A LONELY HEART

A LONELY HEART

by

SUE J BRAITHWAITE

It was turning out to be a long and extremely cold winter. Christopher, Charlie and Maurice’s mum could only afford to put the heating on in one room at a time otherwise she would fall behind with other bills. The lads didn’t mind that much as they understood their predicament, and to be honest, their ability to adjust to varying temperatures was an easy and comfortable transition. Their birthdays were days apart, a year between each, Charlie being the oldest, Chris being the youngest. The three brothers were seriously close and spent a great deal of time together living in the countryside, they loved their rambles, in rain, sun or snow. As it happened it was snowing that afternoon. The heavy snowfall had settled at around three inches high over a course of two hours and showed no sign of letting up. They finished off watching the last season of, “Girls Gone Bad,” a fictional program about four best pals in their late teens that started out as sweet and innocent law abiders, until they met Jenny and her wild, partying and fearless circle of friends. The lads could identify with Jenny and her friends because they were the influencers of their peers in the village that they lived in as well as the other two villages close by. They’d arrange meet ups with others around their ages to go for drives, drink alcohol, take drugs and do whatever else took their fancy.

Netflix binge done, they were ready to get out and see other faces. There were no restrictions to them going out so long as the housework was done, which they all played their part in, their mum believing that life experience made for a rounded and self sufficient person. Maurice got his phone and went on his main WhatsApp group. ‘Who’s up for a meet?’ he typed in. It wasn’t long before his phone was pinging off. Barbara was the first to reply with, ‘Where do you wanna meet?’ others replied, ‘Yeah, where shall we meet?’ Barbara was Charlie’s girlfriend. They had been together three years since they were both 14. She took no bullshit, yet she had a heart of gold, the matriarch of the group. Rona replied ‘have you seen how badly it’s snowing out there?’ Rona wasn’t the most adventurous of people. She was the one who would say to the others that their antics would only lead to trouble. She always worried, which would at times put a downer on events, until she either succumbed or went home. ‘Let’s meet at the pond,’ typed Herbert. It was followed by a resounding verdict of ‘Yeah, meet at the pond.’ Maurice typed, ‘In half hour then.’ Little Billy typed, ‘I don’t finish work ‘til 5.30pm but I can meet you guys after, just let me know where you’re at.’ ‘Sure that, Billy, we’ve got ya,’ typed Herbert. ‘Yeah, Billy, it’s a given we’ll link ya.’

The pond was in a clearing in the nearby forest. Barbara and Rona turned up at the pond first with a couple of bags filled with munch. Barbara persuaded Rona to embrace the snow, now settled to almost four inches, which Rona did so hesitantly. In dribs and drabs they all turned up to the pond which had frozen over two days prior to their meet. Chris, Maurice and Charlie turned up with a crate of beer, a bottle of Spiced Rum and a bottle of Vodka. Charlie was able to get served alcohol, as he was and looked the oldest, yet was under age. Little Billy had on him a quarter of weed. Herbert brought a bottle of White Rum and a bottle Gin which he pinched from his Dad’s cupboard. There were others with alcohol and weed, making there be enough to go around.

Between the group they consumed seven bottles of spirits and a half ounce of weed. Out of their stupors was a loud outburst from Eric. ‘Who’s going to join me for a skate on the pond?’ immediately Rona piped up, ‘Don’t be silly, it’s dangerous.’ ‘How can it be dangerous? It’s frozen solid.’ replied Eric. ‘You don’t know that,’ said Rona, ‘Always with the what ifs ain’t you Rona,’ stated Eric.

‘Im too stoned said Herbert.’

‘Come on let’s go said Chris.’ everyone got up slowly, all but Rona and Herbert. ‘I’m not going on there,’ she said. There were wobbles and staggers as the group rose to their feet. Eric stepped onto the ice first. Immediately he skidded and nearly dropped to the floor, but he managed to compose himself and proceeded to glide across the frozen pond. One by one they stepped onto the ice, slip sliding all over the place. Most stayed close to the edge of the pond, but Eric, Charlie and Maurice went further. There was a fumbled exchange of pushes and shoves trying to make each other fall, yet no one was successful. They were laughing their heads off, having so much fun. ‘Be careful out there,’ shouted Rona.’ no one paid any attention. Just at that moment Eric cried out ‘Oh shit!’ Underneath where he was standing appeared a crack in the ice and it was spreading. The crack branched out into different tangents, including underneath Charlie and Maurice. Panic set in for all three of them. Their footing was all clumsy as they tried to get back to ground. By this time they were in the centre of the pond. The cracks increased. There was no escaping. The ice ice fell from underneath them and so too did they fall. There were screams and yells as the three went under the surface. The rest of the group were too frightened to get close. They didn’t resurface. There was no sign of the three. After a moment of chaos and confusion, Chris took it upon himself to try and get near to the gaping hole in the middle of the pond, and was closely followed by Barbara, and Lynda who was Maurice’s best friend. The ice began to crack some more, still Chris, Barbara and Lynda edged closer to the hole. But then, all in a matter of seconds, ice disappeared from below them. Chris reached out and tried to grab the two girls, but they were being carried away underneath the ice at a fast rate. Chris was a champion swimmer, yet he couldn’t see a thing in the dark waters. It took him all his strength to scramble back atop the ice and when he made it he had to fight to catch his breath. Still breathing hard and heavy, he skated back to where Rona and Herbert was. There was no sign of the five. The youths had handled the cold with the aid of alcohol and weed but the temperature of the pond’s water had to be in deep minus. The group screamed out their names as if that would help the situation. All they could do was watch and wait. And they waited. Nothing. Time was going by fast. Twenty minutes later the group had stopped shouting their names. There was no sign of them.

