The Journey Ends

[Arcana]

Anna’s story

Anna had been dating Mark as an item since she was 18 and into her early twenties. He was a charismatic charmer, which only added to his allure, adorned by his chiseled, handsome face. She’d had a crush since seeing him from a distance around the local town, there was no doubt he commanded an audience, with his looks, stature and his confident silver tongue. Anna was herself a true beauty, with long locks of flame auburn hair flowing down her back, classic high cheekbones, huge greenish blue eyes and lips that promised not to tell. Anna was the ‘belle’ of anyone’s ball, beautiful, fun to be around and the kind of girl men would tear each other apart over. Mark had been a regular face in Anna’s social circles, being a friend of her brother’s, so their first intimate date had always seemed inevitable. As this first love blossomed between Mark and Anna, Anna, then aged 18, had just started to get noticed in her budding modeling career. Her figure looked like the inspiration behind the curves on an Italian sports car, just in exactly all the right places.

As time passed, their courtship became strange to say the least. Her first warning, was when he took her on a surprise date to watch pornographic films in a seedy old cinema, watched by an audience of fumbling voyeurs. You have to better understand Anna and the person she is, to understand why she didn’t bolt there and then. Anna was always a warm soul, though also playful and flirtatious. She had all too often felt the sting of jealous tongues, to serve a sharp reminder of her beauty. She was intrigued by Mark’s uncongenial approach, thinking he seemed so popular with everyone else, there had to be much more to him than just that surely?

On another later date at the pub, Anna was standing by the bar, when one of Mark’s close friends walked over and struck up a conversation, while Mark was chatting to other friends. At first everything seemed normal, but then over time the conversation seemed to take a darker twist, when Mark’s friend started talking about how much porn actresses can earn and also high class hookers for that matter. Anna had the appearance of an angel, sweet and innocent on the outside, but her past childhood carried with it, deep seated echoes of control and rejection that scarred deep inside her core. for she was no newcomer to difficult times, or uncomfortable situations. So, standing there remaining cool as morning dew and wondering when the subject might un-diplomatically move in her direction…. she waited to hear the words.

She was neither shocked nor disappointed when she heard them, she already knew where the conversation had been leading from the start. By the time she was about to tell Mark, when his attention eventually drifted back towards her, she was already asking herself whether he’d believe her, or dismiss what she told him due to his friend’s excessive drinking that night…………or even for a brief moment, she wondered whether he’d steered the whole conversation and situation himself all along, like some pre-planned charade with a hidden agenda in mind perhaps? She chose to remain silent. Other women seemed to gravitate towards him, which just made him seem that much more of a prize. Anna imagined to have him for her very own and be proud to be the only one who mattered in his life, casting away all her doubts as best she could.

Mark was well known locally for being a bit of a local gangster, his shady dealings were kept unspoken, except in whispers under the passing breath of strangers. She could not help but wonder deep down whether drugs and prostitution were at the foundation of all his money, but she refused to let her thoughts drift any further towards the coming storm. All she chose to see, was how lucky she was to have him and how he seemed to have such great potential to offer….. if only he could make a few changes….. she hoped. After the first months,the early signs of co-dependence seemed to slip right by before her very eyes, the seemingly endless well of money he always seemed to carry, started to dry up. Those early extravagances which were lavished upon her, seemed to have vanished, along with some of her innocent naivety.

She had also started noticing a deterioration in his appearance, he seemed to be looking increasingly disheveled and unkempt, not seeming to pay as much attention to his usual immaculate grooming. Sure, Mark had already introduced Anna to a ‘snort’ of cocaine on one occasion, but he seemed to have it well under control, or so she thought. Uncertainties about their future together first crept in when she was stopped in the street by two plain clothed police detectives. “Do you know Mark so and so?” they would repeatedly demand, “where does he live and what do you know about him…… we need you to tell us every detail about his activities, or you may later be viewed as his accomplice” they chorused one after the other. She clearly remembers being pushed and jostled during the impromptu interrogation, in a transparent attempt to intimidate her into providing them with some incriminating hearsay. She remained calm throughout and though somewhat indignant, kept her poise and answered them with a stone wall of silence, for after all it was true, she did indeed have plausible deniability.

Last orders

It was to be just another night, one like many spent unremarkably before. Anna’s plan was to meet up with her Mark, go for a drink down to a regular pub and see where it took her. And yet, something deep down was niggling at her. it felt as if something inside was trying to warn her to feel at unease and hint at some unseen danger. She dismissed it, it was a Friday night after all and Anna was determined to go out and enjoy herself with Mark. He had this way about him with her, he knew how to always find just the right words to make her burst into fits of laughter and distract all her doubts, using his skillful verbal cloak, laced with smoke, mirrors and perhaps a sprinkling of deceit. The way Anna saw it, was she was young and Mark had a certain air of unpredictability about him that was both exciting and appealing, though she also felt an increasing sense of weariness and forebode.

She thought maybe some alcohol might numb those niggling doubts? They arrived at the pub in a taxi, paid for by Anna of course. The evening was spent in the usual blur of small talk, gossip, drinking and dancing wherever the space availed, wherever there was enough room to spread her wings and fly, to the rhythm of the jukebox. Before long she noticed how quickly the rounds of drinks were taking their toll on her purse, Mark had not seemed flushed with money, as usual that evening.

She remembered, it seemed as if someone had pressed the pause button on time, as the evening seemed to fly by so quickly, racing by on an alcoholic fueled roller coaster ride. Last orders were called, while bar staff began their nervous ritual dance between the customers, clearing away their glasses with a muted chorused shout, “Go home!” By now Anna seemed to be noticing a slight tilt to the Earth’s axis and wondered how she was going to get home in her condition, seeing as how her taxi fare had long since been consumed. Mark stepped out the pub with Anna, clenching her tightly by the hand, as he marched her forwards. With his usual impish smile, Mark assured her that getting home was “No problem”, “just leave it to me babe, I’ll get you home safely.”’ he assured.

