Tess and tattoos by h a leuschel shorter version august 2017

Tess and Tattoos by H.A.Leuschel.

Getting up in the morning "meant facing the same inevitable truth-that all she was really waiting for was death to make its appearance and that, when it did eventually happen, she'd not even know. Dead was dead."

This short story is taken from "Manipulated Lives" a collection of five stories but it can be purchased as an ebook on its own. It's the story of Tess, an 82 year old, living in a serviced apartment for the elderly for three years, sadly waiting to die like many others.

The setting provides a degree of tranquility and beauty for the elderly, frail occupants.

It is Autumn, symbolic of the end of summer and everything it represents moving towards winter, reflecting the sad tone of a life coming to an end. Home is an attractive 3 storey, red-brick house built to outlast its occupants with "weathered faces and aching bones." We experience the wind howling as someone plays the piano whilst outside the gardeners are hard at work. The staff leave the home smelling of apple pie or the scent of lavender from incense sticks.

Tess is less dependent on the nurses than some of the others but she does crave attention and tries to hold onto the moment which she relishes. She does not have any visitors, had lost contact with her friends and her only son, Daniel lived in Australia with his wife and four children. Tess spoke to him once a week which she called "superficial chitchat" so she pretends that she can speak to him and reveal some secrets, some very dark secrets. Contact with Daniel for what it's worth seems to be enough motivation to continue the struggle of living. For the moment, anyway.

A new nurse called Sandra cheers Tess up and they bond enough for Tess to talk about her past. Sandra had experienced her own heartache with the recent death of her husband to cancer and becoming a single parent to three children. She recognises Tess's talent at art, "making something come to life." Tess had worked in advertising. Art was her passion and yet her partner had not encouraged her to pursue it.

Altruism. That's the word I'd use to describe Sandra. "People dissolved so quietly out of life, and she was determined to make those lives as meaningful as she could."

Over six months we learn about horrors suffered, tensions between son and mother and the need for forgiveness. Sometimes it comes at a price and‌too late.

"We are like candle flames, so fragile, so easily blown out by a gust of wind."

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor