toppled on
to the wet, cold pavement.
Alice
had absolutely no idea what to do. She’d seen nurses on telly put a finger to
the artery on people’s necks but she wasn’t really sure what she was feeling
for. Was Nan asleep? Unconscious? Dead? She had no clue. She tried to lift her
but Nan’s fourteen-stone frame wouldn’t budge and so Alice sat on the pavement
next to Nan Wildgoose and tried to decide what to do. A thought ran through her
head that she could just prop Nan up in the bus stop, go to the gig and then
sort it all out afterwards. She was so close to seeing Morrissey in the flesh
and so desperate for that to happen, surely that would be all right. The
thought exited almost immediately, to be replaced by the horror of sitting on a
pavement in Leicester next to her grandmother who appeared to be dead.
Regretfully she turned away from what had promised to be the best evening of
her life. No one seemed to be about. No one to ask, to scream at, to tell.
Alice pulled Nan into a sitting position and rested her gently against the side
of the bus stop. She took off her coat and laid it over Nan just in case she
was still there in the big tired body and ran up the road until she saw a phone
box. Her cold fingers dialled 999.
On
campus, in front of a huge audience of expectant fans, Morrissey called,
‘Hello, Leicester!’ and the band went straight into ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’.
A
completely neutral, rather nasal voice inquired which service Alice wanted. The
voice had no idea that while Morrissey was singing about Nature playing tricks.
Alice was experiencing the biggest trick Nature could come up with. As the last
breaths sighed from Nan Wildgoose out into the night air, Alice began to lose
her faith in womanhood, along with Morrissey She found herself angrily
resentful that poor old Nan could not have hung on for one more night. And then
she murmured, ‘I’m sorry, Nan. I’m really sorry.
As
unruly girls and unruly boys swayed along to the song, she ran back to the bus
stop to wait.
The
strains of ‘Back To The Old House’ boomed round the hall and Alice, unable to
hear anything except the sounds of the night, just wanted to go home.
The
final song of the Smiths set, ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ was perhaps the
most poignant. Nan had gone, and for years afterwards when Alice heard the
line, ‘and you must be looking very old tonight’, an image of Nan Wildgoose’s
poor crumpled face entered her mind and the terror of the night came back to
her.
A siren
pierced the night as the ironic encore of ‘You’ve Got Everything Now’ was
played and Morrissey shouted, ‘Goodbye. Leicester! Goodbye!’
Back at home in her
bedroom the following day the whole incident seemed like a surreal drug-induced
nightmare.
The
ambulance had taken an hour to find them while Alice sat desperately holding
Nan, trying to be positive in her head but knowing in reality there was no hope
for her. She wanted to phone her dad but had no money and in her despair had
forgotten she could reverse the charges. Besides, she didn’t want to leave Nan
alone and lonely under the rain that was falling faster and harder. They had
had an encounter with a drunk who had mistakenly thought Nan Wildgoose was a
member of his merry band of excessive drinkers.
‘Bloody
‘ell, she’s had a few,’ he said, hands on hips, staring down at Nan and Alice.
‘Piss
off,’ said Alice, feeling the spirit of Nan behind her words.
‘Only
trying to help,’ he said and sauntered off, wobbling and swaying until the
darkness swallowed him.
Eventually
the screeching of the ambulance heralded its arrival and it drew up at the bus
stop. Two chunky men appeared, one carrying a bag, and knelt down beside Alice.
‘Oh,
you poor love,’ said the older of the two.
Alice,
who had held all her fears and distress inside, was unable to keep them under
control because of these kind words and began to sob as if she would never
to the wet, cold pavement.
Alice
had absolutely no idea what to do. She’d seen nurses on telly put a finger to
the artery on people’s necks but she wasn’t really sure what she was feeling
for. Was Nan asleep? Unconscious? Dead? She had no clue. She tried to lift her
but Nan’s fourteen-stone frame wouldn’t budge and so Alice sat on the pavement
next to Nan Wildgoose and tried to decide what to do. A thought ran through her
head that she could just prop Nan up in the bus stop, go to the gig and then
sort it all out afterwards. She was so close to seeing Morrissey in the flesh
and so desperate for that to happen, surely that would be all right. The
thought exited almost immediately, to be replaced by the horror of sitting on a
pavement in Leicester next to her grandmother who appeared to be dead.
Regretfully she turned away from what had promised to be the best evening of
her life. No one seemed to be about. No one to ask, to scream at, to tell.
Alice pulled Nan into a sitting position and rested her gently against the side
of the bus stop. She took off her coat and laid it over Nan just in case she
was still there in the big tired body and ran up the road until she saw a phone
box. Her cold fingers dialled 999.
On
campus, in front of a huge audience of expectant fans, Morrissey called,
‘Hello, Leicester!’ and the band went straight into ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’.
A
completely neutral, rather nasal voice inquired which service Alice wanted. The
voice had no idea that while Morrissey was singing about Nature playing tricks.
Alice was experiencing the biggest trick Nature could come up with. As the last
breaths sighed from Nan Wildgoose out into the night air, Alice began to lose
her faith in womanhood, along with Morrissey She found herself angrily
resentful that poor old Nan could not have hung on for one more night. And then
she murmured, ‘I’m sorry, Nan. I’m really sorry.
As
unruly girls and unruly boys swayed along to the song, she ran back to the bus
stop to wait.
The
strains of ‘Back To The Old House’ boomed round the hall and Alice, unable to
hear anything except the sounds of the night, just wanted to go home.
The
final song of the Smiths set, ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ was perhaps the
most poignant. Nan had gone, and for years afterwards when Alice heard the
line, ‘and you must be looking very old tonight’, an image of Nan Wildgoose’s
poor crumpled face entered her mind and the terror of the night came back to
her.
A siren
pierced the night as the ironic encore of ‘You’ve Got Everything Now’ was
played and Morrissey shouted, ‘Goodbye. Leicester! Goodbye!’
Back at home in her
bedroom the following day the whole incident seemed like a surreal drug-induced
nightmare.
The
ambulance had taken an hour to find them while Alice sat desperately holding
Nan, trying to be positive in her head but knowing in reality there was no hope
for her. She wanted to phone her dad but had no money and in her despair had
forgotten she could reverse the charges. Besides, she didn’t want to leave Nan
alone and lonely under the rain that was falling faster and harder. They had
had an encounter with a drunk who had mistakenly thought Nan Wildgoose was a
member of his merry band of excessive drinkers.
‘Bloody
‘ell, she’s had a few,’ he said, hands on hips, staring down at Nan and Alice.
‘Piss
off,’ said Alice, feeling the spirit of Nan behind her words.
‘Only
trying to help,’ he said and sauntered off, wobbling and swaying until the
darkness swallowed him.
Eventually
the screeching of the ambulance heralded its arrival and it drew up at the bus
stop. Two chunky men appeared, one carrying a bag, and knelt down beside Alice.
‘Oh,
you poor love,’ said the older of the two.
Alice,
who had held all her fears and distress inside, was unable to keep them under
control because of these kind words and began to sob as if she would never
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