Creature Comforts Part Two

Alice was awoken suddenly in the early hours of the morning by the crashing sound of thunder and din of heavy rain pelting against her bedroom window. A strong wind added to the storm and had her immediately sitting bolt upright at first unsure if she was dreaming. Another piercing, sharp clap of thunder penetrated her ear drums causing Alice to jerk with fear as she placed hands over her ears.

 

Switching on her bedside lamp and checking the time her clock said 3.30 am. This was all she needed to break her promise of not drinking and self-punishment of avoiding the bottle. She hated storms with a vengeance. Alice felt shivers run through her body, not because she was cold but because her nerves were suddenly shattered. At that moment It was decided there and then that she needed the wine more than ever, nothing and nobody was going to stop her.

 

Climbing out of bed and tiptoeing over to the window, she pulled back the heavy beige curtains that reached to the floor. Rain lashed, drops zigzagging down the pane in a hurried fashion as if having a race to see which could get to the bottom first.

 

From what she could see there was a mixture of sickly light green, combined with murky, dark gloom that draped across the night sky.

A flash of lightening appeared searching the darkness to afflict fear, it certainly had Alice drawing curtains quick as yet another boom of thunder reverberated.

 

Her white silk dressing gown lay on the wicker chair, a gift from her 'dear son', as she liked to call him. Stepping into her slippers she made her way across the blue carpet to the bedroom door and opened it. Far from being a peaceful night she crept out onto the landing. The rest of the house appeared to be in darkness. Alice gazed in the direction of her daughter's room surprised Wendy hadn't stirred as yet more lightening flashed.

 

Edging her way slowly along the wall, the only obvious light came from the landing window to guide her way, yet walking blind wasn't really a problem in her own home, Alice knew every nook and cranny like the back of her hand, as long as she was careful and took her time.

 

Reaching the top of the stairs she felt for the handrail as yet another boom of thunder gave rise to fear once again. Alice stood rooted to the spot waiting for another clap which sure enough came. Cautiously she continued down the stairs with heart beating fast. In her mind she kept repeating: “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.” Over and over she reassured herself getting faster and faster, until the words got muddled up like a tongue twister, it was strange how just repeating that phrase made her feel more resolute on such a night as this.

 

At the bottom of the stairs she took a deep breath, rain lashing against the front door, sounding like hail stones pounding as the heavens opened up. Purposefully Alice made her way along the hallway to the kitchen, desperately in need of a smoke to calm her nerves.

 

Cigarettes lay on the table along with her lighter, she placed them in her gown pocket and headed for the kitchen door, not really wanting to go outside in the rain, but hating the smell of smoke in her house.

 

Her wellies and brolly stood by the back door, so kicking off her slippers she stepped into the black garden boots cursing at the storm.

Reaching up Alice took down her raincoat and slipped it on. Opening the door anxiety was giving her the jitters, the incessant rain mixed with blustery gales seemed to be blowing every which way and entering the kitchen soaking her even before she'd stepped outside.

 

Lighting a cigarette Alice took a puff, a strand of smoke drifting back into the house, leaving her deciding to stay just inside the entrance. The garden was a quagmire of mud and puddles. She shivered at the appalling conditions and was just about to take another puff when out the corner of her eye in among the shrubs she noticed two bright eyes peering out.

 

Another flash of lightening lit up the garden as the creature crept out of hiding slowly, it stood perfectly still eyes locked onto Alice. It was a rather bedraggled looking fox with rain trickling down its coat, it never blinked or stopped watching the woman for one moment.

 

Neither of them moved as tears began filling Alice's eyes, she gazed in wonder mesmerized at the fact fox didn't scurry away, though she knew he was probably frightened. Savoring the moment she forgot about the weather. Fox tilted its head from side to side, ears pricked up listening, It too wondered what this human might do, but sensed that the person at the door seemed harmless enough. Stooping down low, paws outstretched it whimpered.

 

Call it intuition, Alice had a feeling the fox was hungry and asking for food, it was as if she could read the creature's thoughts. Taking yet another drag of the cigarette she came back in and found an ashtray to stub it out.

 

Walking over to the fridge Alice opened the door, but there wasn't anything resembling food she thought the fox would want. Then Alice remembered there was a tin of corned beef in the pantry. “That will do!” She said to herself, pleased with her discovery.

 

Alice opened the tin and levered the meat out onto a plate. With the rain still pouring she took the food over to the backdoor. As she placed it down, there was a faint clash of thunder in the distance, as if the storm was moving slowly away. Fox didn't flinch from her position, still her eyes were fixed on the woman watching her every move.

 

Closing the door Alice wondered if she'd made a mistake in feeding the fox, but it was too late for regrets. Then she thought of the dinner left for her daughter. “I'll bet Wendy hasn't touched the food I made,” she uttered making her way over to the oven and opening the door. Sure enough there was the plate of stew and dumplings still sitting there. “As I thought! Well if she can't be bothered to eat, I'll give that to the fox too, It'll probably appreciate it more anyway.” She uttered taking out the plate and placing it outside the door where the corned beef was still sitting.

 

Shutting the back door again to let fox eat in peace, Alice was now wide awake with eyes drawn towards the garage door, pleased with her good deed. Her heart beating fast at the thought of a bottle of burgundy, she made her way in to the garage, feeling she deserved that drink more than ever.

 

Turning on the light, the step ladder stood up against some shelving in front of the car. William had felt proud of his clever handy work in putting together the units, he was pleased that twelve years later they still hadn't come off the wall or collapsed.

 

Swiftly securing the ladder under her arms, Alice was careful not to touch the blue Toyota, William would go bonkers if there was as much as a tiny scratch on his car.

 

Back in the kitchen and catching her breath, she took an inhalation of air before preparing to carry the ladder up to her bedroom. “William certainly hasn't made this easy for me,” she sighed, breathing deeply while struggling up the stairs with determination.

 

Finally at the top of the landing Alice placed the ladder up against the wall to catch her breath again. Mopping her brow with the back of her hand she considered how out of condition she was, but exercise just wasn't her bag at all.

 

Alice carried the ladder into her bedroom and placed it against the wardrobe. The pottery mermaid looked on with her permanent grinning expression, that had Alice reminiscing as she remembered sitting on her own rock smiling at nothing in particular, but gazing straight ahead at the camera.

 

Alice remembered the photo it replicated. She'd been on holiday with a friend she'd met back in her student days at University, where she'd studied history, archaeology and anthropology.

 

It had been a glorious two weeks in Cornwall and they'd had such a good time, she'd recollected sitting on a rock as her friend snapped the photo.

 

Boy! Could they drink back in those days, she thought of the freedom and being able to throw themselves into any given situation that came along.

 

Her studies had taken them on many excursion all over the country. Digging for histories of the past had been so rewarding but hard work. This wasn't a career for the faint of heart as it involved getting down in the dirt and mud in all weathers, searching for that rare artifact and finding out who might have owned it, or unearthing human skeletons and villages that had been lost for centuries. Alice loved history and the stories of how we came to be here.

 

But that was then, as far as she was concerned a drink was all she needed right now. Climbing each rung of the ladder, Alice finally found the key. As soon as she was back down on solid floor, she didn't even bother to put the ladder back now she'd procured the key.

 

What day time hours would bring didn't bother her, she was living in the moment and feeling a buzz as she crept back downstairs to the wine cellar.

 

To be continued...