Time Tells Tales: Tale Five - A Gift For All

By Stephanie Fletcher

Time Tells Tales

A Novel in Five Tales

Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900’s, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or ‘Tales’. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention.
The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales.

Angela’s Tale

A Gift For All.

This is the final Tale, set in 2008, in both England and Ireland. This Tale is about Angela's special gift, and how she learns to use it. How it helps to brings to a conclusion to all the secrets, scandals and lies which intricately wove the lives of these three family histories together.
Angela finally un-wraps the mystery that she had begun with her Granddad Jim, who sadly passed away, but Angela with her special insight and empathy made his passing memorable and peaceful as he returns to the arms of his loving wife.
Alfred's letter and journal’s came too late for Serena and Jim but with Angela's gift, she helps her family in ways no-one else can and they set out to solve the mystery of Catherine and Alfred's forbidden love and hopefully to find the lost child they never got to see.
As Angela is now a fully qualified a nurse as she feels her gift and her intuition is best used in the healing profession. Her most recent patient is a middle aged woman who was involved in a shooting and she was hit by a bullet which lodged near her temple in her brain. The woman had undergone surgery which was successful, but she was left in a coma for over ten years.
Angela gets messages and visions from her Grandparents, Jim and Serena, who help her find Catherine, her mother’s mother who she has never spoken about and finally revels to her family her past family life in Ireland. The evidence contained in Alfred’s journals and Catherine’s diary highlight the possibility that this woman in a coma might be related. Will they piece together who this woman is? Will she ever gain consciousness? Will Brian stand by her? Will Catherine survive the ravages of old age to finally hold her long lost daughter?
These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. This is the final tale of a family reunited on both sides of the veil. Time has truly told a Tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephanie Fletcher
• Release date: Apr 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310279515

Stephanie Fletcher

Biography (29 10 2012)I am a Mother and best friend to three girls. I truly love my life and every person who has ever touched it with unconditional love, and I am grateful for all their support in my endeavours. I am now a grandmother for the first time in October 2012 and I am sure inspiration will come for some children's stories! I have a website for publishing my writing and poetry. The web link is http://www.stephanie-fletcher.co.ukI started writing seriously after having a traumatic event in my life and having a nervous breakdown to boot. My physical and mental health suffered greatly and now six years later, hand on heart, I can honestly say I am not the self-driven OCD perfectionist I was before.I had a spiritual enlightenment, counselling, and time, lots of time on my hands. I could have quit, and sank deeper into depression but I didn't. I am lucky enough to have three wonderful caring and considerate daughters who witnessed my decent into hell and back, and a family who never left my side. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and hit life head on again like the Taurean bull I am.I had always written a journal of sorts, spasmodically, and the days of staring into thin air became times of inspiration. At first I was scared to show others my work. The last thing I needed was criticism that cuts you to the soul. I needn't of worried, only but a few people gave me critique that knocked my confidence and I began to grow as a writer.I am not very well educated, only secondary school and college at forty doing a creative writing course and gaining a certificate in counselling skills. I read a lot, anything and everything and I take notes everywhere, for use later in my work. I collect idioms and sayings, inspirational quotes etc and they all help. A voice recorder is handy for those nighttime ideas and I also read my work out loud, recording them and then playing back, as it is easier to see where something doesn't work. I have a programme called ‘dragon speak’ which types up my recordings and saves a lot of frustrating keyboard time, which does my arthritis no good! I like to do my original work long hand so I have a lot of A5 notebooks needing attention.Writing is never dull, or a job, I enjoy everyday I spend writing and often surprise myself at what comes out. I am now attempting my first Novel, called ‘Time Tells Tales’, a synopsis is on my website and the first book of the five tales is published as an e-book on Smashwords.com and is called ‘Alfred's Tale - Dead in a Ditch’. I have three collections of poetry and two short, novella type stories available as well, one of which is free, so go help your self to a copy!

Book preview

Prologue

The year is 2008, and it is currently October.

Death was always a sad affair to most people. Angela knew this and respected their grief, yet she could see the other side of the coin, beyond the veil that to most is hidden. This gift enabled Angela to reach out to the relatives of the dying, who had passed over, and bring them to their loved ones bedside.

She was always amazed how just before the moment of the last breath they would suddenly look at peace; some even spoke aloud to their family from across the divide, happy to see their parents or siblings who had come to collect their spirit.

