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Sara was friendly but a little on the quiet side and rather
liked her own company.
Her parents worried sometimes about her...was she unhappy,
lonely perhaps?
Sara always gave the same reply. She was happy in her work
as a sales executive and happy enough in her social life. Maybe other
twenty-two-year- olds wanted nightclubs and parties...and occasionally that was
fine, but she craved the more sedate life.
One Monday morning, Sara and the rest of her colleagues were
summoned in to the office to meet a new work-mate. From that moment she fell in
love...it was like falling headfirst in to a large abyss.
Sara found herself shaking hands and looking in to the large
blue eyes of someone named Martin.
Martin was a charming person and quickly made friends with his colleagues.
One particular evening, he and Sara were the last to leave the office after
trying to solve a problem.
"Like to go for a quick drink?" asked Martin, a little nervously
Sara found herself jumping at the chance to spend some time with the
handsome newcomer, and from that day they were inseparable.
The rest of the office quickly discovered that Martin and Sara were now a
couple, and they were happy for them.
Sara was a nice girl and was now starting to emerge from her shell a little.
Even Sara's parents noticed the difference in their only child.
She had a glow about her nowadays and was starting to come downstairs in the
evening time and chat to them about her day.
Her mother, Ulna said that they would love to meet him, and perhaps one day
she could bring him home for a meal.
Sara said that she didn't want to rush things, but she would ask him anyway
and try and arrange a suitable day.
Martin had his own flat, and one evening after a romantic meal, he asked if
Sara would like to come back to his home for a nightcap.
"We can call you a cab to get you home" he said, "And you can
call your mother on your mobile so she wont worry."
The inevitable happened. Sara did go back to his home...but she didn't call
the cab. She did however call her parents to explain that she wouldn't be home
that evening.
Sara's dad was distressed at this news, but Ulna said that she was a
responsible adult now, and they should be glad that she was in a happy and
fulfilling relationship. In the end, her father Sam was won round and felt more
at ease.
The next day after work, Sara came home and flung her arms around her
mother's neck.
"I'm so happy mum," she said. "I didn't think I would ever
find anyone like Martin."
Her mother smiled...a rather sad smile and went about her business.
Sara said that she had asked Martin about coming to dinner and would
Saturday be all right.
"That's fine," said her mother, "We'd love to meet him."
The next Saturday saw a hive of activity in the kitchen as Ulna tended to
the evening's meal.
At seven-thirty, the doorbell rung and Sara literally came down the stairs
two at a time and kissed Martin warmly.
"You look beautiful," he said admiringly.
Sara took him in to the lounge where her parents were anxiously waiting.
"Mum, dad...this is Martin" she said
"Hello, Mr and Mrs Reynolds," he said shaking their hands.
"Nice to meet you at last"
They greeted warmly and told him to call them Ulna and Sam.
During the meal, Ulna found herself gazing at Martin. He looked so familiar,
and she couldn't think why.
They chatted easily, and even Sam had to agree that this young man was
everything that a father wanted for his daughter.
Martin said that he had lived in his flat for four years.
"Did you live with your parents before that?" asked Ulna
"No, I grew up in a children's home and was fostered at the age of
nine," explained Sam, "My foster mother died a few years ago...though
I didn't ever really get on with her."
Ulna suddenly got up from the table making her excuses.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I've a headache, I must just
go for a pill."
After that the evening broke up rather. Sam, worried by his wife's deathly
pallor, decided that she'd be better off in bed.
Martin kissed Sara goodnight, shook Sam's hand and asked them to give his
best to Ulna.
Sara saw him off and then went upstairs to where her mother was laying
quietly in bed.
"Are you all right mum?" she asked. " You did like him didn't
you?"
Her mother said that he appeared to be perfectly nice and that she just had
a bit of a bug or something.
From that day on though, things changed at home. Her parents, who rarely
shared a cross word, were rowing constantly. Her father slammed out of the
house each morning and looked at Ulna with utter disgust.
Sara was dumbfounded and asked each of them 'why?'
However, they just told her not to worry.
One day, Sara came home after work and could hear her father shouting at the
top of his voice.
As she walked in to the kitchen, her mother was in tears and her father was
white with anger.
"Tell her...tell her now if you've got the guts!" he shouted.
Sara's mother carried on crying and said,
"No...please don't make me...please Sam!"
Sara could suddenly take no more and shouted as loud as she could,
"STOP, PLEASE!"
Her parents stopped in their tracks and stared at her.
"The time has come Ulna," said Sam a little more softly now.
So, between sobs, Ulna told her tale.
When she was sixteen, before she met Sam, Ulna had met and fallen in love
with an older man. He wasn't an awful lot older than her, but very mature and
obviously wanted more from a young naïve girl than she should have given.
Anyway, within months, she was pregnant...and he was gone.
Ulna's parents were disgusted and sent her away to a mother and baby unit,
until she had given birth. Her parents never really forgave her, and when she
finally gave birth to a little boy, they still wanted nothing much to do with
them both.
She was made to give the baby boy up and he was fostered for a while, then
placed in a children's home.
She had never heard from him from that day to the day that Martin had come
to dinner. Coincidentally, she had received a letter from a man claiming to be
her son. He was called Martin, and she had thought it just a coincidence.
Nevertheless she had contacted the 'son' by letter and had asked various
questions...
"There's no doubt love," said her father nervously, whilst glaring
at his wife,
"Martin...your Martin is your half brother."
Months later, Sara lays in her iron bed staring at a white emulsion ceiling.
She doesn't say much any more. In fact she lives in her own little world.
Her parents...and her 'brother' come to visit, although her parents are now
estranged.
There are some who say she is mad...maybe they're right. Sara now lives in
the world of fairy stories and nursery rhymes...where nobody ever hurts you and
you just live your life through a drug imposed sleep.
Beware the sins of your mothers!
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
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