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War of Water
cc&d, v282
(the April 2018 issue)

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War of Water

Bleeding Heart

Norm Hudson

    I died this morning at 05.30. My soul left my body and flew to the lands of Venus, Mercury and Uranus. There’s blood on the ground. But I think I died weeks before from a bleeding heart.
    I’d been a prisoner for years. Behind bars. I’d got used to it. Resigned myself to it. To the fixity of the daily routine. There could be no deviation from it. Wake up. Eat. Watch the people passing by. No one noticing me. No one caring.
    The first few years I tried to grab attention by standing close to the bars and calling out. But I stopped. I saw how useless it was. The blistering blue sky and the searing sun didn’t help. I just wanted to be out there. In it. Free.
    Freedom was all I ever wanted.
    How did I get here?
    Trouble had always trailed me around. Even when I didn’t want it to. As the years passed, I didn’t often venture up to the bars. I retreated. Got used to the solitary confinement. Got used to the lack of communication.
    Until that day.
    She wasn’t young. But then I was no spring chicken. I remember her blonde hair floating in the soft breeze. She was wearing some sort of floaty organza beachwear. And she stopped. Right outside the bars of my cell. She started to speak. Of course I couldn’t understand a word of it. She wasn’t Greek like me. But I must admit I was curious. I moved forward a little. She seemed pleased. She said something else but when I didn’t respond, she moved off. That was when I felt the first pang. Like someone had plucked a string of my heart.
    The days changed after that. I looked forward to them. The sun was still searing and the sky was still a blistering blue. But I had something to look forward to. For the first time in my life. Me. A tough old jailbird like me. I was up at the bars by the time she left her hotel and crossed the road. I knew she’d stop. And she’d speak. It took me a few days to get up the courage but I spoke back. She didn’t understand what I was saying. But then there are other ways of communicating, aren’t there?
    I got cocky. More confident. With every day that passed. For the first time in my life I’d found someone who understood me. Someone I could communicate with. I knew she didn’t like to see me caged up. I felt it. The feeling got stronger after the days that followed. But even I was surprised by what she did.
    I saw her every day for two weeks. Then she didn’t come. But I saw her. Through the bars of my cell. She was leaving the hotel. But not walking towards me. She was climbing into a 4X4 parked outside the hotel. A tall, handsome grey-haired Greek (I can always spot a Greek) was holding open the door for her. My heart jangled with jealousy. It took me completely by surprise. He shut her in and loaded something long into the boot.
    I didn’t see her all day.
    The sky was sunset orange and the light had almost gone when I saw her. I’d been up at the bars of my cell all day unable to believe she preferred that Greek to me. She wasn’t that kind of woman. She was a faint shadow slipping down the steps of her hotel and crossing the road to me. She hadn’t forgotten me. She’d learned that guy was a waste of time. Her voice was soft. Low. Oh, how I wished I’d known what she said. But I was just so glad to see her.
    The light was fast fading and darkness was descending. Her hand reached up to the bars of my cell. For a second or two I felt her touch and then she was gone.
    I couldn’t sleep all night. Drips were dropping from my heart. I was bleeding. Inwardly. And I couldn’t stop it. All I could think about was her.
    Daylight dawned slowly. I still don’t know how she did it. But the door to my cell was open. I was free. She’d given me my freedom. I got out of there fast, I can tell you.
    I’d got what I’d always wanted. To be free.
     But it wasn’t what I wanted. Freedom was meaningless. Everything was meaningless. Without her. I had to find her. I hung about the hotel but there was no sign of her. It was as I was leaving I spotted the 4X4 in the car park. She hadn’t gone with him? There was only one way to find out. I hid in the bushes by the car park and waited. It was barely light. He came out alone. My heart hammered. He was more handsome than I remembered. What chance did I have? He opened the boot and put the same long thing in it then climbed into the driver’s seat. I followed him for miles until he pulled up outside a house. He tooted on the horn and she came running out. My heart leapt when I saw her even though she was dressed strangely. No longer the floaty beach cover-up but clothes that would have covered a man better.
    She didn’t look happy.
    What was she doing with this jerk? I thought.
    She climbed into the 4X4 and they sped off. I followed them for miles until they turned into a car park filled with other men carrying long things. They got out of the 4X4. She seemed reluctant. Her hand was on his arm. The one carrying the long thing. She didn’t seem to want him to have it. He laughed and pointed at the sky that was slowly turning from black to blue.
    He pulled the case off the long thing, threw it on the ground and put the long thing to his shoulder.
    The thunder that reverberated from the long thing disturbed a flock of birds still asleep in a clump of nearby trees. They soared into the sky. The grey haired Greek gripped the long thing tightly and tracked their path. There was a bang. One of the birds broke rank and crumpled to the ground. The man opened the boot of the 4X4 and a Springer Spaniel dog jumped out. He shouted at him and the dog ran off and returned with the lifeless body of a bird in its mouth.
    She was upset. And so was I.
    What an animal!
    She started shouting at him. In Greek. I was surprised. I didn’t know she spoke any.
    “Ohi! Ohi!” she screamed.
    The other men laughed at her.
    I had to comfort her. Let her know she was right. They were wrong. I moved over to be near her. She who had given me my freedom. She who loved me. And she who I loved. She looked shocked then alarmed. She bent down, put her fingers under my feet and picked up my small yellow body.
    “Canary! Escaped Canary!” shouted the Greek guy in English.
    Her elbow jerked, I lost my grasp of her and I flew upwards. Beyond their reach. I hadn’t escaped. I’d just been a prisoner. Like they were. All of them. Prisoners of ignorance. Prisoners of arrogance. Prisoners of stupidity. Except her. She knew what freedom was. The freedom to love. Love everything and everyone. And set yourself free. I’d been so lucky to know her. I knew that now as I soared over her head singing the sweetest song I could.
    I didn’t see him sight his gun.
    I only heard her cry of pain.
    “Oh————————————iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”
    My soul left my body and flew to the lands of Venus, Mercury and Uranus this morning at 05.30. There’s blood on the ground. And on hands.
    But all I can see is her.
    Slowly dying from a bleeding heart.



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