The Ephemerals

The sudden tempest, as strong as it was unexpected, teemed downwards upon the elderly woman. Would she make it home in time before her brown paper grocery bags deteriorated and broke?

Three uniformed schoolgirls from the nearby Ladies College ran to her rescue!

‘May we help you?’, asked the tallest, a trim mousy blonde.

‘I’d be grateful!’

‘Don’t feel bad, we were caught out by the storm as well’, added the short rotund redhead, ‘It’s a wall-to-wall squall!’

‘There’s a bag for each of us’, determinedly added the brunette between the height and weight of her companions.

‘It’s not too much of a walk, so there’s no sense sheltering beneath a tree. We’ll arrive at my home before you know it.’

She introduced herself to the three who answered as they walked,

‘I’m Kate Brownleigh.’

‘I’m Marian Francis.’

‘I’m Amanda Cadbury.’

Over the years she had seen many girls from the nearby Ladies College; their faces changed, but their uniforms had not. Straw hats with green and white striped dresses in the warmth of summer, green coats and skirts with red berets in the coolness of the rest of the year.

‘I’ll hang your jackets up to dry. I’ve some Cadbury’s chocolate at home that I hope I can share with you over tea; it’s the least I can do for you angels of mercy!’

They delightedly entered an older wooden home. Their wet berets and jackets were soon hung up on wooden hangers. The woman started a fire in the hearth and prepared the tea, chocolates and biscuits as the three effervescent girls set the table from the contents behind the glass door of a cabinet she indicated to them.

Outside, the rain increased; the girls in their white blouses and red and green striped ties eagerly watched the deluge.

Their enthusiastic expressions when she brought in the tea and treats warmed her heart.

‘You should have let us help you’, Marian scolded.

‘You ladies have helped me immeasurably by getting my groceries safely home and setting a lovely table!’

All tucked in to the tea and treats.

Over the years she had kept her independence that made unexpected company rare for her. She never believed in small talk, for life was too short…and was growing shorter…,

‘There’s a wonderful ethereal time in every girl’s life between dolls and dating, when each day is an adventure, any puzzling moment is a mystery, and all your times together are high jinks and hilarity.’

She sipped her tea as her guests looked at her with widened eyes.

‘When you look back, that time was so ephemeral…’, her eyes smiled at them, ‘Yet the older you get, the more you’ll return to that time.’

The girls appeared as if they had question marks over their heads.

Even in the era of ‘Anything Goes’, the esoteric still had the power to shock…

No doubt they were thinking, but too polite to ask,

What on Earth is she on about???

They looked as frozen in time as when the neighbourhood children played Spaceman and used ‘paralysing ray guns’ against each other, as those neighbourhood children before them played Statues in their playtime between school and supper.

She broke their silence with laughter,

‘Now…you girls look like you’ve had lots of adventures! Please tell me about some of them!’

To her eternal delight, the young ladies were at ease with her and filled her cosy parlour with wonderous stories of schoolgirl adventures and laughter. It was as if the room transformed into a giant snow globe with their tales coming down like snowflakes; a joy globe…

The flames surged, the firewood crackled, the fire grew warmer, their mirth increased…

The rain and their stories petered out; she hoped her curiosity wouldn’t kill their magical time together,

‘What will you ladies do when your schooling finishes?’

Kate answered,

‘I’m going to study to be a teacher! I want to give my students the same joy and inspiration that my good teachers gave me!’

‘I’m going to study to be a nurse. I want to help people, especially those in faraway places’, Marian replied.

‘And marry a rich doctor!’, Amanda quipped, that brought more giggling. ‘I’m going to agricultural school to modernise our farm. My brothers aren’t interested!’

‘When do you finish your school?’

They gleefully replied without trepidation, for at their age, the future always looked more alluring than the past. When she was their age, it did to her as well, but as the years went by, the future gradually became dreaded, whilst the past glowed like fireworks in the night sky.

Someday the same would happen to them…

‘We’d love you to attend the ceremony as our guest!’

‘I’d love to...If I’m still around…’

‘Do you plan on moving away?’

‘Everyone moves away…in time, you’ll be moving…after your final ceremony…everyone has their final ceremony…’

Her grandfather clock chimed the hour and murdered their moments.

‘”Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”, Kate quoted John Donne.

‘And me’, Amanda cracked.

Outside the rain had ceased, inside, her splendid Atlantis of happiness sank beneath the waves of passing time.

‘We must be going, we’ll be late for our evening meal…thank you very much for the tea and treats’, Marian gushed.

‘You’re so welcome…I was pleased to have this chance to meet you and share your fun.’

The three confidently placed their coats and berets on, as if they were policewomen going on duty. She ushered them to her front door; they all turned to her,

‘I hope someday we’ll do this again’, Kate sighed.

‘Someday’, she smiled as she opened the door, ‘Long before your leaving school, of course.’

They walked onto the pavement, then giggled and raced each other back to their school.

She waved as she watched them darting like mayflies towards a new adventure,

‘Someday…’

FIN

Author Notes: 150 years of Loreto in Australia!

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