Under Two Shires Oak – Episode 29


ONE day, as she cycled to the hospital, a tractor wobbling all over the road sent Suzanne into a ditch in her effort to avoid it. The tractor driver must have seen her but didn’t stop. Fortunately, Yves, cycling the other way to her family’s farmhouse, did. He helped her to her feet and together they hurled curses in the offending vehicle’s wake, she in English, Yves in French.

“Are you OK?” He was still holding her hand that he’d taken to pull her up.

Turning to look at her, he came closer and closer. He was going to kiss her, she knew it.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, quickly moving away.

Why? Later, pacing alone around the lounge of the farmhouse with everyone else out on the terrace, she tried to make sense of her action. She liked Yves. So what was the problem?

But she knew very well. It was that persistent feeling that she wanted to do something more with her life.

“Whether that be here in France,” she told herself, “or somewhere else. But what?”

She turned to look at the painting of the old oak. Her mum had told her that she’d often gone there to think beneath its branches. That it had often helped her.

“Help me, too,” Suzanne pleaded, staring at it. She stood in front of it for a while, then suddenly clapped her hands joyfully. “You’re right! Thank you.”

*  *  *  *

“. . . And I feel I need a change, so I’ve applied for a job away for a while,” Suzanne told Grace and Phil a few days later. “I’ve felt restless for some time.”

“You should have come to us,” Phil said. “Maybe we could have helped you.”

“You did,” Suzanne assured him. “At least, that did.” She pointed to the painting.

“You mean you’re going back home to England?” Grace asked.

“No.” Suzanne took a deep breath. “You remember Polly, who was here earlier this year? I’m joining an overseas aid organisation, like her.”

Again she looked at the picture.

“What I meant was, the tree made my mind up. I’ve always felt a sense of safety when I look at its wide trunk and its sheltering branches, and I want to help other people feel safe, too.”

“It might involve you going to some fairly unsafe places,” her father said quietly.

“I know. But I’ve thought about it. It’s what I want.”

Suzanne had thought about it. And kept doing so over the next few weeks. Was she strong enough, she who had had such a comfy life herself? Was she doing the right thing?

The doubts were still there on the morning of her departure, when the taxi drew up outside in the chilly dawn to take her to the airport. That was how she had wanted it – to say goodbye to her beloved parents and brother at home.

As they accompanied her to the waiting vehicle, Grace pushed into her hand the little silver frame with her three leaves from Two Shires Oak.

“To keep you safe, my darling,” she said, giving Suzanne a hug.

“Thank you, Mum,” Suzanne replied, with tears in her eyes but a new certainty in her heart.

All the doubt had gone. Suddenly she was sure she was strong enough. She was doing the right thing.

Alan Spink

Alan is a member of the “Friend” Fiction Team. He enjoys working closely with writers and being part of the creative process, which sees storytelling ideas come to fruition. A keen reader, he also writes fiction and enjoys watching football and movies in his spare time. His one tip to new writers is “write from your imagination”.