#4 Big Dreams

Following on from Pigs might fly

Opening the bottom drawer of Will’s bedside cabinet with force, Lizzy tipped it upside down. Papers, a half read novel, pens, an odd sock and fluff spilled onto the carpet. Turning over the draw the right way Lizzy looked inside, her fingernail picked at the corner of the drawer liner and lifted the sad patterned paper up. Her hands shook slightly with fear and excitement as she ripped at the envelope she found there.  This was real. Tearing it open she found the envelope contained an ATM card for the Bendigo bank.  Mr Stewart Boman was printed on the card. Lizzy also unfolded a computer print out giving  the details of the account. Will had added the pin number in red pen at the bottom. 1 9 6 2. Lizzy looked at these numbers for some time before she realised it was the year he was born in.

A door slammed. Jane was coming back inside. Lizzy sighed, stood up and while walking out of the room put the ATM card in her back pocket with the letter from Will. She closed the bedroom door behind her. Shutting out the mess there and the secrets she had discovered.

“I’ve put the dead rat in the bin, I put it in a garbage bag first though” Jane said as she came through the back door.” I had to toss those shoe box lids too, God I’ve just got to wash my hands “
“Sure, thanks for dealing with that” said Lizzy as she followed her sister into the bathroom
“How are you feeling now?” Asked Jane
Lizzy had to stop herself from saying ‘excited’, ”Oh um, I’m glad you’re here.” She managed
“You look a lot better than when I arrived, screaming like that really scared me.” Jane said as she scrubbed her hands. “Do you think you have an infestation of rats?”
“I hope not, but I doubt it, I’ve never seen any rat droppings around the place” said Lizzy, but she was really thinking that Will must have put the rat there so she would find the letters. Disgusting but effective.

Lizzy‘s mind thought about all that money. $300,000 in an account she could access. It was an exciting prospect and a temptation, she could fulfil the dream they had to travel the world on a round the world ticket. Will and her had big plans years ago to go to New York and London. They would also have loved to have visited France, China and Japan. But the September 11 terrorist attack had them rethink their plans and they went to the Whitsunday islands instead. With this money they could go, their big dream could become real.

But then Lizzie remembered something. Her shoulders dropped and her face fell. Will was dead. His letter had brought him back to her, his message to her made him real, tangible, alive and healthy again. Sharing his secret with her made him alive.

Lizzy left Jane in the bathroom, went to the bedroom, and stepped over the mess of shoes, shoe boxes and odd socks opening up Will’s closet. A stale dead rat smell remained. Lizzy pulled out his best black suit and took it to the living room hanging it on the curtain rail. She opened the window to get some fresh air on it. Then walked across the open plan room to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She got two cups out, not three. One tea bag would do, neither of them liked tea strong.

The suit hung, its presence changed the feel of the room. It moved in the breeze. It caught Lizzy’s eye and made her check it was only a suit black and moving by the window. She didn’t want to go anywhere without Will. The dream lay in tatters in her mind. That future path was a dead end. Will had said to her many times in hospital. “Don’t stop living when I’m gone, you have a future without me, I can’t bear the thought of you being miserable and depressed when I’m not here.” That’s a lot easier to say than do, she thought. The kettle whistled and bought Lizzy back into the room.

Jane’s fresh hands poured the water. Steam lifted from the cup. Jane looked up at the suit,”He looked great in that suit.” she said
“Do you think the smell of dead rat will come out?”Lizzy asked
“There isn’t really time to get it dry cleaned, how about we spray it with some linen water?” Jane suggested.
“Or we could use some of his aftershave, he loved that Hugo Boss one.” Lizzy said
“Did he want an open casket?” Jane asked
“No he didn’t, so the rat smell won’t really matter” Half not believing her own ears as she spoke, but she thought it was probably apt that Will should be cremated smelling of rat since he had kept such a big secret from her.
Jane coughed up a bit of tea, “Really Lizzy are you sure.”
“No I’m not sure of anything anymore.”Lizzy said
After a long silence Jane said “Just take each day at a time.”

Continued at Magic E