The Card.

A gentle light burned low. The radio played softly. The computer was still on. One never knew, someone might remember. It had always been such a special day filled with cards and letters, flowers and phone calls. The one day to be really excited and happy, expect the unexpected, keep an ear and an eye out for the postman, hoping that he would have to ring the bell as there would be too much post to fit in the letter box. All of it so long ago, most of them gone now and those left in no fit state to really remember.

At a minute past midnight the little dog who pulled silly faces and jumped up and down on the computer screen to signal a message went into action. Just one message in the box whose subject was "happy birthday". The sender unknown, just a jumble of letters and numbers. It was a computer card, one of those necessitating many clicks to get the whole benefit of all its glories. It was spectacular. There was a deep forest full of colourful birds flying from tree to tree; a gigantic waterfall woven with a large rainbow as its waters crashed into a river; a beach of soft white sand and many palm trees that fringed a deep blue sea sparkling with tiny diamonds; small furry animals playing in a meadow made sweet with wild flowers stirred by a gentle breeze; a cottage by a lane whose garden was full of old fashioned country garden flowers and with roses climbing up a stone wall. A feast for the eyes if ever there was one. The message at the end said simply "Happy birthday with love from us all". Impossible to answer and no idea of the name of a sender or at least one that made sense. No matter, someone had remembered, had sent love on a special day and had filled a lonely heart with half-forgotten memories, enough to make it a VERY special day indeed.

Copyright Jacqueline Hastings 2011