Language of Love by Alex K. Thorne

Author:Alex K. Thorne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2018-10-08T18:12:29+00:00

I woke in the night with a start. For a second, I couldn’t think what the loud and shrill noise was. My head was groggy from too much beer, the fog of sleep still on top of me. The noise continued, and in another second, I realised it was my phone, with its ringtone of crashing saucepans. I snatched it off the bedside table, heart pounding. Phone calls in the middle of the night were seldom good. I looked at the screen. It was Mam.

“Hello.” My hand shook as I clutched the phone. I sat up in bed and groped for the bedside light.

“She’s gone, Hannah.” Mam’s voice was thick, flat and weary, as if she’d been awake for days.

Tears started instantly; they welled up and overflowed down my cheeks. Granny Guilfoyle. My granny. The person who’d given me my first teddy bear—still sitting on a shelf in my room—who’d minded me after school while my parents worked and I was too young to be left. She’d made me thick doorstep sandwiches of batch bread for my school lunches. We’d sung along to the radio together, and she’d taught me how to play tin whistle. I’d pinched apples from her orchard and harassed her hens, and she’d told me off soundly for both.

She was gone.

“Oh, Mam.” My voice cracked, and I couldn’t say any more.

“She slipped away peacefully. We were all here, all her children. It was a good way to go.”

“I wish I was there with you.”

“I wish you were too, sweetie.” She paused. “The wake’s on Friday. Just before Christmas.”

“How are you doing?”

“I don’t know. I knew this was coming, of course, but when it actually happens… Well, that’s when you realise you’re never as prepared as you think you are.”

Tears ran down my cheeks in silent streams, and I couldn’t answer.

“Hannah, will you tell Gramma?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to call her in the middle of the night. I’m sorry I had to wake you.”

“I love you, Mam.”

“Love you too, Hannah.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.