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Dana was considered lucky by so many.
At the age of twenty-two, she had inherited a house from her grandmother Clara.
Not any run of the mill house though, this was truly a wondrous abode.
Dana's parents had been killed in a traffic accident when she was just eleven. A terrible time which her maternal grandmother Clara Greenall had kissed better.
She herself had been dealt a bitter blow though ...after all, her only daughter had gone to her maker so early.
Nevertheless, she had immediately taken Dana into her home and had loved and cherished her...bringing her up beautifully. She had also vowed that she would never knowingly let Dana feel pain again.
At eighteen years of age, Dana had gone off to university...a little reluctantly.
For someone who had endured so much in her short lifetime, she had sailed through her course work, receiving a brilliant degree to her credit.
She traveled for a year, all around Europe...making friends and learning from life's abundances.
Although Dana rarely seemed to get back to Glebe House to see her grandmother, her heart was a permanent lodger there. How she loved the precious time that she did manage to return home...to the motherly bosom that made all bad things better.
Dana was in the first week of her new job as a legal secretary when she got the call.
Her young face was ashen when she put down the telephone receiver, and she held on to the desk to steady herself.
"Is everything alright?" asked her boss Bob.
With tears cascading down her alabaster like face, Dana told him that her grandmother...her soul mate had suffered a fatal coronary. That same morning Dana had kissed her grandmother goodbye. Little had she known that this was to be their final farewell.
The next few days passed in a flurry of activity that managed to mask the utter sadness that penetrated her broken heart.
Dana made funeral arrangements and contacted some of Clara's friends and a few far-flung relatives.
She had taken a week off work whilst she tidied up a few matters, one of which involved attending a meeting with the family solicitor.
Dana had been delighted to discover that Glebe House had been allocated to her. She had always loved the house it contained wall-to-wall memories and was filled with love.
The first of June 2000, the day that Dana officially became the lady of the house would be etched into her memory forever.
Dana spent the next few days drawing in the atmosphere of the great house. She could still smell the scent of her grandmother wafting in the air. If she closed her eyes...now hot and sore from her salty tears, she could see her.
That night, Dana had a troubled night's slumber. She was in her bed, the same bed she had slept in for years...but sleep wouldn't come.
All through the long and balmy night, Dana dreamed of Clara her beloved grandmother. She awoke at one point and could have sworn that she had just shared a conversation with her. In the conversation, Clara had told her that she would always watch over her and would not rest in peace until Dana found true happiness. She looked melancholy as she spoke.
Eventually, Dana fell into a deep and settled sleep, not waking again until well into the early afternoon.
Although she was secure in her home, where many years of love and laughter had once shrouded the two of them...she was bereft.
After a week Dana returned to work, and it was a pure joy to her to hear background noise, giggling and light-hearted chatter.
When she returned home at night, the utter feeling of loss enveloped her again, and she had those dreams.
It was as if her grandmother's spirit was there still, but it was unhappy and could not settle. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks, Clara's spirit would be happy with light tinkling laughter. It would certainly not keep waking her up in the dead of night, causing her anguish...unless it was unhappy, but why would it be?
The next day, Dana phoned work to excuse herself for not coming in. They didn't mind in the least and said so.
Cup of coffee in hand, Dana wandered upstairs to her grandmother's bedroom and looked around. Perhaps there was something amiss in here; she had always liked things to be orderly. Half-heartedly, Dana tidied up the dressing table surface and dusted a few books, but nothing seemed really out of sorts.
In fact, she spent most of the day walking from room to room, pondering over what would make her grandmother's spirit restless and sad. At one point she even sat down to have a cup of tea and a biscuit...grandmother had always insisted on that particular tradition whenever they had been together.
Dana put a Wagner cassette on to listen to... Clara's favorite. Maybe tonight she would sleep well and dream happy dreams.
But no, she awoke again in a pool of perspiration. Her grandmother was gazing at her with furrowed brows, and next to her was a large suitcase standing on the floor...what did it mean?
Dana got up the next morning; she was feeling like nothing on earth, and sitting at her desk later that morning, she held her head in her hands.
"What's up Dana?" asked Bob
"Got six hours?" said Dana smiling weekly.
They arranged to have a drink and a bite to eat after work, and early evening saw them sitting in a little wine bar together.
For the first time since Clara had died, Dana found herself pouring out her innermost feelings to Bob. He was really so easy to talk to, why hadn't she ever noticed before?
They said their goodbyes outside the wine bar, and Dana heard herself asking Bob to Sunday lunch that same week. She knew he was a single man who had been in a relationship for many years until recently, so she wouldn't be treading on anyone else's territory.
