Short stories - 'Strange Magic' The Healer/A Camera Never Lies

Strange Magic

The Healer

Victoria had been plagued by Eczema as long as she could remember. Her parents told her it started to flare up a few weeks after she was born. It dominated her early childhood and some of the children in her primary school used to torment her when it was particularly bad. Anthony Webb, known as Spider, was definitely the worst offender. He was just one mini yob thug who had no feeling or care for anyone but himself. Even his so called friends were frightened of him; this is probably why they stuck by him. On one occasion, he made Victoria cry so hard, the only thing she could mutter through her sniffled sobs was, 'what comes around, turns around', but this only made him laugh harder. 'I'll see you in hell scabby leper VIC-TOR-IA'!

The taunts continued, but Victoria somehow grew used to it and as time wore on, she learnt how to cope with the Eczema and the bulling, she had to, but the more Anthony called her names, the more she itched, burnt and bled. Month after month, year after year, he never stopped his torment. She even had nightmares about him.

It was agony just to bath and cream twice daily and nothing seemed to relieve the itching, the scratching, burning and the bleeding. Her whole life revolved around her uncontrollable skin condition.

 
When it was time to leave primary school to start secondary school, it was a huge relief, when mercifully, Anthony was placed in what was known as the dunce's class and it was only the odd occasion when they bumped into each other. 'Scabby, leper, VIC-TOR-IA'! He spat in her face when he said it, but by now, she had made some new friends who thought Anthony was just so infantile and pathetic; they were good friends who were so much more mature and treated Victoria with respect. She tried not to let the Eczema get in the way of this new school life and on the onset of puberty, her Eczema slowly begun to improve with just the odd flare up.

Many happy school years passed by and she excelled in her exams and passed nine GCSE's, seven with the highest grade, then attended college to learn a fashion design course. After a couple of years she landed a good job in the city as a fashion designer. Her parents were so very proud of her.

It was only a matter of time before she met Steve, somebody special, on the same overhead train as her every morning and evening and wasn't long before they were an item, often meeting for lunch as they were only one tube stop away from one another. They fell in love and finally found a place to live together. All was well for a year or so, but Steve began go to grow distant and over the next few months he relationship started to turn volatile, but Victoria found herself pregnant and so they both decided to try and make a go of it. After all, a baby would put a different slant onto how they were feeling and she didn't want to bring a child into the world without a father. She finally gave birth to a beautiful little boy, Jake, perfect in every way and thankfully, it looked as if he didn't inherit Victoria's awful skin condition and looked clear of Eczema. Steve was the model father for the first few months, but it was clear when Jake was about seven months old, that Steve and Victoria were not able to agree on anything and their difference of opinion that led to many arguments was tearing them apart and it was decided that for Jake's sake, they should split up. With all the stress, her Eczema started to ding its way to seep once again through the pores of her skin and it wasn't long before she was back to square one with the burning and the bleeding, the vicious, cruel continual circle. Not only Eczema, but a skin wart appeared on her hand and she stared getting the odd mouth ulcer. It became a constant struggle to control the Eczema, but somehow, she coped. She had to. At least least she had the skill of fashion designing that kept some money coming in.

Over a period of time, in desperation, she tried alternative medicine, from Homeopathy to Chinese medicine; she even changed her diet, starting with only brown rice, but it was all a waste of time. It seemed to calm down for a while, but it always crept back. It frightened her when she read a report that steroids were being used in alternative medicines and didn't take them again, as she already used a steroid cream for the worst affected flare ups. She didn't know the root cause of her Eczema, but it nearly always flared up a lot worse when under stress or pressure. She tried everything from primrose oil to hypnotherapy to no avail.

Four years went by and Jake never failed to amaze her with his little milestones, but it was a struggle financially and otherwise. Steve paid hardly any attention to Jake and he had since moved on and had another child. Money for maintenance from he was slow in coming and life for Victoria was never easy even on a personal level.