Anna remembers staggering a distance down the road before Mark propped her against a wall and started seeming to search around for something. There was a black car parked by the kerb, beside where Mark was standing in the street, that’s all she remembers about the car, just the colour black. Anna felt herself being bundled into the car after she heard a brief sound of breaking glass and was laid slumped across the passenger seat. Nothing seemed to be real about the whole situation, the entire time it was happening, was as if she were watching some thrilling film with herself cast in the leading role. She would later reflect on how too much to drink, inspires such confidence when flirting with disaster.

Crash

The journey started without event, they pulled away in the car, she doesn’t remember how and never witnessed Mark getting the car started, yet there they were, sailing down the road in a ride, that surely had to beat a long staggering walk home, didn't it? Occasionally Anna would feel the force of her head jolting back in her seat, as Mark pressed his foot down on the accelerator. Mark seemed invincible behind the wheel, as if he’d been born to drive in the fast lane, even though he didn’t actually hold a driving license yet. Anna was drunk, a bystander in the unfolding drama around her. Trapped by her inability to act in any other responsible way, than to just watch it play out, like a hand in a game of cards. On the journey home, Mark’s confidence with his own racing prowess seemed to be being matched only by his increasingly erratic driving.

The events that followed were only fragments to Anna, of brief conversations between lapsing in and out of a hazy consciousness. At first it all seemed like a jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Anna pieced together how Mark had lost control on a bend and crashed headlong into a lamp post, he had broken his wrist, was badly shaken, but was otherwise ok. Anna remembers feeling no pain, anaesthetized in shock, despite the rivers of blood that gushed from her forehead, painting what appeared a ghoulish and macabre parody of her once beautiful face. She heard the wail of sirens, while strapped to a stretcher in the ambulance. The paramedic held Anna’s hand and kept mouthing things that sounded by their tone, as if they were intended to reassure, but she couldn’t focus long enough to gain any comfort from whatever was being said.

On impact, because Anna was slumped in her seat, left wearing no seatbelt, she had shot forward unharnessed,like a guided missile, coming to a halt where her face straddled across a windscreen pillar, fracturing her skull and tearing a deep gash down her face, from her forehead to just below the bridge of her nose, which was exposed down to the bone. She would come to discover all this later. Anna was rushed into emergency surgery. On arrival at the hospital, her life swayed in the balance, after such a severe head trauma. Her vital signs were faint and erratic, as she was laid on the operating table. It was only after many hours of painstaking surgery, morphine, numerous resuscitations, hundreds of stitches and being smothered in bandages, that eventually Anna seemed stable enough to be moved to the critical ward and placed on an intravenous drip for close monitoring. Anna knew nothing of any of this, her lapses into sub consciousness had become the norm, with only brief, horrific, panic attacks of awareness. She briefly thought she heard doctors talking in hushed voices, referring to pregnancy and termination, but couldn’t be sure of anything?

The memory

Under constant supervision, doctors and nursing staff waged their war on death throughout that night, desperately trying to keep the life force pulsing faintly through Anna’s veins. The alarms that kept going off seemed to fade into the distant night, Anna’s last conscious thoughts were briefly about her parents and family, then her life literally seemed to flash before her, as she vividly recalled a time she was only 10 years old, on holiday with her parents by the seaside.

It was a warm sunny day on the beach and she felt so happy to be there, watching the seagulls drift on thermal tides of air, feeling the warmth from the radiant sun and gulping down the cool sea breeze. Anna tried in her excitement to share her happiness with her parents, but they simply told her to go away and play, like a cow might swat an irritating fly with its tail. She remembered how sad and rejected that made her feel, as her tears started to well. She recalled wandering off as far away from her parents as she could get, just checking to see whether they were still watching, or even cared, but they were too preoccupied with her baby sister and elder brother, as she slipped away into the distance.

As she walked alone with tears in her eyes, she eventually sat by a large rock pool and stared out towards the ocean, as if searching for an answer. Quite suddenly she heard a concerned voice ask if she was alright? She looked around and there stood a lone little boy, who looked about her age, holding a fishing net and a bucket in his hands. “Are you ok?” he asked again leaning forwards. He put his arm around her and said if he was older, he’d take her to the pub to cheer her up, but since he wasn’t old enough yet to do that, he told her that he would show her how to fish in the pool with his net instead. The little boy offered her the corner of his tee shirt to dry the tears from her eyes. and each time they caught something from the pool, he would carefully place it in his bucket for closer inspection, before releasing it.

For hours Anna played and talked to the little boy, forgetting all about how and why she came to be there. She was innocent, but somewhere in her heart she felt a small flutter for the very first time. The memory played back with such depth of detail, it seemed like it was all happening in real time, like it was intrinsically a part of the present in some strange way. They laughed together and she shyly asked him his name, stating that hers was Anna, The little boy opened his mouth to reply and chirped it’s……..just then, the darkness took hold, like switching off a television channel, plunging her into a land of nowhere and nothingness.

To be continued..........

©

Edited March 25, 2015 by Still Waters
OP's request

[Still Waters]

It seems Anna and Mark are two opposites in their nature, yet there is a bond between them. Interesting story so far, it goes from dark to light and then back to dark. The fact you've based it on true events adds a little something to it too I think, I'm left wondering which part is real and which part is made up. It's a good story and I'm looking forward to reading what happens next

[Arcana]

It seems Anna and Mark are two opposites in their nature, yet there is a bond between them. Interesting story so far, it goes from dark to light and then back to dark. The fact you've based it on true events adds a little something to it too I think, I'm left wondering which part is real and which part is made up. It's a good story and I'm looking forward to reading what happens next

Thank you for your help and feedback SW. I have had this story in my head for so long, I felt as if I had to start it, or it may never happen. I'll be the first to admit I'm rusty at writing stories, it been about 35 years all told. I'm hoping the rhythm will improve as I go along, so everything so far is just a sketch of what I want the finished article to look like, just a rough draft of work in progress. Thank you for taking an interest and I'll add more as I find the time to write. If anyone has read this btw and would like to provide criticism, I'd welcome it and not be in the least offended, Like I said I'm rusty and there are some fantastic story tellers in this forum that might be able to offer me some useful advice. I'll be adding further installments in this thread to keep it all in one place.