In that moment all fear evaporated and they let go of their mortal ties, happy to move on. The family left behind did not see this, only but a few other enlightened souls could share in Angela's view of death as being reborn into spirit - our true form.

After the family had said their ‘goodbyes’ Angela would stay to do the time honoured traditions of laying out the corpse, the empty shell like remains. While she did this, she would chat away to any spirit who had remained behind, of the deceased relatives, while they thanked her for making the transition as peaceful as possible.

Sometimes her beloved Grandma Serena would come and say hello. Her Grandparents had never truly left her; she had always been able to see her Grandma since she was a little girl and had spent time with her Granddad Jim to help him with his grief when his wife passed over from cancer when she was only five years old.

She had helped him to acknowledge that his wife of fifty-two years was still around him, and it had been difficult as he was such a skeptic, but with her Grandma’s help and a special photo, they did it and changed his life. Jim was now seventy-eight years old, still alive, and kicking as much as his arthritis would allow him.

* * * * *

Angela never knew when somebody was going to die, but she did know how to comfort them in their last hours. After her basic nurse training, she had specialised in care of the elderly and terminally ill and she loved it – it was not a job, it was a vocation.

In October 2008, she was approached by a specialist unit in the Midlands near to where her parents lived in Lichfield. A National Health and privately sponsored research unit, which had been recently built. It took care of long-term coma patients, the chronically disabled and terminally ill.

Most would think it was a very depressing idea to put such an assortment of patients together but this was an innovative establishment that pioneered new, and some controversial ideas. Such as reiki, aromatherapy, acupuncture, meditation and so on and so forth, as well as having all the latest cutting edge medical equipment and operating theaters.

The newly appointed Matron knew Angela from Nursing College, where they had been friends, and she had heard of her gift with the terminally ill and dying. Therefore, she had put Angela’s name forward as a specialist nurse that she would like to hire and invited her for an interview.

This unique hospital included a Hospice unit, where terminally ill patient’s resided as well as those who were considered to be in a coma and not expected to survive. Angela was unsure about the post. She was very flattered her friend had thought of her but she was not sure what she had to offer a research unit in an area she did not know much about. It was nearer to her parent’s home though, so that was a plus.

Angela decided to research this new field of comas. She learnt there were many type’s of coma ranging from very deep, where there was no response to stimuli, or in shallower states where the patient can move, open their eyes and have some level of consciousness. She learnt that comas are graded on a scale called the Glasgow Coma Scale, and the score is calculated by the amount of response to stimuli, from 1, where there is no response to a maximum of 15, where a patient can move, speak, and open their eyes. Care for these long term coma patients constituted of palliative care – feeding, washing, turning them into other positions than lying flat on their backs to prevent bedsores, and physiotherapy to try and keep the muscles and joints from wasting away or seizing up solid causing deformities.

The unit she had been invited to visit and the job she would undertake was in the wing where the coma patients were in a persistent vegetative state, where the coma has been over six months and is commonly known as P.S.V. In this state, the coma patients had sleep-wake cycles, where there was no conscious awareness of self or their surroundings and when in this condition for a year or more, sadly - they very rarely recovered.

If she took this new position, her job would entail personal care of the patient’s she would be assigned to and their relatives, who were encouraged to visit as much as they wanted too. Most of this type of coma patients would be off ventilators and be able to breathe on their own, but some had to be fed by a feeding tube directly to the stomach, which had to be watched closely to prevent infection. The personal care would be a plan drawn up by the doctor’s, specialised nurses as herself, and other departments such as physiotherapy but uniquely, the relatives were a key part in the plan, as they would be expected to implement the coma stimulation programme.

This was a list of activities, simple ideas such as talking to the patient, or reading to them, helping them with bathing and feeding, and stimulating them with sensations such as touching, feeling, smells, and sounds. For those who opened their eyes, they would put on the television programmes they liked, photographs of familiar places or people they knew – it all sounded very exciting to Angela. Even though she found satisfaction in helping her dying patients crossover, it would be a refreshing change to try to make a difference to the life of someone alive but trapped in the undiscovered country of ‘Comas’.

The coma patient’s that did regain consciousness, which was very rare, a miniscule percentage, would lose mobility due to being in bed for so long. Muscles would de-condition, legs and arms would cramp and twist in a permanent distortion and there would be extensive neurological damage in many cases, where speech, co-ordination, and behavior would need to be addressed with therapy and counseling.

