting when the kids were younger.”
“No, they didn’t,” Daisy agreed. “However, I suppose with both parents working these days it’s a lot harder to organise the kids’ activities than it was in our day.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Stan asked.
“Well, I think we need to convince Susan to arrange before and after school care on the days we drop them off and pick them up. That way, we won’t have to deal with the tantrums and unpredictability for very long before their mother gets home.”
“Expensive, particularly given her current situation.”
“I know, but even if it is only occasionally it will at least give us a chance to recharge the batteries for the next round,” Daisy laughed.
“Hmm,” Stan said as he adopted a boxing stance.
As I said, a move to the country sounds ideal!
So the plot thickens. I will be really interested to see how you wind this up (LOL)
I have a vague idea but we shall see!