Herbert had gone for help ten minutes prior. He had knocked on Big Billy’s door. Big Billy was the local handyman. Herbert didn’t know what he could do, but he thought that Big Billy was his best bet. Thirty five minutes had gone by when the two returned to the pond. Big Billy had brought his extendable ladders and some rope. Big Billy was planning on lowering the ladders into the holes hoping the teenagers would grab hold of it and be pulled out, but they could be anywhere under the surface and it was impossible to see where they were because of the layers of snow that had fallen. There was very little hope that they were still alive. Chris and Rona held each other and began to cry. No one could hold their breath for that long, especially in freezing cold water. Big Billy tried to reach the holes, but cracks were emerging everywhere, it just wasn’t safe. No joy. As well as getting Big Billy, Herbert had rung the fire brigade. A few of the villagers had seen and heard the fire engine and had followed it down to the pond. The youths were distraught.

‘I told them it was unsafe,’ cried Rona into Chris’s chest.

‘Now’s not the time for I told you so’s,’ cried Herbert angrily.

The police had also turned up and were trying to question the remaining three. Rona was the only one they could get some sense out of, but only just. Over a course of two days police divers searched the pond until the last body was found. People from the three villages had kept vigil at the pond, family and friends wailing as one by one the five teenagers were brought out of the water. Everyone knew them, everyone loved them, everyone felt pain. It was the most heart wrenching for Chris and his mum. They didn’t just lose one brother and son, they lost two. Not only had Chris lost all his siblings, he had lost his best friends.

A couple of weeks later, Herbert and his family moved away. There was only Chris and Rona left of their tight nit group. There were other friends, but not as close as the ones who had drowned that dark day at the pond. In the proceeding weeks Chris and Rona became boyfriend and girlfriend, something Rona had wanted for a long time. They would reminisce on times they had spent with their lost friends. Sometimes they would laugh, sometimes they would cry, sometimes they would do both. Chris and Rona became inseparable, if they weren’t together physically they’d be on their phones to each other for hours. Occasionally one of them would fall asleep early hours of the morning while talking on the phone. There was a love for each other but there was also a need for each other.

As the years went by, friends that were in their local vicinity had become a rarity. Some had moved away with their families, some had gone away to university, some had gone in search of adventure for having outgrown village life. Chris and Rona stayed with what they knew. They had gotten well paying jobs, Chris working as a Team Leader in the top Telecommunications Mass Media company, Rona Deputy Manager at an Old People’s Care Home. They saved their money shrewdly and together got a mortgage on a quaint, three bedroom property. They planned intently for their future. Soon enough they got married and had kids, a boy and a girl which they named Charlie and Barbara after their closest friends they had ever had. People came and went out of the villages as Chris and Rona grew old. One morning Chris woke up next to Rona sensing something was wrong. He rolled her over from her side onto her back, she wasn’t breathing. Chris shook her, ‘Wake up Rona!’ he bellowed before he broke down into tears. He knew there was nothing he could do to get her to open her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for almost an hour and half. Eventually he called his son Charlie and daughter Barbara to tell them of the tragedy. They sobbed uncontrollably down the phone. The next couple of weeks were hard, especially for Chris. Charlie and Barbara would pass by whenever they could, but they had their own lives to carry on with. They did however organise and deal with the funeral, most of the paperwork and closing of accounts. Their dad grew uncharacteristically quiet, but that was to be expected thought his children.

Two weeks after Rona’s passing was her funeral. She was cremated. That’s what she wanted. That evening Chris went to bed, placing the urn containing Rona’s ashes on his bedside table. He said a little prayer then closed his eyes. It didn’t take him long to drift off, he was exhausted.

Outside the next morning the birds chirped their song, the squirrels scuttled up and down trees, the neighbours cat was curled up asleep on their decking. Inside Chris’s house was still. The clock on the living room wall ticked loudly. Time was ticking by. Chris was still in bed. He hadn’t woke up. He couldn’t wake up. In his sleep he had left this mortal world. He had joined the love of his life. He had died of a lonely heart.