At present, she worked in a prestigious hospice in London, and she considered herself lucky to be offered this position straight out of nursing college, beating over thirty other applicants. She had been in the post for over a year, and owned a small one-bedroom flat thanks to the legacy from her Grandma Serena and some monetary help from her parents.

Angela had a good social life but there was no one serious in her life as regards husband material – she was far too busy enjoying life. Eventually after a lot of inward debating, she decided to book a few days leave and go home to see her parents, visit this Coma unit, and see her friend Ann, who was the Matron and had recommended her for the post.

* * * * *

A week later, she was in her beat up but reliable car her Dad had bought and fixed up for her. She was excited to be going home for a long weekend as it had been over six months since her last visit. Angela did not like being away from her post too long as she felt guilty about not being there for her patients who may pass over without the comfort that she could offer them.

She had just driven out onto the M1 when her Grandmother suddenly appeared in the car beside her, making her jump and nearly swerve into the next lane.

Grandma! For goodness sake, you could choose a better time to visit! I nearly joined you over there.

Sorry sweetheart… I didn't mean for that to happen, but I have important information that you need to be aware of.

Grandma Serena looked as she always did when visiting Angela - no wings or traditional halo and wearing white shiny robes, but she appeared as a typical pensioner, twin set and pearls with sensible shoes and her handbag clutched closely to her lest she lost it or was mugged! She appeared like this to Angela, as this was Serena's happiest memory of herself, when Angela was a newborn baby. She was only three weeks old when her Grandma had passed away from the cancer that took her life, but she had always known who her Grandma Serena was.

Angela had grown up being able to see, hear, and touch her when it was allowed by the powers that be, as her Grandma had explained. It made her childhood complicated and frustrating but she had survived it, even though she had been labeled ‘a strange child’ or being treated for psychological problems. Angela had a lot of therapy before her family accepted her gift for what it was. Serena would pop in, usually last thing at night or early in the morning when her parents still slept, and she would play with her, cuddle her, and teach her how to use her gift of second sight.

Angela I'm afraid I have some sad news for you… Granddad is nearing his time and I want you to be there. He is at home still, but time is running out for him. Could you go straight to him? Granddad Jim lived in the same town as her parents and usually when she made the trip home, she would go straight to her parent’s house first.

Oh no, Grandma! Really? It took a moment to absorb what her Grandma had said. Of course, I shall. Do Mum and Dad know?

I think they can sense he is not long for this world but as most children do, they are avoiding the subject.

Is Granddad aware?

Somewhat yes… he still speaks to me daily but he is tired all the time, and he's hiding his pain and fear from everyone else. He is such a stubborn man.

I remember, Grandma, please don't worry, I’ll not stop and go straight there to be with him.

"Thank you Angela. I knew you would. Your compassion and empathy are part of your gift and you use it well. Now there is a happier topic we need to talk of - the new job."

I should have known you'd know about it. Was it orchestrated from above? Angela replied tersely.

Now Angela, you know better than that. Free will, remember? Your life will follow the path you chose, with all the choices you made before you reincarnated – those destinies will happen regardless of free will, but everything else is up to you.

Mm, I know Grandma, but sometimes it feels like I am on train tracks, going wherever they go, regardless of my wants and needs. They both sat in silence for a moment. Grandma! Are you going to tell me about this new job then?

"Oh, sorry sweetheart, I got distracted - I really do not like motorways, they are so crowded, and too many accidents happen on them - I do worry for you. Now, let me see now… ah yes, this is important, Angela. A lot depends on your special gift and nursing ability. All the patients that you will be asked to look after will need your empathy, insight, and your gift. There will be something that will happen - a big event in all the research they are doing. I'm sorry I can't be more specific other than to tell you to follow your instincts and intuition over this."

Okay… it all sounds a little mysterious but I am going to take the post then? Angela sighed. Having this gift was such a responsibility and she wasn’t looking forward to moving and leaving the life she grown accustomed too.

Yes love, it is part of your destiny and I know it all sounds a bit of a riddle, but there is life-changing work for to you to do and a puzzle for you to solve.

Oh Grandma you do make me laugh! Am I to be Sherlock Holmes too?

More like Dr Watson. They both laughed.

Okay, I'll go along with it for now, but first Granddad. I must be there to help him… Mum and Dad are going to need me, and it looks like I am going to be very busy.

And don’t forget there are always rewards for your selfless commitment to others… perhaps there might be a special someone in your life soon?

