The Tide Turns
UPLIFTING SHORT STORY WRITTEN BY CHRISTINE SUTTON
This beach hut – and its occupants – had come to mean so much to Helen…
Helen sat listening to the soft push and tug of the waves through the beach hut’s half-open door.
The noise reflected the ebb and flow of her emotions. A lingering sunbeam lit the fisherman’s net at the window, making the shells she’d woven into it glisten in the half-light. Spotting Freddie Teddy peeping from the folds, her thoughts drifted back to the night young Jamie had found her crying on the steps outside.
She’d quickly dashed away the tears as he’d offered comfort in the sweetest
of ways.
“You can cuddle Freddie, if you like,” the five-year-old had whispered, holding out a small blue teddy. Touched by the little boy’s faith in the ability of a plush
toy to put things right, she’d given the bear a hug.
“Thank you. I feel much better now.”
If only that were true. How wonderful it would be if the pain of Steve’s betrayal with a former girlfriend – “a moment’s madness, Helen, over almost before it began!” – could so easily be erased.
Hurt and confused, she’d packed a bag and driven to the coast and the cosy familiarity of the candy-striped beach hut inherited from her grandmother. Here, she could lick her wounds and decide what to do next. That’s when the little boy had appeared, offering solace in the only way he could.
“Everything OK?” another voice had asked, just as she was handing the teddy back.
“The lady was crying, Daddy, so I gave her Freddie to hug.”
The man had ruffled his son’s dark curls.
“That was kind, Jamie. Would a coffee help, too?” he’d asked, turning his calm brown eyes to Helen.
“Actually, I think it might.”
“I’ll get the kettle on. That one’s ours.” He’d pointed along the beach to a hut painted pistachio green. “My name’s Neil, and this is Jamie.”
“Helen,” she’d supplied, getting to her feet.
“OK, Helen, when you’re ready…”
By the time she’d repaired her make-up and run a comb through her hair, the man called Neil was setting two coffee mugs on a fold-up table outside his hut. Once again, she’d found herself sitting on steps, this time chatting to a softly spoken man while his son played at their feet.
“Are you making a castle, Jamie?” she asked, watching him tip sand from a bright-yellow dumper truck onto a growing mound.
“Yes, just like Daddy makes,” he said, patting it into shape.
“I build houses, Jamie, not castles,” his father laughed.
“Well, our homes are supposed to be our castles,” she reasoned. “And actually, when your world’s falling apart, a drawbridge sounds pretty appealing.”
Neil’s raised brows showed his interest, but he didn’t push for details, instead confiding something personal of his own.
“I know what you mean. Jamie’s had a tough time of it lately, too. We lost his mum to cancer last year.”
Her heart squeezed.
“Not just Jamie, then,” she murmured. “Does he remember her much?”
“Oh yes, and I try to reinforce those memories all the time,” Neil said firmly. “We’ve been staying with Laurie’s mother this month. She’ll be here soon to take him home for tea. I sit on for a while and let the sea weave its magic, then I go back ready to tell him the latest instalment of Freddie Teddy’s adventures in faraway lands.”
“Sounds wonderful. Lucky boy.”
Neil pursed his lips, implying that luck was relative. Seeing his grandmother approaching, Jamie scrambled to his feet and pushed Freddie Teddy into Helen’s hands.
“In case you need another cuddle,” he explained.
“Oh, thank you, darling,” she said, giving him a goodnight hug. “I’ll look after him, I promise.”
She stood with Neil, watching as Jamie ran to meet his grandmother.
“He’s a sweetheart,” Helen said quietly.
Thank you. There’s a lot of his mum in him.
“His daddy, too, I think.”
With night falling, they’d gone inside for a glass of wine, and by the time they parted an hour or so later they both knew they’d be seeing a lot more of one another.
Now, two years on, here she was back in the hut, pondering her future again. Hearing voices, she sat up. The door opened and in hurtled Jamie.
“Daddy says I’m going to have a baby brother,” he said excitedly, scrambling onto what remained of Helen’s lap. “So, I’ve bought him this.”
He held up a teddy, identical to Freddie, but a lighter blue. Helen’s eyes misted. It hadn’t been easy, moving on from the divorce, but now, with Neil’s ring on her finger and Jamie greeting the news of a sibling so ecstatically, she felt the tide had turned at last.
Read more uplifting short stories:
Read A Bicycle Built For Two, Old Friends, Curtains Up, plus many more in our archives.
