|
"Laura's Dream" |
| Copyright Francis Blow, 1986. |
| CHAPTER 1 |
| One face studied another from a distance of a few centimetres. Large, brown eyes scrutinised golden-brown skin for any blemish, and antiseptic cream was dabbed onto a few pimples which were nearly invisible. The mirror guided Laura's hand as she waged war on every teenager's foe. |
| "Some birthday," Laura sighed. There was no way she could go out to celebrate with her friends. Tonight she had to sit with Joey, because their parents had rushed off to the Chengs' place. Laura wondered if all the phone calls had anything to do with Jem, but when she had tried to ring her best friend, the Chengs' phone had been busy. |
| "Jemimah Cheng, if you don't call me on my birthday, I'll never forgive you!" She wondered what had happened to her girlfriend, whom she had not seen all afternoon since school. |
| "Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me true and tell me all. What was so urgent? Did something happen to Jem? Mum wouldn't say anything... Listen, wartface, why is my fourteenth birthday all stuffed up? I had it all planned, did all the right things at school. I played it cool all day, then when I get home everyone acts as if I'm dead or something. Now I'm stuck with the Brat, just when I was getting ready to rage with the girls." She slumped down, not bothering to use the proper words to end the magic-mirror spell she had invented years before. Laura had already called Sarah and Rachael earlier, her other two best friends, from Guides, because she had to cancel their night out, ice-skating at Frogy's. |
| Laura pulled the towel off her head, and began to brush the long, brown hair. Her hands worked the brush automatically. Laura was very proud of her hair, because her dad said it was her best feature. The time consuming routine usually made Laura impatient, yet, this time, it relaxed her. |
| "Why can't it be like in the olden days again, and I could be a princess? Then knights and princes rescue me and joust for my hand." She put the brush down and looked around the pink and white bedroom. "I hate pink. Slaves! Paint it... blue!" |
| Her arms gestured to invisible servants. Nothing changed. |
| As Laura overlooked her domain, her eyes settled on a long, white nightdress, where it lay on the bed, amidst torn wrapping paper. She changed out of her pajamas and danced around the room, a beautiful princess in a swirling gown of silk and gossamer. Around her slender neck hung a triple string of pearls that her grandmother had mailed for her birthday, from somewhere overseas. |
| The dreamy smile on Laura's lips vanished as Joey's shout brought her back to reality. |
| "I'm frightened! Mummy, where are you?" |
| Laura ran to her little brother's room, where the confused boy was half out of bed. She sat next to him and cuddled him. |
| "Oh, what a sad, sad face! Did you have a bad dream, Joey? Tell me what happened." |
| His bottom lip trembled as his clung tighter to her. Laura started crooning, swaying gently to soothe him. As his body relaxed, she carried him down to the kitchen and sat him on the bench. |
| "Would you like some milk?" |
| A slow nod answered her, and two blue, forlorn eyes watched her get a carton from the fridge. Minutes later, Joey was back in bed; under one arm he held the bear Laura had given him two years earlier. He curled up against his sister, who rocked him to sleep. Laura could remember when the bear had comforted her, many years before. Like the necklace, it had been a present from Gran. |
| Gentle breathing told Laura Joey was all right, so she crept out and headed for the living room. As she passed her parents' room however, Laura glimpsed a dazzling image in the full length mirror. The sight made her turn into the room to look more closely at the larger mirror. Yesterday, she had been a gangling thirteen year old, but today she was the image of a sophisticated woman of fourteen. Laura lifted her chin defiantly, and the swell of her white gown was enough to make her feel grown up. Soon she would be married to some handsome doctor or maybe an airline pilot, have some kids of her own and a bedroom like this. |
| As she surveyed the room, and imagined it as her own, Laura's attention was drawn to several open envelopes on the bed, where her mother had dropped them in her haste to go to the Chengs' house. |
| After a moment's reflection, Laura thought some of the mail might have been her own, arriving as it had on her birthday. Her curiosity drove her to pick up the three envelopes. There were two bills, which she ignored, and a business envelope containing a single sheet of pale blue paper. |
| "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Shell, |
| It is with regret that I must inform you of the |
| death of Mrs. Roman, Laura's natural mother..." |
| Laura's eyes widened and her face paled. Someone was making a joke. They had to be! |
| Trembling, she read further. |
| "...Mrs. Roman has succumbed to the illness that she |
| first contracted years ago in Sri Lanka. As you |
| have previously expressed the wish that Laura not be |
| advised of her parentage, no further communication |
| will be initiated by this office. |
| Mrs. Roman's estate has been willed to her |
| cousins..." |
| The rest of the letter was meaningless to Laura, who sat on the big bed. She stared at the paper. |
| Laura Roman, or Laura Shell? Her entire life had been a lie. |
| Adoption. |
| She had not been born to the Shells, and was not Joey's sister. An outsider. |
| Laura sat. She folded the letter and replaced it in its envelope, then put it down in such a way that her parents would know it had been moved. |
| "No," she said to the empty room. "Not my parents... But who am I? Who is Laura Roman?" |
| Her question ended with a sob, and she ran to throw herself on her own bed. Tears soaked her pillow, but no one was there to comfort her. Laura knew her real mother was dead, and would never hold her in her arms. |
