if a mirage all along. But her three younger boys appearing – Alard, David, and Michael – did though take her thoughts away from her eldest boys, all but dead to her as she knew they may soon be, as she meted out chores and left the telling of their brothers’ going from them for at least a while longer, till she could bear it even just slightly more.
It was in this way that she survived the loss now of eight children. For it wasn’t just the three boys just gone that anguished her want to live in joy, but the five infants long gone now redoubled their memories to her. And her living boys just departed all became babes again , and Alice wondered where these many wee darlings had gone. The pain in her chest caused her to hunch her shoulders a little to cope, but she paid her heartbreak little mind since there was no point to do so and cause it to be an obstacle in an already harsh life. It was a large burden, but then burdens were God’s and life’s way. She would bear it; she was strong enough to do so, and not let their faces sneak into her mind’s eye or the memories of their laughter to her ears. If her heart broke ... well, it was her soul that mattered more. Without her thinking so much though, Alice’s being began to focus more upon her youngest child.
Her husband’s way was to rise up each day from the corner where he slept, work himself and his younger boys in the fields and garden – herding, hoeing, mending, and building, till these younger boys too knew that their position was changed and they were now men.
Thomas though, unaffected by the storm that had blown through his family, held even less attention from his parents or brothers than usual. There was no reason to notice whether he had suffered or changed in any way following the tempest, and so, ergo, no one did.
A little while later, Thomas sat with his mother outside as she sewed and repaired some much-worn garments. Alice put her attention to her finger work to keep all else from her mind. Thomas picked up his stones and held them in his hands, feeling their roughness or smoothness in his palms. He wondered what they would like to do this day. He thought he would prefer to do as they wished. A most insistent but narrow beam of light, barely a whisper, reached out a cobweb-delicate tendril into Thomas’s tiny realm, and with this merest suggestion Thomas touched upon a message of hope. He recognised anew the reflection of another just like himself, and from this he understood how to become more like himself than he already was. It was like an equation of the light, multiplying itself to create a mirror image and then adding light upon light through different layers of being to create a new reality, which was always there anyway if one was able to see it, and Thomas was.
Alice looked down at her son on the ground by her feet and noticed that instead of his usual straight-as-an-arrow line, Thomas had arranged a group of pebbles in a nose-to-nose perfect circle. For just a moment this struck Alice as something a little bit magical, and a new hope wafted briefly through her heart.
And what is happening in your small piece of heaven and earth, my son?
Thomas looked up at the reflection he’d noticed – his new friend – and blinked in the sunlight. They were playing a game now, he and the light, and each would try to be the first, but helping each other to be first also. Thomas was very pleased with the new game.
Is there more that you know, my love, than we would think? Perhaps there is more that you can be, for your father and brothers .
‘Thomas?’ Alice cooed quietly to her son. ‘Thomas?’
Thomas looked around to his mother and smiled, and it seemed to Alice that she was most fortunate to have such a sweet child and she thought she would pay more attention than usual to his soul.
What do you peer out at through that mop of curly hair, Thomas? Are there Angels about you? Caring for you? I do hope so, my lovely. I do hope
It was in this way that she survived the loss now of eight children. For it wasn’t just the three boys just gone that anguished her want to live in joy, but the five infants long gone now redoubled their memories to her. And her living boys just departed all became babes again , and Alice wondered where these many wee darlings had gone. The pain in her chest caused her to hunch her shoulders a little to cope, but she paid her heartbreak little mind since there was no point to do so and cause it to be an obstacle in an already harsh life. It was a large burden, but then burdens were God’s and life’s way. She would bear it; she was strong enough to do so, and not let their faces sneak into her mind’s eye or the memories of their laughter to her ears. If her heart broke ... well, it was her soul that mattered more. Without her thinking so much though, Alice’s being began to focus more upon her youngest child.
Her husband’s way was to rise up each day from the corner where he slept, work himself and his younger boys in the fields and garden – herding, hoeing, mending, and building, till these younger boys too knew that their position was changed and they were now men.
Thomas though, unaffected by the storm that had blown through his family, held even less attention from his parents or brothers than usual. There was no reason to notice whether he had suffered or changed in any way following the tempest, and so, ergo, no one did.
A little while later, Thomas sat with his mother outside as she sewed and repaired some much-worn garments. Alice put her attention to her finger work to keep all else from her mind. Thomas picked up his stones and held them in his hands, feeling their roughness or smoothness in his palms. He wondered what they would like to do this day. He thought he would prefer to do as they wished. A most insistent but narrow beam of light, barely a whisper, reached out a cobweb-delicate tendril into Thomas’s tiny realm, and with this merest suggestion Thomas touched upon a message of hope. He recognised anew the reflection of another just like himself, and from this he understood how to become more like himself than he already was. It was like an equation of the light, multiplying itself to create a mirror image and then adding light upon light through different layers of being to create a new reality, which was always there anyway if one was able to see it, and Thomas was.
Alice looked down at her son on the ground by her feet and noticed that instead of his usual straight-as-an-arrow line, Thomas had arranged a group of pebbles in a nose-to-nose perfect circle. For just a moment this struck Alice as something a little bit magical, and a new hope wafted briefly through her heart.
And what is happening in your small piece of heaven and earth, my son?
Thomas looked up at the reflection he’d noticed – his new friend – and blinked in the sunlight. They were playing a game now, he and the light, and each would try to be the first, but helping each other to be first also. Thomas was very pleased with the new game.
Is there more that you know, my love, than we would think? Perhaps there is more that you can be, for your father and brothers .
‘Thomas?’ Alice cooed quietly to her son. ‘Thomas?’
Thomas looked around to his mother and smiled, and it seemed to Alice that she was most fortunate to have such a sweet child and she thought she would pay more attention than usual to his soul.
What do you peer out at through that mop of curly hair, Thomas? Are there Angels about you? Caring for you? I do hope so, my lovely. I do hope
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