Hey love, pull up a chair cause Ive got a story for you, and Im telling it like were sitting over a cuppa.
Charlies sweet childhood came to an abrupt end when he was just five. One morning his mum and dad didnt show up to collect him from Little Learners. All the other tots were already paired off with their parents, but little Charlie was still at the table, drawing himself, mum and dad with crayons. The nursery nurse kept glancing his way, wiping his cheek now and then for some reason. Then she scooped him up, pressed him close and said, Whatever happens, you dont have to be scared, Charlie. Youve got to be brave now. Got that, love?
I want my mum, he whispered.
Your aunt and uncle will be here in a minute. Youll go with them, Charlie. Therell be lots of other children, just dont cry. She pressed her damp cheek to his and, after a quick hug, led him by the hand to the car. When Charlie asked when hed be given back to his mum, they told him that his parents were far away and couldnt pick him up that day. He was placed in a shared dormitory with other boys his age. His parents never turned up not the next day, not the day after. The little lad was terrified, cried himself to sleep, and his fever spiked.
A few days later, Aunt Margaret, the lady in the white coat, sat him down after hed recovered. She told him his parents were now up in the sky and couldnt come down, but they were always watching over him, everybody knew about him, so hed better behave and stay healthy so they wouldnt be upset. Charlie didnt buy it. He stared up at the clouds and saw only birds and mist. He decided to find a way to reach them.
He started scouring the garden on his walks, and eventually spotted a narrow gap behind a hedge. The fences iron bars were crooked, and he could only squeeze halfway through. He began digging a small tunnel, the soil loose and sandy. After a bit, where the bars were farthest apart, a hole opened. Charlie slipped through and found himself free. He bolted away from the grim childrens home the other boys called it the shelter but he didnt know the city and soon got hopelessly lost. He needed to find his own house, yet every street looked the same.
At a crossing he saw a woman who looked strikingly like his mum a polkadot dress, a tidy bun of light hair. Mum! he shouted, sprinting after her. She didnt hear him and kept walking. He lunged, grabbed her arm, and cried, Mum! She stopped, crouched, and looked at him closely. No, youre not my boy, she said gently. That was Eleanor, a twentyyearold whod fallen headoverheels for James years ago. Theyd met on a summer dance floor; hed shyly asked her for a slow dance, theyd chatted, and he never left her side. Three months later they were married, living as a pictureperfect pair. After three years Eleanor discovered she couldnt have children. James struggled with the news, and they endured endless scans and trips to health resorts. Eventually they accepted that a baby wasnt in the cards, and James mentioned that they could adopt a child from the local baby home.
Eleanor loved James so much she offered him a divorce, thinking they were both still young at thirty. James wasnt willing to give up; he swore hed never leave her. So Eleanor hatched a plan: she told James she no longer loved him and that she had a lover. James didnt believe her. The next night she didnt come home; she returned at dawn smelling of wine and mens cologne. When James pressed for details she kept insisting shed found a new man, and eventually he agreed to a divorce.
When Charlie called out to Eleanor, shed already been two months into the split, feeling low, missing James, and worrying about his whereabouts. Suddenly a stranger shouted Mum! and her heart leapt. Whats wrong, love? Are you lost? she asked softly. Im looking for my mum and dad. They said theyre in the sky, but I dont believe it, Charlie sobbed. Come on, I live just down the road. Ill get you some nice scones, alright? She took his hand and led him away. Back at her flat, Charlie devoured the scones shed bought, washing them down with hot tea steeped with redcurrants. He told her everything how older boys had snatched his sweets and nicknamed him, sometimes giving him a nasty slap.
Eleanors heart melted. Charlie, would you like to stay with me? Well live together, and when youre older youll understand. One day youll meet your parents, just not today. He nodded eagerly. She rang the childrens home, reported the find, and fetched him herself. She spoke with the staff, urging them to watch the other kids more closely, and visited Charlie every day. She couldnt adopt him; she had a job, a flat, but no husband, and a solo adult rarely gets a child adopted. She regretted the divorce, yet didnt know how to win James back.
So she struck a deal with a work colleague, Stan, for a sham marriage. Stan had just finalized his own divorce, was a bit of a charmer but a solid professional, and could get her a proper workplace certificate. He hesitated at first, then agreed for a price. Eleanor liked Stan, but she still loved James and couldnt picture anyone else. One evening, when she went to check on Charlie, she found a bruised mark under his eye the older boys had taught him a lesson for tattling. The staff, instead of helping, had whispered about Eleanors talks with the home. She realised Charlies future was looking grim.
The next day Eleanor accepted Stans proposal. On Saturday she cooked a dinner, slipped into a red dress (as Stan had requested), lit candles and waited. She felt a bitter knot in her throat, but shed promised to protect Charlie. The doorbell rang; she trudged to the door, halfexpecting the worst. To her shock, standing there was James, eyes red, fists clenched. Ive been watching you, Ellie. Ive never seen anyone else come in or you leave, he said. At that moment the lift doors burst open and Stan tumbled out, bouquet in one hand, a bottle of champagne in the other. Ellie, love, its me James flushed, turned on his heel and rushed down the stairs.
James, wait! This isnt what you think, let me explain! Eleanor shouted, chasing after him. He leapt into a tram and sped away. She returned home tearful, ushered Stan out, and wondered how Charlie would survive.
Two years later, Charlie stood proudly on the school assembly line with his classmates. He wore a crisp blazer, a crisp white shirt, and clutched a massive bouquet for his teacher. His parents and little sister, Millie, were in the audience. Millie was a chatterbox, constantly perched on Dads shoulders. Their mum wore the same polkadot dress Eleanor had once owned. The family now consisted of Eleanor, James, and a foster child theyd taken in.
Turns out Stan wasnt such a scoundrel after all. He met James, explained everything, and cleared the air. The very next day James burst into Eleanors office, grabbed her hand and rushed to the registry office. Lets get married again, for Charlies sake, he said. They did, and they kept visiting the childrens home, bringing gifts and treats. They adopted Millie the moment she entered the system.
Mom, Dad, I promise Ill study hard, Charlie whispered, eyes lifted to the heavens. Dont be angry that I have new parents. I love them, but theyre temporary until I can meet you again. He knew his biological mum and dad had died in a car crash; their graves were at the local cemetery. Yet on Sundays he attended the churchs Sunday school and felt the skys gentle presence.
Eleanor had once refused to see Jamess side, but fate had other plans, and she married him again. And everyone, in the end, found a little piece of happiness.
Love you, talk soon.