Jake soon started primary school and within weeks, Victoria was making new friends with some other mums of some of the children who attended and it wasn't long before there were coffee mornings and meetings. As one friendship grew, Victoria grew close to one of the mums' and during a deep conversation, Victoria opened up about her life, her Eczema and all the things she had tried to control it with all the failings. Her new friend Lorraine suggested she tried Spiritual healing, which was something she had never thought about or considered, but Victoria was never too sure about Spiritualists and the unknown. 'What have you got to lose' Lorraine said and the more Victoria thought about it, the more it made sense. 'What the hell, I've tried just about everything and one afternoon of my time would not make any difference'.

Lorraine had told her that some of the healers were in the early stages of 'training' whatever that meant and were in a separate room to those of the Tarot and Palmistry readings.

After one particular bad night, she made up her mind that she would try the healing the following Saturday and on her arrive at a psychic centre, she was pleasantly surprised by the calm and relaxing atmosphere the centre provided. She walked in the room of six healers, joined a short queue and waited for her turn and when her turn finally came, she was led into a soft and comfortable light beige coloured easy chair where the healer told her to relax and to close her eyes and imagine a place she would love to be where it made her feel happy and secure. As he opened up with a prayer of protection, Victoria found herself lost in deep thought and she found herself thinking of all the holidays that she went on with her parents; the rock pools in Cornwall, the caves in Devon, the Shell beach in Dorset, making sandcastles in the sun. As he laid his hands on hers, she felt the most pleasant and intense warmth radiating from her body and begun to feel so much more at ease with herself. The more his hands touched different parts of her body, the more intense the warmth, but not like the burning from the Eczema, this was so different, almost pure. Floating away in the deepest thoughts and warmest feelings; lost in the most secure environment, the healing was slowly coming to an end after thirty minutes of purest bliss. The healer spoke to her softly and gently and then invited her back for the following week and when Victoria had woken up properly, he introduced himself as he wanted to continue the healing on her personally.

My name is Anthony, but please just ask for Spider.........

With terror running through her veins, her eyes wide with fear, she stood up quickly and in an instant recognition, going back to her childhood and remembering the young thug who used to taunt her so very much at school, she ran out of the healing room, leaving behind the piecing screams for the healer who almost immediately developed mouth ulcers, burning stinging, itching, bleeding agonising Eczema. His hands and feet now covered in warts.

The healer had just finished his training, but in the confusion never said that all important, closing protective prayer and it seemed the devil himself somehow transmitted this mercifulness skin condition onto Spider ten fold.

Victoria spent the rest of her life almost Eczema free as if it never existed in the first place.

'What comes around turns around'.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

21^st November 2005

Strange Magic

A Camera never lies

Nicole stood in the hall of her house laden with shopping bags from the local supermarket. All done for another week, she thought as she emptied the seemingly endless plastic carrier bags; a months’ supply of dog food for their three lovely three year old golden Labradors, that were all related – two brothers and a sister, a huge box of washing powder – both teenage boys played football as well as her attending every match in every weather condition! Heavy duty and durable bin liners for those ugly tall, grey cumbersome bins, often smelly during the bi-weekly emptying of both recycle and landfill rubbish. The new razor blade, some chillies, bath cleaner, liquid soap, pork chops for stir fry, a replacement kettle, candles for Adams’ birthday next week, a transparent pencil case for Max’s exams in a few weeks time and a warm reminder that Spring was just around the corner.

She was happy – they were happy. Marcos and Nicole had known each other for seventeen years, married for fourteen and a half. They’d had their ups and downs like all couples, but they wanted for nothing. A spacious semi detached in the Sussex suburbia complete with a new extension for Marco’s business in Photography and Nicole, a fully established Child Minder They knew each other inside out and were such good friends as well as lovers. Special dates, anniversary’s, milestone birthdays were celebrated throughout the years and the final exam that Nicole took were passed with flying colours. Her business expanded and soon she was looking after as many as three children during any working week. It was hard work of course; as the children could be as young as a few months to the young pre school children she minded during the school holidays. Amber was a four year old due to start reception, a little spoilt and particular and always unsuitably clothed – too new, too smart as Nicole always had plans from painting with the children, making cakes or playing in the nearby park! Her mother Zoey, a single parent held a high profiled, stressful job in a nearby town who dropped her immaculately dressed child off most mornings and dutifully picked her up in the evenings not quite as immaculately as she’d left her!

