Anonymous

ANONYMOUS

The money came through the doorbox in a slim manila envelope.  It bore no name nor signature but inside was a quarter of a million dollars in US bonds that someone had deposited under their own name and then “forgotten” to insert on the bottomline so they could be cashed by anyone.

She didn’t know what to do.  So much money and no one to send a letter of thanks to.

She got up from her chair and crossed to the window and looked out.  The winter’s evening gave rise to tumults of applause from the ivy hanging above the window, which hung in icicles like fans of the cold.  Shake shake they went in the chill breeze and kept oscillating as they tried to fall off to the ground but without success, held steadfast as stalactites.

There was one thing though.  She could get the engineer in and get the plumbing sorted out finally in time for the summer and then sell-up and move to the coast.  That would be fine.  She didn’t need much to do except to keep the fire going and get the warm air circulating through the house that finally was beginning to warm up.

She wondered who could have done such a thing.  She couldn’t think of anyone.  All she could think was that someone had made a mistake of the house number, but who was she to ask when no one lived within the vicinity for miles around.  She knew no one – none of the neighbours and certainly none of the children hereabouts to give prizes to or money as Christmas presents.  She would have to go overseas to do that, where her grandchildren lived.

This would not be an easy task.  There would be a number of new ones on the horizon soon but she knew that it was not for her to see, but for her to say that it was the best that could have happened to her for a long time, if ever.  That soon to be granted wish, of sight of her third and fourth grandchildren, might soon be a blessed stay of keep.  In other words if she could keep her tide from washing out and not fall sick or die, then she should be able to see them before the year was through, in August perhaps.  And that would be the end of the end of her ambition.  For she knew that soon she would be able to die in peace knowing she had provided for them in their hour of need now they had grown so tall and able to fend for themselves in a way.

Aaah.  That felt good, as she slid down in her chair.  This would be a fine evening.  Such a warm weather spell would soon have the winter’s icicles falling to the ground but now they were just hanging and that would be fine too if they could just stop their racket.  For it was still noisy in the room and she didn’t know why, until she looked at the trees and saw that they were indeed overflowing with water cascading down the trunks where the firemen were putting them out.  For it wasn’t Winter no more it was Spring and she had died three weeks before and the anonymous benefactor had missed the occasion and only her ghost knew the truth – that nothing lasts forever but some should be able to get there.  The bonds went up in smoke too.

Copyright B E Saunders 2016