What do you know? Come on… give me a hint, Grandma.

Angela felt her Grandma’s warming glow surrounding her and a soft kiss on her cheek but when she next looked - she had gone.

Grandma you always disappear so quickly, I never get chance to say goodbye!

Angela heard her Grandma’s voice in her head… Sweetheart, there are no goodbyes to say. I am always here for you, just prayer away. I love you my child.

Love you too, Grandma. Angel said aloud. It was a good job she had visited her in the car and not at the supermarket, like she had done several times before, making people stare at her talking to herself.

At times like these, Angela would put in her bluetooth earpiece and pretend she was on her mobile phone, and then at least the looks were less than when she appeared to be talking to someone who wasn't there!

* * * * *

Angela made her way quickly and as safely as she could, and went straight to her Granddad Jim’s. (Serena’s husband.) As soon as she pulled up, she rang her parents and brother, James, on her mobile and told them to come over straight away.

She knocked on the door, her knock getting increasingly louder and more intense, but no answer - was she too late? She made her way round the back of the old family home, where her father had been born and raised, and she herself had spent so many happy years with her beloved Granddad Jim. Luckily, the back door was open but the sight that met her was not good. Her Granddad lay on the kitchen floor unconscious, a plate of mashed potato, sausages, and peas were smashed and scattered all around him. Obviously last night's dinner… Angela thought.

Her training kicked in and she was soon on her knees checking his pulse, his breathing and looking for broken bones. He was alive – just. His breathing was shallow and pulse was rapid but no fractures as far as she could ascertain. She reached her mobile and was about to call for an ambulance when Jim spoke.

Hello Angel - his pet name for her.

Granddad lie still, you may have broken something… please don't move.

Don’t worry yourself; Angel, but no hospital! Just get me to my bed, call the Doctor if you want… but you know my time is near - don’t you?

Granddad… you know I can't be sure of that… Despite her training and her gift, Angela was close to tears, shocked at seeing him so weak and pale.

What do you mean? Has my Serena not been to you? Jim queried.

Angela sighed. Should she lie? Or should she tell what she knew to be true? She bit her lip, a character flaw, a ‘tell’ that she was deliberating whether to lie or not.

Now, now, my angel, we both know I am near the end - but because of you and my Serena, I have no fear of this - I welcome it. This body has had its day on earth; it is tired and worn out. I will miss being here physically, I suppose, but I know I will still be able to watch over you all.

Oh, Granddad! No one knows when there time is up - not exactly. However, I won’t lie. Grandma came to me in the car of all places, as I was driving up here, and we did have a nice long chat. She is here now, beside you. Angela looked across the kitchen floor where her Grandma was kneeling. It was upsetting for both of them as they could see Jim was in pain.

Mum and Dad will be here soon so they can help me lift you. Where does it hurt?

My chest is tight and I have a headache. I must have hit my head when I fell. Jim said pointing to a large bump on the back of his balding head.

Can you remember what happened just before you fell? Angela asked in her professional voice.

Let me see - I was taking my dinner across to the table when I had a pain in my right arm, and then a pain all across my chest and I couldn't breathe. I lost consciousness - I suppose I collapsed. Jim could not stop the tears racing down his cheeks, not from sadness or pain, but from frustration of being seen in this weakened state in front of those he loved. Jim was a man’s man, proud, stubbornly healthy all his life – illness to him was a sign of weakness.

Granddad it’s okay. It sounds like you've had a heart attack, you should really go to hospital, you need…

No Angel! Jim replied sharply. You know I can't abide those places. Ring Dr Lewis, my GP, to come round if you must, but that is it! His number is on the fridge. Angela was miffed, Granddad had never spoken to her so sharply, but she ignored it, knowing it was the pain, fear, and discomfort speaking. She arose to ring this Dr Lewis, who she had never heard of before, and arranged an emergency visit.

He’ll be here in ten minutes Granddad. Are you cold? Shall I get a pillow and a blanket? Angela was concerned he might be getting hyperthermia.

I am fine, Angel. The under floor heating has saved me from freezing to death. It’s a good job I had switched it on, as it’s been so cold for October, it went below freezing and I’ve not put the garden or the allotment to bed yet…there’ll be all kinds of frost damage to see too… Angela let him ramble on, thinking to herself he was not in any shape for gardening and wouldn’t be for some time – if ever again. She turned her face away in case he saw her tears ready to cascade down her face.

Let me get you a cushion at least. Angela