Third Step Up

Something I started writing a while ago, not finished of course

Third Step Up

A teddy, old, battered, moth eaten. Abandoned on the third step from the top. An important step. A safe step. One up, or one down and safety was not guaranteed, but the third step was sanctuary. Achieving the third step was the goal.

Jo sat and looked out through the window. Old Victorian glass gave everything a milky, pock marked appearance. Giving what lay beyond its seeming transparency a semblance of reality. But difficult to tell what was real and what was imagined or…

‘A penny for them.’ He jumped as the voice brought him back to the present.

Kate laughed, ‘Come on lazy bones, there’s too much to do and we can’t have you spending time day dreaming.’ She handed him a cloth and a bowl of water. ‘You can start by cleaning that window; a bit of sunlight getting in will make the world of difference.’

He dipped his fingers into the liquid and flicked it at her. She ran off, giggling.

‘You’re a real slave driver. I should have listened to my mother when she warned me about marrying you.’

‘Too late now. You’re not getting rid of me.’

He squeezed the cloth and began to wipe off the years of grime, the years of lives lived in this place. He shivered, the hazy sunshine failing to penetrate into the space beyond.

Jo and Kate were your 'made for each other, their destiny written in the stars', was how Kate described their relationship. They'd met in a coffee shop, an instant spark,  Kate compared it to a Mills and Boon romance. Smouldering passion over coffee cups, hooded eyes, heaving breasts, an opaque veil drawn over what might have happened next. Jo had declared it to be just lust.

'There's no sex in Mills and Boon,' Jo had complained. A knowing 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge had been her reply to that.

It had been a struggle but after years of rented accommodation, and many Mills and Boon moments, they had scraped together enough money to get on the housing ladder. A house, not any old house but a Victorian terrace not in the best part of the city but with potential. Its roof was sound but the whole lot needed refurbishing. 'We can grow with it,' Kate had smiled. 'Make it ours, give it life.' A wistful, hopeful smile with this.

'You've been reading too many soppy novels,' Jo had answered and had agreed although there was something about the house that disturbed him.

As he rubbed at the glass a sudden shaft of sunlight managed to work its way through the grime and came to rest on one of the stair treads. An old sash window, years of paint sealing it shut, spiders and great grandmothers of spiders had made their homes in its corners. They'd decided this window needed cleaning because the stairs were so dark that even the electric light didn't relieve its gloom. Spiders ran for their lives and Jo was at last able to see out into the street. How strange it looked through this centuries old glass. More light came in illuminating the step, the third step from the top drawing Jo's attention to it. For some reason he shivered. Dust motes shimmered and danced in the light that adorned the step and almost seemed to coalesce into...Jo shivered again and managed to tip over the bowl of water. He watched as it ran, puddling and making a dark splash on the third step. The sun disappeared behind dark storm clouds. He stared at the shape on the step, the water gradually seeping into its wooden grains.

Paddy stood on the step. The light from the window giving him a halo like effect. He pushed hard against the wall trying to make himself as small as possible, trying to make himself invisible. He looked into the darkness below, listening carefully, and when no sound came he put his thumb into his mouth and sucked. Noises from the street drew his attention and climbing higher to the very top he pushed his nose to the glass and looked out.

'It's fine up here Ted, but look at all those childer down there playing. Wouldn't you like to be with them?' He held the bear tighter to his chest. He turned it round showing it the scene below. The light just managing to glint off its glass eyes almost giving it the appearance of life.