Idyllic, the only possible description of the scene before us: a picturesque, centuries-old English church sitting contentedly surrounded by a sea of ancient and modern gravestones, the edges of the building softened by a hazy, honey-gold Summer sunshine, and the stones blending into each other, half hidden by long grasses and wild flowers; here and there a freshly placed posy adding a sprinkling of blues, reds and yellows to catch the eye and make you glad to be alive this beautiful late July day at the start of a new century.
But it gets better - suddenly birds rise noisily into the blue sky, startled from their sleepy afternoon musings by the sound of the church bells, their triumphant peal cutting cleanly through the warm heavy air to send their joyful message up to heaven.
Then out they come; first, the pretty bride and the self-conscious groom, blinking with surprise as they step out from the cool darkness of the church into the golden light of the sunny Hampshire afternoon.
Then the rest of the bridal party spill out into the churchyard, their chatter causing the vicar's cat to wake up with a certain amount of irritation and stalk off to find a quieter place for his nap.
First three little bridesmaids, in pink and cream satin, glad to be free at last, chase each other round a large square tomb, topped with an ornate cross; this is the final resting place of a previous vicar of this parish, dead now for over a hundred and fifty years. Some of the inscription is still legible :’ Reverend Charles Proctor, called home on 15th February …..' the year is uncertain, but might be 1820, or 1830.
The laughing children are called away, back to the church door for photographs. Off they run. But before they can begin, one of them, a sweet child of about seven years old, with a head of auburn hair as shining as the day, wails : 'I've lost my flowers'. Her Mother, not quite at ease in an unaccustomed hat, spots the posy lying near a small memorial quite close to the old clergyman's tomb. 'It's over there Daisy, do be quick and fetch it.'
Thankfully, the child scoops up the bouquet and takes her place near the bride. She is in too much of a hurry to notice the inscription on the stone where she had dropped her flowers :
Daisy Mutton. 1785-1792
A sweet, Brave Child
R.I.P.
Walk with me a while, my friend, let me share with you the secrets of these souls who lie quietly around us, slumbering under the cool earth while our flesh is warmed by this gentle sun. Let's follow in the footsteps of little bridesmaid Daisy, and begin with the story of her namesake :
DAISY MUTTON 1785-1792
Comments
Denzella | August 7, 2012 - 08:40
Linda,
This is so beautiful and poignant and evokes all sorts of feelings in me as I read. You bring the scene alive with your wonderful descriptions and I feel the heat of the sun and hear the chatter and see the bridesmaids running about. I don't know what follows but I can't wait to find out.
Moya
Linda Wigzell Cress | August 7, 2012 - 09:42
Thanks so much Moya. This is the start of what was intended to be a novel, the general idea being stories of inhabitants of the graveyard with the cliffhanger of who's the narrator to be revealed at the end. I started writing this when my Mum was nearing her end and I was with her every day, and many of the tales are family stories from her . I didnt get much reaction from it so have kind of shelved it, but have several stories still on that shelf. Maybe I should think again!
Linda
Denzella | August 7, 2012 - 16:55
Linda,
Definitely think again. This one is a lovely story and it is a great idea for a series of stories.
I really enjoyed it. If it's up with the 'Palace' hat get it down and blow the dust off and give it another go.
Moya
Linda Wigzell Cress | August 7, 2012 - 17:12
Thanks Moya, I will do! already got several chapters on hold.
Linda
Denzella | August 7, 2012 - 20:53
Oh, and I also meant to mention that I love the title.
Moya
Linda Wigzell Cress | August 7, 2012 - 21:02
Well the Palace hat's had another airing maybe this should too - now the title's confirmed. Thanks Moya
Linda
Sooz006 | August 11, 2012 - 14:08
I like the title and think it works well.
Thankfully,... I don't like thankfully, here.
me a while, my friend,... awhile
I've read a few of these now, one negative point that springs to mind, is to make sure that each story is different enough to leave a clear, distinct impression from the rest, otherwise you run the risk of them blurring into each other and becoming samey, which is always going to be a consideration when writing multiple characters from a similar period, though I'm sure we'll have some more recent, and, possibly, even older people cropping up to break that. I don't know if you are planning on doing them in date order. I can't remember from the three that I've read... and I don't know what your plans are for the book if my idea would work. But I would suggest interspersion of very recent deaths with the older ones unless, of course, you are keeping the piece in the 'tone' that you've already set, in which case a 2010 suicide, or a traffic accident victim wouldn't work at all. But as we are walking on a set path through the graves, the older ones would all be together, moving onto different eras as more land was cleared for the graves.
Another thought that I had while reading was that I felt a tiny glimmer of disappointment on the word Namesake. This is only my thoughts as I went along and is probably totally impractical for what you want. I'm guessing dead Daisy is an ancestor, but I actually wanted it to be her, so leading into a supernatural element, adding even more intrigue to the possible narrator.
Overall I really enjoyed this, as I have the others. The idea is a cracker, the writing is lovely and I like the old ghost type feel to the narrator.