The Tall Tale of Carniggy House.
Tom in a Northern Town.. 7.
Cora’s thirteenth birthday… 2
Now Cora is rather insular at times, and enjoys her own company all to often, not that I mind too much. Cora loves to paint and draw, although at times I can make no sense of what the subject matter is, on questioning her, she will explain that they are about her mothers land, which makes even less sense than what I actually think I see in them.
Some of the pictures are of our garden in bloom, but the flower heads always appear a little blurred to me, but Cora informs me that that is because they represent faeries unseen. Faeries I think to myself, that’s all I need, my visions although not as bad nowadays, still pop up sometimes to make me nervous, and I notice that they are worse when Cora misses her mum. Amongst her paintings though there is often a strange clown or maybe a fool, these pictures are not nice, which is strange as all the others are lovely scenes, or illustrations of flowers and animals. Cora’s art teacher had approached me one parent and teacher session, to suggest that perhaps Cora should think of art college, and when I had mentioned the odd clown pictures, she’d told me that was probably Cora’s frustrations surfacing, as in her words, ‘she’s a very deep young woman’… I’d never thought of Cora as a woman before, and so now I was looking at her in a new light.
I had no idea when I conceived the idea, that Cora’s thirteenth birthday would be such a great event, I had mentioned to her about a party as she was to become a teenager, something most children took to be a great move away from childhood. I did however worry that she might not have enough friends for a good party, what with her spending so much time on her own. Cora loved the idea, and asked if the party was to be at home, my thoughts had been along the lines of using a McDonalds, but Cora said she wanted it to be at home. As Cora’s had been born in the early summer, I saw no reason to deny her, as we could fete it in our back garden, thereby keeping the house tidy. When I asked if I should move out for that afternoon, she quickly reassured me that I was welcome, and Cora pointed out that I would be doing the party food.
It turned out when I got around to making a list of her friends, that she had quite a few, so I also then made a serious list of food. Once Autumn had left, most of our food has to be bought from the corner shop more often than not, I did however, and not without a little help from Cora, manage to use some of our own garden produce still. The garden itself however still flourish’s, and so holding the party in the garden for a bunch of mostly adolescent girls would I believed be fun.
So here we are on the day of Cora’s birthday, most of Cora’s friends had arrived, and there is already a fair amount of noise coming from the back garden, not that I mind. I had with Cora’s not inconsiderable help, prepared most of the birthday food the day before, and now in a sleepy way, sat in my armchair in the lounge, I am listening to the parties frolics in full swing. I suddenly hear the front door bump, but from where I am sitting I couldn’t see the hallway, but I guessed it is one of the youngsters fooling about, and then think nothing more about it. About five minutes later a sudden rumpus seems impinges on my consciousness, and I wonder if there is some sort of argument going on, after all teenagers can be quite brittle at times..!
I get up out of the armchair, and very reluctantly start to make my way to the backdoor out of the kitchen, and into the garden. I’ve just stepped into the hallway when I am bowled over by something as large as me, something which leaves me with an impression of red, grey and orange, something with which looks like a clownish face. This impression leaps to the stairs, and then disappears up them at a furious rate, followed by the slamming of Cora’s bedroom door..! I am startled to say the least, but thought it to be one of Cora’s friends in fancy dress, and so I carried on out to the garden, there I find a lad on his bottom, with Cora tending to his eye, the rest of the parties guests are huddled by the shed.
On enquiring as to what is going on..? Cora quite rudely tells me that the ‘Clown’ I have ordered has been a mistake, and that it had blacked this young mans eye when he’d tried to steal a birthday kiss from her very lips.
‘Clown…!’ I ordered no clown, I thought he was one of your friends come in fancy dress.. It was then I remembered he’d not left the house, and quickly made my way to the foot of the stairs. Now Cora sleeps upstairs in the one bedroom, and I sleep on the couch in the lounge, so when the apparition of a clown went up the stairs two at a time, I thought nothing off it, but now I am cautious of just who just might be up there. I’ve climbed about halfway up the stairs when I heard a noise from behind me, and I look back, to find both Cora and her black eyed friend watching from the kitchen door, I put a finger to my mouth, telling them to be quiet, and then suddenly feeling braver in knowing that my daughter is watching, I make my way to the top. Once on the tiny landing, I see that there are a few scattered leaves, and one of our white painted walls appears to have grease paint smeared upon it, but other than that, I see nothing out of place.
From beneath the Duvet 