Oh and btw, everything so far has been the real events.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Arcana

[Arcana]

Early to rise

Voices echoed around Anna as she regained consciousness in the early hours, the scene before her seemed surreal. Her brain was slowly rebooting and making sense of her surroundings, as doctors and nurses gathered around her, to help ease her journey back to awareness. In the event, Anna had remained unconscious for eight days whilst walking her tightrope between survival and demise. Once Anna was able to process her situation, she started for the first time to wonder about the extent of her injuries and what impact they may carry on her modeling career? It had only been a month before the crash, that Anna had posed for a new photographer and been promised more work, ‘Harley Davidson’ was mentioned and being draped over a bike in a bikini with high heels. This could have been the big break she’d been waiting for, the opportunity to appear in a centerfold spread for a major brand, which could only serve to enhance her modeling aspirations.

Her agent and the photographer had already got together and discussed when the ‘shoot’ would take place and the location. It was due to take place in three months time. Anna’s orthopedic hospital bed slowly manipulated her into a seated upright position, as she asked the doctors about the aftermath of her accident and what to expect. Anna instinctively knew the doctor seemed to be avoiding telling her something when he took a moment of forethought before starting to reply, as if his mind was involved in a mental game of chess. He explained that it was early days and she was extremely lucky to be alive, but that there would be some noticeable scarring and it was too soon to see the extent of any mental effects. The doctor went on to explain that he had already consulted with one of the hospital’s resident plastic surgeons, a certain Dr Courte, regarding Anna. Anna was told that apart from the scar across her forehead, there was an area of bone that had been obliterated during the crash, to the left of her forehead, which had left a depression in her skull. Anna had been dreading what she might hear, since remembering her modeling assignment, but for some strange reason, she felt reasonably calm. She demanded a mirror from the nurse, determined to see for herself, what she may have to learn to live with.

The nurse presented her dutifully with a mirror, stating that she must appreciate that it was early days on her road to recovery and she must not expect too much, too soon. She paused, like she was planning to leap from a high building, while plucking up the courage to face herself. All she saw was the bandages, she quite resembled an Egyptian mummy, she thought to herself at first glance, but her thoughts were trying desperately to pierce the bandages and peer at what lay beneath. The part of her face she could see, looked relatively unscathed, apart from some bruising and cuts. “How long will I have to wear these bandages?” she asked. The nurse explained that everyone’s ability to heal can vary from individual to individual, so it was difficult to say how long they would need to stay on for. Anna’s thoughts drifted towards Mark….’where is he?’ she wondered.

The visit

Nothing could prepare Anna for what she was about to discover next. A doctor discreetly drew the curtains around Anna’s hospital bed, accompanied with a very solemn exp

ression, she knew something was wrong! There was no easing into what the doctor had to say, so he just laid everything straight on the table, “I’m very sorry to have to tell you that your unborn baby did not survive the crash and the fetus had to be surgically removed from your womb, you have my deepest sympathies… is there anyone you’d like me to call to come and be with you?” Anna felt like she’d just been in a second car crash, she knew the tears were not far away, then she was immersed in a state of deep shock again……she hadn’t ever guessed that before the accident, she may have been pregnant.

Anna decided to contact Mark and find out why he was absent, she had his number in her cellphone, along with her other belongings retrieved from the crash. For two hours Anna kept pressing the redial on her mobile phone, she’d left him messages on his voice mail and sent him text messages also, yet still she received no response. Anna saw a man in a white jacket, wearing a stethoscope, approaching her. She noticed that his age would roughly be approaching retirement, going a little grey in most places, who gave off a comforting aura. She saw the name on his identity badge, it was Dr Samuel Courte. He introduced himself with a warm glowing smile and proceeded to examine Anna, checking her blood pressure, pulse, medication and the chart by the foot of her bed. The doctor then proceeded to look through some x-rays he carried in his folder, they showed the full extent of the damage to Anna’s cranium, beneath her ripped skin. As it happened, Dr Courte had treated many victims of conflict over the years, since his early days as an army medic. On numerous occasions he had dealt with horrifically disfigured soldiers and civilians alike, whose wounds displayed various degrees of severity. The doctor seemed deep in thought and stood there silently nodding for a few moments.

Dr Courte chatted to Anna about her head wound and Anna explained to him about her modeling career. “I have treated shrapnel wounds in the past that bear a great similarity to your injury Anna”, he proceeded….. “ You are an extremely attractive young woman and I want you to know that you can trust you’re in reliable hands”, he winked. Anna took an instant liking to Dr Court, he seemed like a kind and loving soul, he came across as being frank, honest and oozing empathy, shadowed with a cheeky sense of humour. He discussed an idea he had planned for Anna, that would minimize further scarring. It involved quite literally peeling her skin around her skull down to just below the injury, then taking bone tissue from her hip and transplanting it into her skull. Anna thought how it sounded almost like filling a crack in the ceiling, the way that Doctor Courte described the procedure. “I am confident that I will be able to give you back your face when you have healed sufficiently my dear and may later expect a grateful kiss in return” he chuckled. It felt like in the midst of a desert she had found a tiny oasis. The doctor rose and turned to be on his way, then hesitated and looked back at Anna, “Ah yes….I nearly forgot, I was asked to give you a message that someone you know called Mark is waiting in reception to see you. Would you like me to send him in?”

