A Link With The Past

As it's coming up to Halloween tomorrow evening, I thought I would write this short story and at the same time ask you if you have ever felt whilst sitting alone that you had company... yet you couldn't explain it?  This story say's exactly that..

The two girls arrived home, it was later than they expected. They were both exhausted and very cold, due to the car breaking down.. they ended up walking home. On arrival, Sheila removed the soiled dishes, from the early morning breakfast table and took them into the kitchen. As Sheila entered the kitchen a wee mouse scuttled across the bench heading for a safe haven...
       Meanwhile Sue cleaned out the ashes from the fire, re-set it, then put a match to the paper. The fire went out immediately. Sue decided a little paraffin or petrol might do the trick and went to look in the shed. She wasn't away long before returning with a can which she poured over the kindling sticks. Then striking a match she quickly threw it into the centre of the fire, at that same moment she leaped backwards followed by a belching cloud of grey-black smoke. "Veroomff'' came the sound as the flames shot up the chimney. Soon the fire was blazing. Sue built it up and brushed the hearth clean.  She stood up feeling proud with herself, when suddenly she heard an almighty scream from the kitchen, next came a banging and clattering sound and moments later ..  Sheila appeared with a large meat knife in one hand and a bright-red disgruntled face screaming, "If that mouse eats another piece of my bread I'll personally chop it's head off.. if I catch it.. she shouted.'
Sue was horrified as she loved all animals, and the thought of harming them made her want to cringe. She immediately dismissed the thought..

The cottage felt cold as they came through the front door but they were both chatting about the car and Sue said, she would contact the garage first thing in the morning. They re-heated the chips they had bought on their way home and sat huddled round the hot fire as they listened to the news on the television. Sheila, kept changing the channels looking for something of interest. They both decided to put the heaters on in their bedrooms and fill their hot water bottles. Sue put the kettle on and once boiled filled both bottles and placed them in each bed. They watched a film which Sheila had been given for her birthday. When it finished Sue decided it was time to get showered and ready for bed.  Sheila said, she would see if there was anything else on television. Sue came out of the bathroom in her pyjamas ready for bed and as she walked past the living room, she popped her head around the door, Sheila was switching off the television. Sue called out, "Goodnight!" and she made her way into her bedroom and closed the door behind her...
                        The air seemed chilly which she thought was strange after all the heater had been on a good few hours or more.  She decided she would leave the heater on but would turn it down a little. Sue climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over her shoulders and cuddled the bottle which was still quite hot. A short while later she heard the living door open and her friend's feet creaking on the floor boards as she made her way to her bedroom, calling "Goodnight, see you in the morning, Sue", Then silence fell upon the little cottage.

Sue lay on her side hugging the water-bottle, enjoying the heat and thinking over her day as she wondered, why her car had just stopped for no apparent reason. At that moment the temperature in the room seemed to drop quite rapidly. Her first reaction was, the heater had gone off. She lifted her head out from under the bed covers and was surprised to see the red bars from the heater burning brightly. Then she felt the air go very cold in fact she could see her breath in the air. Sue decided the temperature must have dropped drastically outside and that was the reason it had become so so cold.  She closed her eyes to try and sleep...  Then as if from nowhere she heard voices, first of all it sounded like two voices one was a high pitched voice while the other was deeper tone as though a man was speaking. She held her breath so that she could listen...  She just couldn't make out what they were saying. Moments later, Sue heard soft music and then as if a crowd of people had walked into a room a sound like gabbling geese filled the air  drowning out the soft background music... Sue was wide awake by this time, she wondered what the hell was going on and at that moment she heard the living room door being pushed open and footsteps in the hall way.. Her heart was pounding as she shivered with fear... what if they... what if it came into the room..  her room...' she heard her house-mate's bedroom door handle turn and the door open...
Aha she gave a gasp of relief it's only Sheila. Obviously, Sheila couldn't sleep and she has been listening to some music in the living room and has now gone back to her bed. She gives a nervous chuckle trying to convince herself that she had been letting her mind play tricks on her and the gabbling geese must have been "Wind up the lum". Eventually she began to relax and sleep finally found her..  She awoke early, dressed herself, put some toast in the toaster and the kettle on. By the time Sheila came through Sue was already sitting eating her toast and marmalade. Sheila walked over to the breakfast table and sat down opposite her. Sue, glanced at her and after swallowing a mouthful of tea said " Couldn't you sleep last night? You made plenty noise, did you have to put the television on so loud, it sounded as if you were having a party'. Sheila looked up from her bowl of cereal in surprise and said "Me, I said goodnight when I went to bed, I read my book for a short while, then I must have fallen asleep.' Sue couldn't believe her ears but she didn't want to sound foolish so she put it down to a strange dream.

It was about a month later that the girls arrived home from work both tired. They had lit the fire before they left and banked it up with dross to keep it alight until they arrived home.. They had their tea as usual and around 10 o'clock the said their Good night's and went to bed. The following morning Sheila was up early and when Sue came through to the living-room she noticed Sheila looking a little pale in the face. Sue jokingly said 'You look as though you have seen a ghost". Sheila replied, "What th' hell were you up to last night?  Couldn't you sleep? What was so important that you had to put the television on so loud in the middle of the night.. You must have left all the windows open too as it was freezing."...

Well what do you think happened that night??

Not alone

Statistics show  4% of the population suffer from a condition which causes problems when trying to make a cup of coffee, drinking a glass of wine, putting lipstick on, picking up a spoonful of soup, or using a knife and fork. This condition is known as Essential Tremor.

Since my childhood I had been unfortunate as I became ill with Viral Meningitis.  There was little known about the illness at that time.  In the years to follow I noticed a slight tremor in my hands.  I was told it was an after effect of the meningitis and that I should not talk about it to anyone or I might be put away.

I experienced my first real encounter with the disease when I was invited out to dinner with friends whom I had not known long. In the middle of the meal my hands started shaking and the food on my fork disappeared. At first the scenario was dismissed until I tried to take a sip from my glass.  My hands started shaking again and to control it, I tried to grip the glass between my teeth in the hope I would be able to stop it spilling.  There was complete silence across the table.  I have never forgotten that night so long ago, yet as if it happened yesterday. 


My doctor informed me that it was called a Benign Essential Tremor. I was also told it was an aging illness common in the elderly, I was unfortunate that I had acquired it at my age. I asked if I could have a second opinion and he arranged  an appointment with a neuro-surgeon in  Edinburgh.  After various tests, they confirmed that I had a Benign Essential Tremor.  At that point there was only one treatment available and that was Beta Blockers. I explained that I had tried the Beta Blocker and the side effect cut off my circulation. They advised me to try a 'nip of whisky'  Every cloud has a silver lining - I suppose!

Over the years I acquired access to a website which described the disease symptoms.  For those of you who have not heard of it. It is a neurological movement disorder, it is slow and progressive. The condition can affect you as a child or as an adult. It causes havoc with simple everyday routine. It may be mild with some people but is noticeable in the hands and upper limbs but can also cause problems to other parts of the body too.  I found it comforting to find out that I was not mad and I’m also not alone. 


I am glad to see that they have finally removed the word 'Benign' from the name of the condition is now known simply as 'Essential Tremor'. They felt that the word 'benign' took away the significance of the condition which can be very debilitating and can disrupt people's lives in a major way. Finally this condition is getting some recognition.


Have you suffered from Meningitis? Or do you know someone with similar symptoms as Essential Tremors? Feel free to send me you thoughts on the above. If you would like to comment about the above blog "Not Alone" please leave a comment in the box below or email me. I will try to reply to all your queries. Thank you for reading my blog.