The Curiosity

Lightening Valley

"'Lightening Valley', they call it here..." Ted drifted off from his welcoming speech. He daydreamed a hidden thought, until, on the edge of his eye, one could make out the forming of a tear.

The new maid, Maria, didn't speak much in the way English, so to Ted, it was no matter if he prattled on, or solemnly stayed silent. Maria, after an increasingly lengthening moment of awkward silence, leaned in. She gently leaned in to softly awaken Ted from his drifted mind.

Her courteous lean did not have the intended effect. He snapped back into the moment and spilled the words that had damed, while he had drifted. They flooded out of him.

He snapped back to reality, like the tongue of a cameleon retracting back, his daydream caught the fly, and now he may continue on.

"Maria, you must forgive me." And Ted continued to introduce the rusty coloured, sandy town. A breeze kicked up, and a swirling vortex of sand rose for a moment.

There was no phone signal, and limited places for internet access. No access at all out at Ted's place.

***

Ted

Her perfume caught in the wind. Those mossy and woody notes were the same as Clover's. Poor Maria, her first impression of me, and it's of me drifting off into the memory of Clover.

I can still hear the motorcycle's bowels roar and call out a fierce cry. Clover, holding onto to me tight. She squeezes me from behind, as if she was nervous. But she was a season rider herself, even though she had tried to conceal it. I always knew her nerves were an act. It was out of her kindness, to make me feel more than I was.

I was born into a wealthy family. That should have set me up as a respectable individual.

But the scar of my hare lip, and the spoken impedement that still lingered from my repaired cleft pallet, always caused those around me to think less of me. They assumed I was less than them.

My clubbed foot too; my parents had delayed the surgery on that. They had taken the advise someone who claimed to be a naturopath, or osteopath, or something of the sort. They claimed they could fix it, without modern medicine's help. They were just another scam artist, targeting my parents with their less than son.

I still walk with a visible limp, but barely perceptable with my cane.

Clover, she was something else. She came into town and brought a fresh breath of joy for life with her. It was infectious. I, to my parents' chagrin, invited this free spirited woman to stay at ours.

I don't even care what it cost me. Clover was worth it--she made me feel like I was more. Like the one life I have known, was full of worth. All these years had passed, and still, Clover was in my heart, until the day she left in a hurry.

"Clover..." I whispered. Maria, hadn't heard.

She leaned in as if to check on me. She is quite gentle in her mannerisms. I jumped back to my prepared welcome speech, hoping her English was well-enough to follow.

***

Maria

My new employer was an older gentlemen. He looked older than he was. Yet, he still walked confidently with his cane, when he came to meet me off the train.

But he nervously touched his upper lip and kept his gaze down when passing other people in the town.

I pretended my English wasn't of a decent caliber. I thought it would be easier, in case I wasn't feeling like talking very much.

Ted gave me a tour of his home. It was his parents home before that, and was full of wonderous stones and fossil dug up from around the area.

He could pretend vigour in his health when out in town, but at home, he was frail. His body was failing him. He couldn't even enjoy his collection of vintage motorcycles in his garage, not any more.

He went to bed early. I was nervous. I needed to tell him the truth, but I didn't know how to convey it.

So, while he slept, I crept to the curiosity cabinet; the one with the missing display.

I placed my butterfly-shaped opal stone in the case. It was my mother's, and she was given it from my father.

Looking at it, in the display case, I realised that I couldn't pretend and hide any longer. In the morning, I will introduce myself, properly.

"My name is Maria, my mother is Clover, and I believe you are my father."