Mark walked to Anna’s bed, moving tentatively and perspiring heavily. As she expected, he said all the right things, how sorry he was, how he’d stick by her and so on, but though there in body, he seemed somehow preoccupied and detached. Anna was wracking her brain trying to think of some way of telling Mark about the pregnancy, then just as she went to speak, Mark interrupted asking “Can I borrow your credit card Anna, I have no fare home and am penniless with no food in my flat.” Anna froze...., something did not sit well with what she had just heard, now clearly wasn’t the time to try and discuss the death of their unborn baby with Mark. Anna replied that there was no money left in her bank account, as she received no sick pay as a self employed, out of work model, who may soon need to look for a new career. Mark muttered something beneath his breath and attempted one of his wise cracks to make her laugh, pretending that what he’d just said had been some joke, that he was incapable of meaning as anything else. He may have been showing signs of vagrancy outwardly, but Mark was more aloof than his appearance gave him credit. Mark was very comfortable with his hidden talents, they had always served him well in the past and 'there was never anything broken that could not be repaired', was his mantra. After kissing her on the cheek, Mark got up and left, after what seemed like a dutiful period of time to spend with Anna.

To be continued..........

©

Edited March 25, 2015 by Arcana

[Still Waters]

Poor Anna, she has gone through the mill. It doesn't sound like Mark is too interested in her now, if he ever was to start with.

Is this chapter real events too?

[Arcana]

Poor Anna, she has gone through the mill. It doesn't sound like Mark is too interested in her now, if he ever was to start with.

Is this chapter real events too?

,,,, more or less everything so far is fairly accurate SW.

[Still Waters]

,,,, more or less everything so far is fairly accurate SW.

Okay, thank you

I like stories that are based on true happenings. Sometimes they can give the reader an opportunity to relate to what's going on and the characters involved.

[JVG]

I am enjoying this venture of yours and look forward to see where this story is going..

[Arcana]

I am enjoying this venture of yours and look forward to see where this story is going..

I'm happy you're enjoying it John , as to where it's going.......you'll need to ride the wave with me my friend.

[JVG]

I'm happy you're enjoying it John , as to where it's going.......you'll need to ride the wave with me my friend.

I am along for the ride....Post away....

[Arcana]

The reveal

Days had melted into weeks, that ended as months, as further developments began to manifest In Anna’s behaviour, during her convalescense. For no apparent reason she had begun talking with an American accent and trying to convince everyone that the black African lady who lay in the bed opposite her, was her sister. Looking back, Anna would later reflect that perhaps this was her way of trying to deal with the full burden of her traumas on her own, since visits from her own family were virtually non existent and Mark’s lengthy absences had also taken their toll. Anna’s head trauma had caused internal bleeding, putting pressure on her brain and accounting for her increasingly bizarre bouts of behaviour. She also grew an obsessive attachment towards a small teddy bear that Mark had brought her, during one of his occasional visits.

There would be nothing heard from Mark for weeks at a time, apart from the occasional text message saying ‘Love you babe xx’, then Mark would occasionally make his obligatory visit for no more than two hours. With each visit, Anna felt like some invisible wall was building between them, making it harder and harder to tell Mark about the pregnancy and wondering whether he would want to know anyway? Each time Mark tried to crack his jokes, it seemed as if they were becoming less and less funny as time went by, until Anna felt herself wearing an uncomfortable false smile. Her sense of alienation towards Mark was dawning. Anna felt isolated, abandoned and rejected. She was also trying alone to deal with the death of her unborn child and was wrestling constantly with herself whether to tell him or not, until it became a burden within a burden. To Mark it appeared the more she shunned his humour, the more he would turn on the charm offensive, taking it in new directions and switching tactics, to keep Anna sweet. Hence the teddy bear she now clutched desperately to, like a surrogate for her lost child.

The day had finally arrived for her bandages to be removed and Anna was starting to panic. Her thoughts were confused and dominated with dread, she suddenly announced that she was having a private interview with a TV presenter and had to leave the hospital immediately. It was as if some part of her was trying to escape, rather than face up to the reality. This new persona was Anna the child, regressing back to her childhood, to shield herself with that innocent naivety she used to know, before her well became polluted with bitter disappointment. The nurses had learned to meet Anna’s outbursts and protests with the same degree of professionalism that they would extend to any of their patients suffering with dementia. Agree with or humour her first to calm her down, then make sure she was settled and had taken her correct medications.

Anna was placed on a hospital wheelchair and wheeled away to a room. There was one nurse and two doctors inside, including the congenial Dr Courte. Anna still insisted on keeping hold of her teddy bear to help her face the ordeal ahead, the doctors agreed to this. The nurse began gently snipping away at her bandage, before starting to untwine it with careful precision. Anna was numb to the extent of the severe damage that stared back at her from the mirror, long before the nurse had finished removing all the bandage. Her forehead had a deep depression with thick swollen furrows of skin, laced together with stitches, stretching from the top of her nose, across her eyebrow towards the dented region of her forehead. She thought deep down that she was prepared for whatever she might see staring back at her and be able to come to terms and cope with it somehow. Whatever she had imagined, it still came as a shock……..she stared at this vulgar deformity that dominated the mirror before her, “ Is that really me now?” Anna tittered. She swept back her long auburn hair, then flicked it across her head, placing a veil across her unsightly scar. Doctor Courte had been observing Anna’s behaviour and reactions, watching her mind slowly unraveling with each layer of bandage being untwined and swiftly went over to put his arms around her, “Don’t forget what I said to you before Anna, one day you’re going to owe me a kiss” he smiled….. Anna replied with more titters.

Aftermath

All told, Anna spent 3 months in hospital, before returning back home to live with her parents. Her scar was healing remarkably well, but Anna was very self conscious about it, along with the newly pronounced dent in her forehead. She wore her long hair in such a way that it remained hidden, so that all to be seen, was her unblemished beauty. She had come to wear her hair as a mask to hide behind. As for Mark, friends told Anna how he had become enslaved to drugs, so much so that he would sell his own mother for a hit. Anna already knew before she left the hospital, what her near fatal attraction towards Mark would ultimately cost. She decided that it was a price she was no longer prepared to pay.

