4/1/14

Alfred & April's Brush With Disaster

AtoZ Challenge...Letter A's 'fiction from forgotten fotos'
April 10, 1912...Southampton, UK

"Alfred, be a darling, and ring the concierge for a cup of Garfield Tea."  April's request, as she reclined on the settee in their posh honeymoon suite, caught Alfred in deep thought as he stood before the window overlooking the dock.

"Yes, of course my dear, right away," was his response as he gave the ornate bell pull a firm tug.  "I am so sorry, my Sweet, that you are feeling indisposed.  Perhaps we should postpone our return trip home."

Before April could reply, there was a courteous rap on the door, and within seconds Alfred was requesting a pot of the herbal tea for his ailing wife.  "Be certain the tea is Garfields, as my wife has a splitting headache and please, see that it is steaming hot," said Alfred as his peaked wife bound off the settee and made a dash for the 'Lue'.  Alfred's next request came as no surprise to the hotel service staffer, "please, send up a chamber maid as well".

When April returned, she courageously began packing their trunks while sipping the medicinal tea which Alfred had laced with a generous splash of Scotch.  "I am feeling some better, Alfred.  I believe we will make our departure time without delay," she said as she hurriedly packed her vanity items.

While Alfred saw to checking out of the hotel and engaged a porter for their trunks, April finished the pot of tea, made a quick study of the room, donned her hat and met Alfred in the lobby.  Soon they were crossing the busy street in front of the hotel to the departure dock where the porter placed their trunks in line with the other passengers waiting to board.

Suddenly, April let out a shriek as she opened her vanity case where she had placed their tickets for safe keeping.  "Oh no, my brush is not here.  I must have left it on the dresser in my rush.  Alfred, would you go back and get it for me.  I could not bear to leave without my lovely wedding gift from you, my Darling.  I will wait right here with our trunks."

Alfred checked his pocket watch, calculated the slow moving boarding line, handed April his hankerchief and turned to cross the street.  Now busier than before, the street was filled with passengers, their luggage and an extraordinary number of photographers and reporters.  The hotel lobby was a hub of activity as well, and getting to the desk for a key took forever.  Alfred checked his watch once he had retrieved  the forgotten brush, and noted that he had been gone more than a half hour.

A feeling of panic and dread overcame him as he rushed across the street in time to see the ship slowly being tugged out of the harbor. The massive crowd yelled and waved their goodbyes to the passengers now throwing streamers and confetti from the crowded decks.  Alfred pushed and shoved his way through the crowd to no avail all the while searching the decks for a glimpse of his bride.

As the ship floated farther and father away, the forlorn husband stood staring at the embroidered roses on the back of the brush envisioning his lovely wife sitting in their stateroom her hair a mess.  The crowd began to disperse, and still he stood there in disbelief.   Moments later he was shocked out of his despair when his wife flung herself into his arms sobbing uncontrollably.

Oh Albert...sob sob... I'm so sorry, I must have fainted from too much Tea.  I don't understand it's never affected me that way before...hic..sob..sniff..hic.  Now look what has..hic..happened!! 
 
We have..hic..missed the boat!

Five Days Later!

14 comments:

  1. Hi Sue .. well that was a lucky escape - love your photos too .. and the storyline with the reminiscences of life back then -

    Cheers Hilary

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  2. Anonymous4/01/2014

    Lovely story. Great post for the start of our challenge.

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  3. A lucky escape indeed! Charming story. :)

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  4. Oh Sue -- this is even better than I expected! I like how you've incorporated the family treasures in the story too.

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  5. Awesome. I bet Albert never felt more alive than when he read that paper. Can't wait to see what is next.

    Brandon Ax: Writer's Storm

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  6. Old photos and pictures and a great story. I have boxes of them and have begun to get them all together for my own family story. Love the photos!
    Katy Did
    Life's Ride In Between

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  7. What a wonderful way to use the photos. I am glad you found my blog and left a comment. I can't wait to see what else you come up with. I have a lot of photos of unnamed people in my albums too and now I will go back and see what I can find in the pictures that might tell me more about them. Glad to see you here again too!

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  8. Thank you for visiting me, Sue. Clever idea for story prompts here- nice detail on the hairbrush, I remember my Gran had a fancy set not unlike that. Don't know that she ever drank any Garfield tea but she definitely never got on the Titanic!
    Lisa at Wishbone Soup Cures Everything

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  9. Very clever story with a wonderful twist at the end Sue. Loved it! And the photo's and just darling.

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  10. What a fun idea for the month! I've always loved the Titanic and all things about it. Your story was great! Have a good April!

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  11. Oh this was lovely!! And it being the Titanic totally caught me by surprise :) I can't wait to see what else you write this month!

    AJ @ Naturally Sweet
    an A-Z co-host blog
    @ayjaylauer

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  12. I laughed out loud at the end, so charming and unexpected! I enjoyed ever minute of it.

    Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope to keep up with your writing the entire month :-)

    Liz at Bead Contagion

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  13. Entertaining. Lucky they missed the boat. It's a good way to stretch your imagination and skill by writing based on old photos. I've also heard of song writers who write songs based on stories people have sent them. Aloha from Hawaii. Feel free to stop by at Maui Jungalow.

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  14. What a wonderful story--and I love the photos!

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