Bob accepted the invitation readily, and they arranged that he should arrive at one o'clock.
As Dana left the office that Friday evening, she smiled and waved at Bob.
They didn't say anything ...too many office gossips about. What was there to gossip about anyway?
That night, Dana still awoke, but her dream didn't disturb her nearly as much. Clara was again standing next to a suitcase, but this time she had her lily-white hand resting on the handle, and she didn't look quite so troubled.
Suffice to say, after delighting in a relatively sweet night's slumber, Dana woke that Saturday morning with a spring in her step.
This was the first day that she had felt positive and alive. Dana set to and tidied the house until the pungent aroma of wax polish hung in the air.
She wandered in the garden; how she'd let it get overrun. Clara would certainly not approve of that. Dana picked a few roses and some greenery and decided to put a few arrangements here and there in the house.
By early evening she settled down with a martini and a magazine and thought about all that was positive in her life.
Yes, she had endured her fair share of pain, it was etched on her heart, but she had received so much in return.
Nobody but Clara had known the devastation that had been caused when Dana's parents had been killed. The old lady and her young granddaughter had joined forces though and had become a formidable partnership. Dana had been loved and had given love unconditionally, not even death could sully that surely!
Before she retired for the night, Dana took another stroll around the cottage garden. The light was gently dimming, and threw its weak rays on to the cobbled pathway. It did look a little untidy, as she had thought earlier, but so pretty too. Dana knew that Clara wouldn't have been too disappointed at the slightly muddled garden...not enough to trouble her spirit anyway.
She awoke again in the early hours on Sunday morning, but although she had dreamed again, this one did not trouble her.
In this dream, Clara had picked up the suitcase. She was standing still as in previous dreams, but she had a faint smile lingering on her peach-skin face.
Later that morning, Dana hummed to herself as she prepared a roast beef lunch with all the trimmings and chilled a bottle of Chablis.
Bob arrived at the specified time and marveled at Glebe House. Together they walked through the garden and sat at the far end under a tree sipping an aperitif.
Lunch took hours as they chatted freely and told each other about lost romances and aspirations for the future.
When the time came for Bob to make his departure, Dana was sad to see him go and told him so.
He turned to her and told her earnestly what a wonderful day he had shared with her. They walked slowly to the front door and turning a little shyly to face each other, they kissed tenderly.
Dana busied herself with the chore of washing up, and when it was done she took an early bath.
She intended to stay awake for a while and relive the special day, but sleep overcame her in such a fashion that it hadn't done recently.
She awoke with a start; it was time to get up for work; and she hadn't dreamed at all last night.
Once dressed and ready to start what ever the day threw at her, Dana let herself out of the front door. A heady scent swum around her head as if she were entombed in Lily Of The Valley...Clara's favorite scent.
Bob and Dana gave each other knowing glances at work all day, looks that they thought were private and untraceable, but most of their colleagues recognized the signs and were glad for them.
Dana practically skipped home that evening. It had been so busy in the office that the two of them had hardly managed to speak. Bob, however, had whispered to her in passing that he had something for her, and could he pop it around to Glebe House that night.
Dana had just finished her tea, when there was a rap at the door. Bob was standing there with a small package in his hand, and he gave her a gentle kiss.
"You've had company then?" he asked.
"No" said Dana with a puzzled look on her face. "I've seen no one since I left work earlier".
"Then who was that little old lady I met at the front gate?" asked Bob, thinking that maybe he was more smitten then he thought and was hallucinating.
Dana went a little pale and asked him in a quiet but controlled voice to describe the lady.
According to Bob she was smiling. She hadn't said anything to him but had simply passed him at the gate.
The overwhelming scent of Lily Of The Valley had awoken his senses though, and she was carrying a suitcase.
A couple of years later, Bob and Dana were sitting in the front room of their home, Glebe House.
They often spoke of the day when Dana's grandmother had left. Unperturbed now that her granddaughter had found true
love, she would never have left her by herself. Dana had endured too much pain already in her short life, and her grandmother had vowed to be with her until she found true
happiness.
The little old lady had decided that the time was right and had left to see her long-lost daughter and son-in-law. She would tell them that her job was done now. All she needed to take with her was a suitcase full of love and memories. She had left her beloved granddaughter Dana, a life full of love and memories for herself.
A shrill cry filled the happy silence, and as Dana arose from her chair she rested her fingertips lightly along the top of the little antique frame. The frame held the treasured picture of a little old lady, whose smile was maybe broader now. As Dana passed her husband, she dropped a light kiss on the top of his head. She made her way to the moses basket, and lifted a little bundle of joy out of it.
"Mummy's here Clara" she said.
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
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