Anna’s behaviour normalized as her brain healed, but she was still grieving over her loss. She was told at the hospital that it had been a miracle not only that she’d survived, but had suffered no lasting brain damage. On the odd occasion that she crossed paths with Mark, she seemed to view him differently. Even though his appearance had gone way down hill, he still looked very handsome. What Anna began to see, was beneath his handsome exterior, there was a scheming , selfish narcissist, who only cared for number one. With all the money Anna had been handing over to Mark before the accident, it already felt as if he had been pimping her in one way or another. This had been a very painful truth to come to terms with, about being careful what you wish for. Upon seeing Anna, Mark would always look awkward and uncomfortable, shuffling around as if looking for the nearest route to escape. Something had been broken that Mark was unable to repair and so he moved on with his drug addled life, in search of the next victim, while working out how to pay for his next fix. It was finally over once and for all and they both knew it!

Rejection had always been very prominent in Anna’s life and long before she met with her agent and the photographer, she knew that her modeling career was already over. The photographer was very sympathetic, he even offered to wait until after Anna had undergone her plastic surgery to see if he could help her find any work. All Anna knew was that the Harley Davidson shoot was over and it felt as if she was being thrown scraps out of sympathy, she didn’t even care about going out anymore, as she was always worried that someone may glimpse her scar and just stand there and stare, affirming that she was no longer desirable. After all, Anna’s mask of hair was very fragile and it would only take a sudden gust, or shake of the head, for it to slip. During that time she had lost nearly all her self esteem, she felt crushed and helpless, but had learned the hard way about some of the valuable lessons life can teach. She had put on weight through comfort eating and had lost all interest in her looks, trapped in a spiraling web of self denial. It would take a further two years before Anna was invited to brave her plastic surgery with Dr Courte.

The affable Dr Courte

Dr Court had been amazed at how well Anna’s scar tissue had been healing, he often commented on it, when he saw her during Anna’s brief appointments. It was as if Dr Courte had some strange ability to look beyond the present and somehow always see a brighter future filled with hope. Anna developed a soft spot for Dr Courte, he seemed like an angel that had been sent to heal her and he was one of the few who could make her smile with his flirtatious quips. Dr Courte went back through the procedure he would be performing on Anna, explaining in more detail. ‘It still sounds strangely like mending a crack in the ceiling with some filler’, Anna thought to herself and smiled. Anna giggled and asked if the operation could be filmed for her to watch back later. Doctor Courte explained to Anna that she should not dwell in the past, as her whole future still lay before her and she needed to move on. No matter what magic Dr Courte could perform on Anna’s face, he told her that her physical scars would heal relatively quickly, but that her emotional scars could only be healed by herself with time. Anna understood this, she opened up to Dr Courte about all that had happened to her, it felt like a confession to her, as this was the first time she had spoken about everything to anyone. Dr Courte listened intently and empathized with Anna. It was in that single act of compassion that Anna found her redemption, the load she beared had just grown lighter.

Before her plastic surgery began, Dr Courte advised Anna not to be too disheartened when she first saw her face after the surgery, as there would be much swelling and new stitches across the top of her head, which would need shaving beforehand. Anna was about to lose the mask she always retreated behind for safety. Anna was put to sleep in the operating theatre, she felt a wooziness……then nothing, as her consciousness slipped away. When Anna awoke, she felt a dull pain in her head, like an incurable headache. Anna noticed she had tubes placed into her head on either side and asked what they were for? She was told that they were put there to drain off excess blood and fluids. Anna’s head felt like a ripe melon that was about to burst, it was so swollen, it made her look grotesque. Doctor Courte reminded Anna of his previous conversation with her and told her to rest and not worry, the operation had gone extremely well and Anna would eventually see a huge improvement when the swelling disappeared.

Anna spent three weeks under Dr Courte’s watchful eye, his affable bedside manner was like a tonic. Anna was summoned to a room where she was sat down in a chair while a nurse struck up rapport with her. Meanwhile, whilst distracted, Dr Courte was inspecting Anna’s tubes, he gave them a gentle tug and Anna nearly passed out. Dr Court waited patiently until Anna had composed herself, then without any warning, with brisk yanks, he removed both tubes from each side of her head simultaneously. “All done!” he smiled. Anna was so shocked, that it took some time to gather herself together. The operation was finally over and Anna gratuitously kissed Dr Courte on the cheek, he had always been a light in the darkness throughout her ordeal. Now it was up to Anna to draw a line and start moving forwards…..’Where will be my next destination?’ she wondered.

To be continued..........

©

Edited March 27, 2015 by Arcana

[Lorna1969]

I am loving this! cant wait for the next installment

[Still Waters]

I am loving this! cant wait for the next installment

Me too!

I'm thinking there's romance brewing between Anna and Dr Courte. I hope so because he's good to her, and I love a happy ending

[She-ra]

Oh wow Arcana. This is absolutely brilliantly written!!! I cannot wait to see what happens next *patiently waits*

Thank you for sharing this with all of us. You are so extremely talented!!!! <<Hugs>> because this is based on truth.

[JVG]

I think it's safe to say that we all enjoy this story and look forward to the next chapter....

[Arcana]

I am loving this! cant wait for the next installment

Thanks for your encouragement Lorna. At this stage in the story I am just trying to portray Anna's life and the effect is has on her.........the tricky part comes later!

Me too!

I'm thinking there's romance brewing between Anna and Dr Courte. I hope so because he's good to her, and I love a happy ending

Thank you SW, I'm afraid you won't enjoy this next instalment based on the above .......but again, this is what happened.

Oh wow Arcana. This is absolutely brilliantly written!!! I cannot wait to see what happens next *patiently waits*

Thank you for sharing this with all of us. You are so extremely talented!!!! <<Hugs>> because this is based on truth.

Thank you for your lovely comment She-ra, it really means a great deal to me.

I am starting to appreciate the subtle differences between story writing and poetry, it seems to be quite a challenge to get through the mundane parts of the story and try to keep it interesting to the reader........... Anna is on a journey and she still has far to travel.

