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“Sapphira, why is your bag not packed? Jacob has everybody’s bag, except yours. Please pack your bag as soon as you’ve finished your breakfast.” Papa finishes his scrambled egg on toast and coffee, leaves the room, only to return seconds later, glaring at Sapphira.
“You haven’t even started packing yet. Why?”
“I had to pack Ellie’s bag as well! How long are we going for?” She asks.
“Sapphira, I don’t know. At this moment, nobody knows much about anything. We will go for as long as we need to stay away, for as long as this unrest takes to settle. You have two minutes to pack, so start!”
“A few days, a week, a few months, how long?” Sapphira is a very persistent future lawyer.
“Sapphira! I’ve just told you I don’t know! It has nothing to do with your packing. We are leaving in less than thirty minutes!”
“Well, how long did the last two uprisings last?”
“The last one lasted for about ten days, the one previous to that, before you were born, lasted about six months. Neither had presidents killed.”
“So, that is an average of ninety five days! I can’t possibly be expected to take one book with me to last for ninety five days! I need my CDs, my player, batteries, all these things. I cannot possibly exist without them!”
“Why did you ask for an MP3 player?” I ask her. “The whole reason for having an MP3 player is so that you can put all your CDs onto one small gadget. It is so much more transportable! Why haven’t you transferred your music? Why ask for something and then not use it? What’s the point?”
“Because I have other things to do as well, you know. Have you seen the number of books I still have to read? When you begin to read as much as I do, you will see that the time needed to transfer music is of much lesser importance!”
“Yes! And now, when you need to have your MP3, it’s empty. Useless. Very, very clever! Very forward thinking! You’ve just lost the case, lawyer Wiggins!”
“Luther! Sapphira! Enough! Time is running out and you two are bickering. Leave Sapphira alone so that she can pack. We are leaving at seven thirty!”
?
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At the moment, I really don’t care which airport is open or not. I’m much more concerned about having all our family together again. Ellie! We have to get Ellie. I watch my father and mother as they look at each other. Silently. Papa takes a deep breath. Then Ma’s on the phone again.
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Part Two – Chapter One
“……the unrest is spreading. It is moving southwards and our reporters in both Tomsdale and Chessletown speak of mounting tension, people gathering in the streets in the town centres and throwing stones at the few on duty police and passing motorists. The main roads from Queenville to Chessletown to the Ushquel border is rapidly becoming congested. Traffic is moving at snail’s pace as frantic families flee from the rioting.
Whilst the shadow cabinet, the Frees, are urging calm and an urgent invitation for dialogue with the Cartons, the Minister for Safety and Security, Mr Deekan Deekain broadcast a statement on Radio QV, the local radio station, urging Carton supporters to even the score of being the underdog for decades. He said “Everything and anything you do is legitimate if it avenges the untimely death of our beloved President Jameson Welter and rectifies the humiliation generations of Cartons have suffered at the hands of the Frees!”
Riot police are struggling to maintain order and stop people from looting and killing. I believe the army are being called to assist. The hospitals and clinics in Queenville are filling up with dozens of injured people, many with life threatening injuries. They are appealing urgently for blood donations….”
I notice our sleepy three year old brother Benedict curled up on the sofa, little red Mercedes Benz sports car clutched in his hand. He has to know everything, asking questions even when half asleep. Jolene, our housekeeper, is standing at the door, twisting her apron as she does when upset.
My heart stops.
“Ellie! What about Ellie?” My little sister.
“Right! Everybody. It is now 06.32. We leave for the airport to Singapore at 07.00 sharp. Hand luggage only! The bare essentials. We have everything at our home there, so please go and pack now! We’ll leave from Carton airport and pick up Ellie and Grandma Meertel on the way.” Papa deep bass rings out between phone calls, phoning and changing television channels.
“I knew she shouldn’t have slept over at Grandma Meertel’s last night! She should have been here, celebrating your wedding anniversary as a family! I just knew it! You should listen to me___”
Ma interrupts my seething retaliation. “Stop ‘shoulding’ Luther! Grandma Meertel is family as well! The decision was made yesterday and we cannot undo it now. Ellie is there and we are here. We will pick both of them up on our way to the airport. You know it’s only twenty minutes to Carton.”
Above this noise, my father is asking our housekeeper Jolene where we can drive her and her husband, our gardener, Jacob?
“We stay right here, Dr Frederick! We look after the house until you return.”
“Jolene, it may not be safe! The president has been killed. You’ve seen the pictures on the television. Big trouble. I want to lock up the house. Completely.”
“Dr Frederick, we stay in our place. This is home. Now, let me get some breakfast ready before you go and ___”
“Frederick! Frederick. Carlita is at Carton airport. Says there is mayhem there. Absolute panic. Planes are being delayed. Or being diverted. The planes that are there are fully booked. Expats have first priority. Foreigners out first. Parrish airport is less busy. Less foreigners here.”
“Angelina, we cannot go to Parrish airport. We have to collect Ellie!”
My sister Sapphira, the ‘all wise one’ pipes up. “Why can’t Papa and Luther go to Carton to pick up Ellie whilst Ma, Benedict and I go to Parrish airport and get the tickets and everything? Surely ___”
“NO! No! NO! We can’t split the family up even more! We stay together! We all go to Carton to fetch Ellie. More planes will come, won’t they, Papa?” I ask tentatively.
“Yes, son, we hope ___”
“Frederick! I’ve just spoken to Chandler, Chiya and Kiaran. They are returning to Parrish. They cannot even get into Carton airport. Those who had rushed to the airport at 10 o’ clock last night when the news broke, are only leaving now ___”
“Why didn’t you know? Why didn’t anyone phone us last night? Why ___”
I’m interrupted by my father’s deep bass. “OK! First things first. Pack. Breakfast. Pick up Ellie. Return here to Parrish airport ___”
“Frederick! That was Keith. Parrish airport is closed as well.”
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BENDY ELEPHANT
First extract from Chapter One
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New life, new healing. Spring has arrived! So too new life: chirping birds, blossoms, sunshine.
My book is at the publishers. Called “Bendy Elephant”. Herewith a synopsis of the book that is fiction based on fact.
The Wiggins family is forced to flee their comfortable lifestyle at the start of civil war. This disruption only adds to the dilemmas of 14 year old Luther. He is having enough difficuties with his 12 year old ‘know it all’ sister as well as all the adolescent changes occurring in his life. Despite this, the core of his life is his family. Throughout all the challenges that befalls them, his main aim is to keep the family together.
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