THE FERALS

By Tessa Harvey

Alice saw what was happening and stepped back sadly. Sophie was very upset and none of Alice's explanations satisfied her. "I thought we were all going to be a family," the child lamented. Secretly Alice had hoped for that one day and had been resolving to reveal more serious interest in Jake. Now she felt it was too late. No more "Alice in Wonderland". Her dad had often teased her about her "romantic" dreams and ideals.

But she had never wanted a casual relationship and then she had met Gareth, who had shared her ideals.

Alice had never regretted her marriage to Gareth. Perhaps she had been dreaming again, thinking of someone else. Yet she had talked once with Gareth about the possibility of one of them dying early. He had asked her to consider re-marrying if anything happened to him.

Thinking it just a joke, Alice had laughed, but promised all the same. He was so fit, so healthy. He had gone to China, to a place called Wuhan, on a business trip. One night he called on the phone to talk to her and Sophie and said he had a bit of a gastro bug. Nothing to worry about. "I'll be home in a few days." 

That had been their last conversation. For days she had called and texted him. Finally she was told he was dead. He had died the day after his phone call to her. For weeks, Alice had stumbled around like a zombie. Her parents and friends did everything for and even the funeral was a blur. 

Finally she had broken down and cried and cried until there were no tears left. Then she had picked up Sophie and the pieces of her life and moved on.

Slowly life returned to a semblance of normality and gradually Alice learned to laugh again. She loved working with children and interacting with her colleagues, except for Jill Heslop, she thought with a trace of bitterness. But she knew better than to let that kind of poison take root. Instead she prayed for a way through this, and even for Jill.