I think it's safe to say that we all enjoy this story and look forward to the next chapter....

Thank you John.........coming right up. Edited March 27, 2015 by Arcana

[Arcana]

A tearful farewell

Dr Courte had been as good as his word,about giving Anna back her face. After a few weeks the swelling disappeared, she saw that the once deep crater in her forehead, had all but vanished and her scar tissue was fading and starting to blend with her complexion. Her hair had started to grow back, but she could still see the faint line across her scalp, below where she'd previously been shaved. She had taken to wearing a head scarf, while her wounds continued healing and her hair began to grow back. She didn’t care, she saw a semblance of her old self and knew that would be enough for the time being.

As winter faded into spring, the bulbs in the hitherto barren garden, started bursting forth with clusters of colourful flowers. It added to her sense of renewal, almost as if they were somehow trying to show her that beauty can return to the unlikeliest of places. Anna would often spend hours each day, sitting on the doorstep watching life pass by around her. She had started becoming an expert in observation, as she knew without having to predict, exactly what tune the milkman would be whistling, when husbands would leave for work and when some wives would indulge their extra marital desires, after taking their children to school. She knew which children would bunk off school to sit on the nearby bench and share a crafty cigarette, while having a good gossip. Anna even knew what time the neighbours would open or shut their curtains…. and those who continued to watch behind closed blinds, betrayed by their twitches! Anna heard her mother call her, “ Anna you have to see this, you’re not going to believe it!”

Anna stepped back inside the house and sat down, while her mother handed her a cup of tea, “Read that bit there”, she pointed, as she handed Anna the local newspaper. The headline to the article read, ‘Surgeon takes his own life, after spending it saving others’. She could not believe what she was reading, there she was picking herself up after being down for the count, when unexpectedly this had to happen. Anna was devastated. She felt the tears trickling down her cheeks as she read the name out loud……”Dr Samuel Courte”. The article seemed to offer no reason or speculation towards his death, it just stuck to the simple facts. He had committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills, leaving behind his divorced wife of 30 years and two adult sons. It paid homage to all the work Dr Courte had performed for various charities and stated that his death had been a tragic ending to an otherwise brilliant career. It showed pictures of him when he was a young man in the army and gave accounts of some of the many people he’d saved over the years.

Anna thought about how jovial Dr Courte had always seemed whenever she saw him, clearly he too must have been wearing his own mask. Reading through the article again and again, she reflected on how the only time in his life that he must have found true happiness and purpose, was when he was helping others with his skills. She didn’t need newspaper clippings or photos to remind her of Dr Courte, she would feel his smiling presence watching over her, each time she saw her own reflection. Anna came to regard Dr Courte as a brilliant artist and she had been his final masterpiece, a swansong to one of the kindest, gentlest souls she’d ever met. Anna remembered all the times he used to comfort her and make her smile. There would always be a special place in her heart for Dr Courte, bless him and god rest his soul. She said a prayer for him and bid him a tearful farewell, for his part in her journey had now ended.

Snip, snip

Time passed and Anna’s beautiful long hair had grown back, covering the scar over the top of her head completely. The scar on her face had faded and all that was left was a tiny mark on the bridge of her nose, which was barely noticeable….her beauty was restored, thanks to her legacy from the belated Dr Courte. Just as Dr Courte had forewarned her, she still had emotional scars to deal with, but was making good progress, piecing back together the shards of her shattered life. At last she was ready to start going out again, her confidence was returning and she felt the need to feel attractive again. Not from neediness nor looking for anything or anyone in particular, but for herself and to take her mind off her past……Mark. Anna was now twenty four and looking as gorgeous as ever. She put on a red backless dress with matching red shoes, painted her face, used some concealer on the top of her nose and ‘presto’, she was back!

That night she went to some pubs with friends in the nearby city centre, then later, decided she was receiving sufficient attention and having far too much fun to go home early. Anna went on to a nightclub, she felt happy and as free as a bird, the night was hers to do with as she pleased. Anna went home by taxi in the early hours, she had drank a few drinks, but not that many that she’d carelessly repeat her previous error of judgment. On arrival home, she took the front door key from her purse to let herself in and noticed that a tiny slip of paper fell to the ground. As she picked it up, she noticed it had a hastily scrawled telephone number, with the name Chris, written above it. Anna had been flirting with quite a few men that evening and the name didn’t ring any familiar bells. She smiled to herself as she screwed it up and threw it away, she wasn’t ready to start dating yet and wanted to enjoy her freedom while it lasted.

Anna knew she needed to start becoming more independent as the weeks came and went, so she decided to look for a job, hoping for something that might allow her to express her individuality and indulge her passion for talking to people. She applied for numerous jobs, but hoped to find something that might teach her new skills, as Anna had never been particularly academic at school. Her schooldays had been spent as part of ‘the gang’, a closely knit group of friends with whom she felt accepted and commanded respect from their peers. They saw to it that Anna left school with very little, apart from memories of detentions and the odd disciplinary caning from the headmaster. It was only when she left school that she discovered how closely knit they really were, having never heard a word from any of them, as they drifted through their lives on seas of mundane jobs, each living just to drown their weekends with alcoholic oblivion.

The phone rang and Anna answered, “Are you Anna?” asked a voice, “Speaking” she replied. The voice belonged to the owner of a hair dressing salon, where she had previously applied for a job as an apprentice hairdresser. Anna was excited to hear she’d been invited to an interview and was told the only qualifications she needed, were flexibility, reliability and an eagerness to learn. On the day of her interview, she dressed in smart casual clothes and plastered on the war paint to show she meant business…. whatever happened, she was determined that she was going to leave an impression on her male inquisitor. During her interview, her interviewer seemed enchanted by Anna, as if captivated under a hypnotic spell. It felt as if she could have been reciting telephone numbers from a directory and would still have been offered the job! Sure enough, it came as little surprise to Anna when he asked her when she could start? “Straight away” she replied eagerly. He laughed and told her the job was hers, followed by, “So you decided not to call me then, I never heard from you.” Anna stared back bemused, “ I applied for the job on an application form at the jobcentre, I didn’t realize I had to call you as well?”, she said with trepidation in her voice. “Never mind”, he replied, “Welcome to Snips salon, allow me to introduce myself…. my name is Chris.”