Marcos’ business brought in just enough cash and flourished from time to time but then it could be slow. He developed all his photos in the darkroom, which was part of the extension of the house. Nicole seldom got involved for fear of knocking delicate equipment and the boys were banned from entering the darkroom unless invited to see some of their Fathers’ work. He often shut himself away busy with the latest photos and projects. As well as making enough money, he enjoyed his work, which often took him in such beautiful places in Great Britain.

Nicole’s 40^th birthday arrived and celebrated with a party and hired a hall. All had a good time and while most of her guests danced there way through some eighties music, Marcos did seem distant; he seemed a little disinterested in any conversation and whereas he would normally be sociable, he didn’t want to mingle much nor eat any luscious food that was displayed and devoured by her friends and family. It did seem odd, but then as spring turned into summer, his behaviour turned even more bizarre when he kept disappearing from the family home at odd times and chanting the most odd comments. It was clear this man was having some kind of breakdown and when it appeared he couldn’t cope, he was encouraged that he left to ‘find himself’ and perhaps a spell living with his parents would help him sort out his thoughts and his now nonsensical feelings.

Family life was shattered beyond belief while Marcos run backwards and forwards with excuses why he should come back home and excuses why he shouldn’t. None made sense and Nicole, now exhausted with trying to help him, cope with her boys as well as coming to terms with her husbands illness; the endless text messages, telephone calls were all fruitless and close family and friends could not understand the reasoning behind why Marcos had changed and the only thing Nicole could do was give him space and try to make sense of what he was saying, but then it started to make sense to her.

Marcos had taken most of his belongings to his parents, although it was impossible to collect everything. Most of his smartest clothes were now devoid from new wardrobe from the bedroom that they had lovingly redecorated from just the year before. A few other personal belongings and most of the equipment needed to keep his profession running. Nicole now wondered around the house, her thoughts going around in circles and as she aimlessly walked into the darkroom, somehow feeling closer to him while she filched through some work Marcos had left behind. The scenic Lake District, a sunset over the sea and Sussex downs, some beautiful horses in the New Forest a photo of him and Zoey a little too close for comfort?

As her thoughts went into overdrive, everything fell into place from the months of unanswered questions, the uncertainties, the changing of minds, the endless excuses of why Marcos should or shouldn’t come home, the lies, the lies, the lies: Zoey was the only reason - the only excuse and all the uncertainties. After much deliberation and talks with her sons, she painfully filed for divorce. Even after Marcos admitted the truth, he was still weak with excuses and after many months and a new summer, he made hints of his unhappiness and regret. She still hurt so deeply, now thinking that she clearly never knew him along with so many other hundreds of negative thoughts. The divorce, still going ahead but Nicole agreed to meet up with him just one more time after a pleading text from Marcos and not really knowing why she agreed, but now that they had both mellowed a little - he might at least be amicable and maybe they could accomplish talks about their sons and perhaps any finances. She felt a little foolish and kept it to herself that her now nearly ex husband had agreed to see her in the matrimonial home and what she didn’t expect was a rush of such strong physical feelings and as they made powerful and passionate love as if they were still in the throws of the first few weeks of crazed love when they met all those years ago.

It was rumoured that Marcos had left the woman he left Nicole for and she was happy to be once again independent. His parents ostracised him for having an affair in the first place and Nicole had had no contact with them since her estrangement with Marcos.

As she put the heavy duty and durable bin liners into those ugly tall, grey cumbersome receptacles that the council were due to collect that morning, the disgusting pungent and deeply unpleasant stench filled into the summer air. The maggots that were crawling around in abundance from some bluebottle fly that had lain their eggs into some rotting meat, along with some left over Curry, Lasagne, vegetable skins and other household rubbish that no bleach nor other cleaning products could disguise the smell and as it lingered in the high summer heat. Nicole knew the bin liners would help during the bi-weekly pick up of landfill rubbish.

As Nicole found herself gaining more strength with every passing day, it became obvious Marcos clearly did not know her at all.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

April 2009