To be continued............

©

Edited March 27, 2015 by Arcana

[She-ra]

You know the secret to writing a beautiful story??

It's when the reader actually sheds a tear when one of the characters die.

I shed a tear for dear sweet Dr. Courte...BRILLIANT job Arcana! I am very proud of you and your work!! More please

When you have time of course

[JVG]

The plot thickens with the mysterous Chris...I really liked the good doctor. I think the age difference was to much to overcome...

[Arcana]

You know the secret to writing a beautiful story??

It's when the reader actually sheds a tear when one of the characters die.

I shed a tear for dear sweet Dr. Courte...BRILLIANT job Arcana! I am very proud of you and your work!! More please

When you have time of course

Thank you for feeling my characters She-ra, that is indeed a huge compliment for which I am most grateful. Though there be foundation to the story's authenticity, I am sprinkling events with a healthy dose of imaginings and visualizations of my own too BTW.

The plot thickens with the mysterous Chris...I really liked the good doctor. I think the age difference was to much to overcome...

Yes John, may his soul be at peace, the real Dr Frank Court.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Arcana

[Still Waters]

Now Dr. Courte (RIP) is out of the story, you've also mentioned he left two sons. I'm wondering if Chris is one of them

Sorry, this is what happens when I read stories, my mind jumps ahead. I was wrong about Dr Courte so I'm probably way off with Chris as well, I shall just have to wait and see!....I'm glad Anna is doing so much better now.

Great story btw

[Arcana]

It’s all about control

During her interview at Snips salon, Anna had noticed something vaguely familiar about Chris. She thought he may have been a face in the crowd, from that previous night at the nightclub. Anna had drank quite a few drinks that night and was really enjoying herself, she’d felt relaxed for the first time in years since her accident. She was confident, that she remembered Chris had been a friend of one of the men chatting her up that evening. Anna didn’t remember ever having spoken, either directly, nor indirectly, beforehand with Chris. Anna knew that Chris could not be certain that she hadn’t lost his name and telephone number, on the scrap of paper he must have slid into her handbag. Surely he must have witnessed her somewhat tipsy condition when he last saw her? She wondered whether that was why he’d casually said ‘Never mind’ when she questioned him, maybe he thought she never saw his inviting message? Or indeed, was it that he knew Anna had seen it and was letting her know who he was?

Anna was finding it hard to settle in her new job. Chris bent over backwards to accommodate her in any way he could, but his attentions towards Anna were being noticed by his other members of staff. This led towards a certain amount of jealousy and resentment towards Anna, which she awkwardly tried to shrug off, with her usual friendly smile. Anna was starting to experience rejection again and she hated that old familiar feeling! Chris would often invite Anna to spend lunch with him, offering to pay for her as well. Anna was already feeling uncomfortable enough, with all the shifty glances she kept receiving and the way that nobody at the salon ever wanted to strike up a conversation with her. She’d noticed them talking among one another, speaking her name in whispers and how they would suddenly stop chatting mid sentence, the moment she walked by. Any further involvement with Chris, could only serve to fuel the assertions, of those interfering gossip mongers, from rumour control at Snips. If it was a ‘haircut with attitude’ that customers wanted, Snips were there to serve it on platters…..especially towards poor Anna.

Nothing seemed to be working for Anna. She’d tried being pleasant towards her colleagues, then she tried to join in conversations, until finally, she felt that even her silence was an abhorrence to them. Meanwhile Chris had been observing the whole drama unfolding, beneath his watchful stare. He was coiling in the shadows waiting to strike, like a hungry cobra. A week later, just prior to lunch break, Chris announced that he would require Anna’s assistance at the wholesalers and needed to go immediately, as it was their half day closing. Anna remained silent as usual and just nodded ok. It was not as if she had any say in the matter, she was hardly prerequisite hairdressing salon material and she was trying to save up towards moving to her own apartment. During a bout of naivety, Anna had let slip to Chris that she was saving up to find her own place to live. Anna was being presented with a dilemma, to quit and end up spending the pittance she’d saved, whilst seeking employment elsewhere……or she persevered and stuck it out. Chris wasted no time in telling her he had ‘feelings’ for her and how it broke his heart to see the way she was being treated in the salon. But that he was also a businessman, with a business to run and had to be careful not to lose his staff’s respect as their boss. Sure enough, it was Chris who hired and fired them, ‘Hell, he owned the business’, he thought to himself.

Chris cut to chase and suggested that they meet after work one evening for a coffee. The more Anna heard Chris talk, the more he seemed to grow on her. Chris was kind of Oliver Reed-esque, he had a rugged appeal thought Anna, yet oddly at times when he stood behind her in the shadows, he seemed to remind her of a predatory serpent, coiled waiting to strike, though she was unsure why? As Anna grew to know Chris better, she began seeing other sides to his personality that she had previously been unaware of. Chris could be the center of attention in any crowded room and had a deliciously bawdy sense of humour with his cheeky, rugged charm. Maybe it was Chris’s cheeky charms that sparked memories of Dr Courte in some remote way , which seemed to switch off most of Anna’s defenses. Chris was every part a hairdresser, he kept himself well groomed apart from his occasional shadow of designer stubble and possessed 'the gift of the gab'. Another thing that drew Anna towards Chris, was the way he seemed to dote on her, to always be by her side, to always be there…… to always be watching. This kind of attention was foreign to Anna, she’d felt rejected for most of her life and she preferred being held tightly, to being pushed away. So it was not long after that, when after some persuasion, Anna decided to give it another roll of the dice and started dating Chris romantically. She reveled in how he always made her feel so special!

The Dream

Anna is floating through the air, it feels as though she is being swept towards somewhere by a current of inevitability, then she feels a shift and is plummeted towards a clearing in a forest. As she surveys the tree line at the edge of the clearing, she watches with disconcert, as a huge snake slithers down the trunk of a tree, then gathers itself in a coil beside the roots. Behind the snake she sees thousands upon thousands of ants, marching their way through the forest, devouring all before them. They seem to engulf the forest rather than devour it, their tiny bodies seem to pulsate with a red glow, resembling tiny flickering lanterns that warn a storm encroaches. The snake is huge and is watching Anna with unwavering attention, slowly beginning to uncoil and rear up, preparing to strike, with venom dripping from it’s fangs. The ants are everywhere, on the trees, on the ground, on each other, like some all consuming darkness that flickers on and off to trillions of tiny red glows. Anna twists and turns in spirals of desperation, searching for escape, but there is none. She is totally surrounded on all sides, Anna looks down and sees a blindfold to one side and a sword to the other. Does she hide or does she fight? The odds seem so hopelessly stacked against her.

The ants are upon Anna now, they are in her clothes, in her hair, crawling up and down her spine in frenzied dashes, hungry and biting as they go. Anna tries to swat the ones on her face, but can’t seem to move, she is completely paralyzed for some inexplicable reason. Meanwhile, the snake is moving closer, as it glides towards her, its hood inflated with sacks of lethal poison. Anna feels the venom dripping from the snakes fangs upon her cheek. The snakes eyes are also glowing, as it watches Anna. The serpent sips at the air through its forked tongue, to acquire a taste of its helpless prey. The swathe of ants before her, make Anna feel as though she is drowning in their surge. The ants begin pouring through her mouth and down her throat, consuming her from the inside outwards……the pain of it, the suffering….. the sheer petrifying fear of death! She feels the ants scurry across her eyeballs, as she searches in desperation, ‘Am I ready to let go yet?’ she wonders, as she feels the ants gnawing at her skull. The blindfold is swamped beneath columns of ants, nowhere to be seen, so whatever is about to happen next, Anna is going to watch and endure every last second of it. To experience being eaten alive, as the ants start to tug and tear at her eyelids. She sees the shape of the sword, still just barely visible beneath the hoard of writhing ants.

She feels a pulsing ripple of energy, its frequency coursing and streaming through her entire body. Anna can suddenly move again, the snake recoils on a rippling tide of ants, taken aback. During it’s brief retreat, Anna now sees her entire family being eaten alive. Coated in ants from head to foot, barely distinguishable like the sword, buried beneath the seething mass. But Anna recognizes with horror that these shapes are those of her mother, her father, her brother and her baby sister. ‘Am I ready to let go yet?’, she hears repeated in her mind, or is it just the tiny stampede of ants running around inside her brain? Anna instinctively knows she can make a grab for the sword at any time, to lop off the fearsome snake’s head. The dilemma is that Anna will still be consumed by the ants immediately after, so what purpose will it serve? Anna is about to die, she watches as a tiny figure approaches slowly from afar, the ants are parting as it nears. She thinks at first it’s her unborn fetus , then as it moves towards her, it transforms into the little ten year old boy from her seaside memory, the one carrying the fishing net and bucket, his mouth keeps opening and closing in yawning motions, his entire being has lost all fluidity……. she tries to focus through the pain to concentrate and hear what he is saying……“My name is……” she hears him say, before his voice fades to the faintest whisper. The snake is coiling round her face, tightly crushing her, suffocating her stifled gasps for breath.

Anna feels another pulse of energy inside her head, just sufficient to sustain her, watching helplessly as the ants continue their feast unabated. She feels a tiny prick of pain as the serpent’s fangs sink into her receding flesh, injecting its poisoned filth deep inside her veins. Its painful bite still oozing with venom. Anna sees it all, as her eyes are slowly being eaten away, watching the hypnotic flashing of red from the bodies of the ants, like thousands of little fairy lights they flash, on and off, on and off, on and off. ‘Am I ready to let go yet?’ she hears its chant growing louder and louder. The ants are erasing Anna, soon it will be as if she had never existed, with nothing left of her remains, not even dust. Anna sees the last few milliseconds of her torture, as her eyeballs are reduced to empty sockets. ‘Am I ready to let go yet?,’ her flesh consumed, she feels the vibrations of the words on her bodiless spirit……… now all that remains is her essence.

Anna was shaken awake by Chris, “Anna, are you ready to get up yet?” he asked, the alarm clock bleeping its repetitive chorus with flashing red digits. ‘They resembled tiny flickering lanterns that warn a storm encroaches’, she briefly thought to herself, as she arose stretching and yawning.

To be continued............

©

Edited March 28, 2015 by Arcana

[JVG]

Arcana you and this story rocks....

[Arcana]

Now Dr. Courte (RIP) is out of the story, you've also mentioned he left two sons. I'm wondering if Chris is one of them

Sorry, this is what happens when I read stories, my mind jumps ahead. I was wrong about Dr Courte so I'm probably way off with Chris as well, I shall just have to wait and see!....I'm glad Anna is doing so much better now.

Great story btw

Thank you SW , I'm glad you find it intriguing, I find it to be a great compliment, when the reader starts imagining possible outcomes for the various characters, it displays a kind of immersion into the story. As I am writing this, I am inside Anna's mind, thoughts and emotions. I am not only trying to describe events, but also the thoughts and feelings that accompany them in some cases, from Anna's perspective. I'm not giving anything away, so if you're enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it, let's watch it unfold together.

Arcana you and this story rocks....

Thanks John, it felt like a good point to introduce some intensity into proceedings with 'The Dream', I'm glad you're enjoying it

[She-ra]

Wow!! "The Dream" part had me on the edge of my seat reading!!!!! What happens next?!?!?!?! *waits patiently* Thank you for this story. It's marvelous!!!