Feel Good Stories

To be told you have been made redundant is devastating and that’s how we find Ben, who realises that he will have to face up to unwelcome changes in his life.

A Turn for the Better

‘Not at work today?’  came the call from the front garden next door.

‘Taken some time off,’ I replied with a forced smile on my face as I scurried past.

‘I’m glad I’ve caught you,’ continued the woman in the woolly hat and matching fleece jacket, straightening up from her weeding and removing one of her gardening gloves.

‘Actually I’m in rather a hurry,’ I told her pretending to consult my watch while walking away.

‘Won’t keep you then.  I’ll call by later, should I?  It’s Flat 2 isn’t it?’ she persevered.

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Many will understand the physical and emotional trauma of needing an organ transplant. In this story, of personal experience, I try to give an insight from the aspect of the recipient and close family.

From the insiduious beginning of pain and fatigue, the hopes and the fears. All tinged with the sorrow of knowing you could live only because another human being has lost their
life and another family is suffering loss. They are the heroes in this story.

"They’ve Got a Kidney for Me, Mum"

‘They’ve got a kidney for me, Mum!’ My Son Steve was almost shouting into the phone, he was so excited. My heart missed a beat, as I realised the enormity of his statement.  This was the phone call we have all been waiting for. It had finally arrived.  What now?

“I’m on my way Steve.” I said replacing the receiver and grabbing the car keys in one movement. Then it happened!

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A family dispute before Christmas is not much fun, can Mike find a way round it?

A Christmas Story

The gale force wind sent ice-cold rain sweeping across the garage forecourt. It rattled the signs, pulled at the bunting and threatened the brightly coloured lights on the huge Christmas tree outside the door. Mike Drew ran a hand through his thick brown curls and sighed. If the tree came down, he would have to go out and rescue it.  It would mean getting soaked, but that wouldn’t make him any unhappier than he already was. What a Christmas Eve, raining, hardly any customers and the prospect of spending Christmas alone.

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A young school cadet goes to a fairground looking for the kind of girl about whom he has heard other cadets talk.  Camellia doesn't exactly fit the description but she does provide him with a sought after opportunity.

A Company of Boys

I was the youngest of the school cadet force at the summer camp and socially unacceptable to my peers, so, on Saturday, I took a bus alone into town, intending, like the others, to meet one of the anticipated hordes of vacationing mill girls.

As I strode into the pulsating fairground, Frankie Vaughan sang of secrets ‘Behind the Green Door’.

Rides went round and round, up and down and in and out, allowing girls to scream out for attention, pretending excitement and manufacturing fear.  Assorted music blared from a multitude of speakers.

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A man is left with a dog his wife brought into their lives.  The animal helps him readjust and eventually find happiness.

A Dog for all Reasons

“No more sex ‘til we get a dog!”

I laughed at her outrageous statement and made wagers with her to win my prize.  I got her inebriated.  I challenged her to nude wrestling matches and other transparent games and she laughed at me.  When I said it was time to stop the games, she said, “Not until we get a dog.”

The dog was a Welsh corgi and he was the right size for our garden flat.  He was farm-born, a few weeks old and nameless when he came into our lives.

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Geri is surprised when her husband tells her that she doesn’t need to phone her mother after dinner. She’s spoken to her mother every evening since her father died and she can’t work out what’s changed.

A Good Night's Sleep

As soon as she’d finished her dinner, Geri sat back in her chair and looked at her watch.

“I’d better phone Mum,” she said.

“Oh, you don’t need to,” her husband Matt replied as he stabbed his fork into his last chip. “I meant to tell you, love. She phoned earlier and I told her you were working late.”

“Yeah, but no doubt she’s expecting me to phone her back.” Geri stood up and started walking across the room towards the phone. “I’ve spoken to her every evening since Dad died and…”

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A grandmother prepares her last gift to her grandson, who is about to take off for distant planets and stars.

A Little Piece of Home

Her hand trembled a little as she reached for the flour jar.  She told herself to stop being stupid, there was a loaf to be made and very little time in which to make it.  She tipped the flour into the bowl and added the fat; her wrinkled fingers began the process of rubbing it in.  If Gary were to walk in now, she thought, he’d say, as he always did: “You need a mixer, Gran, one with a dough hook. It’ll do all that hard work for you.  Go on, let me bring you Mother’s.”  But she’d always made her bread this way and she always told him she was too told to change her ways.

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Someone is raiding the family Christmas of everything sparkly. Either it's a ghost or Clare's small daughter, Scarlett. Whatever the case, Clare decides to sit up all night to find out...

All That Glitters

Clare staggered in with the last minute Christmas shopping, took one look at the Christmas tree, and shrieked, “Oh no! Not again!”

Yet more presents, tinsel and little chocolates covered in foil had disappeared from the tree. Bit by bit, Christmas was unravelling faster than she could put it back together, and this was the third raid this week.

The children were asleep in bed and Adrian was in his study. So what on earth…?  But as she rushed upstairs it looked as though there was a trail of evidence. A piece of tinsel here. A glittery angel there.

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This is a heartfelt story about celebrating our uniqueness and feeling good in our own skin. Told through the eyes of an ex - circus sideshow freak, we watch as Amanda finds her true potential and passion through a friendship that will last a lifetime.

Amanda

I love Halloween. The seasons are changing, the air is crisp. The leaves on the trees become a myriad of iridescent colors as intense as a firework at the point of first explosion. Now I’m not what you would call the best looking man in the world so I can truly appreciate beauty like this. You see, I worked my whole life in the circus ... I was a ... well ... how do you say ... oh I’ll just come out and say it ... I was a freak.

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Benn and his sheepdog Bessie, venture out in the snow to rescue his sheep, the ‘girls’.  But when Benn falls and badly hurts his ankle, he realises he’s in trouble.  He’s always been a stubborn man, especially concerning his son Andrew.  Will he let his stubbornness continue to ruin his life?

Bessie's Rescue

‘Away, Bessie, go find those girls for me?’  Benn pointed towards the far end of the field as the dog glanced at her master before scurrying off.  She was a good faithful old girl, and he knew that if anyone could find his missing ewes then it was her.

Although they were due to lamb at any time, Benn had let them out into the field thinking some fresh air and grass would do them the world of good, even perhaps bringing them on.  At the time the sky had looked threatening, but not enough that he was worried.  He thought he knew better than any weather man predicting heavy snow during the day, and when no more than sleet started to fall, he thought he had been proved right once more.

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Del had a look on his face that suggested he had good news and wanted to share it. He wasn't the only one.

Big Loser

I almost walked into a lamp post when I realised who it was that Del reminded me of. You'd be surprised too if you were a twenty something girl who'd just recognised yourself in her retired male neighbour who sported the craziest moustache outside of Cuba. I don't mean we look alike; I'm as pale as he is dark. He's a good foot taller and several stones lighter. Yeah, you've got it - he's fit and I'm fat.

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Pam is horrified to see her dad cycling along the road as he's been dead for several years. She takes refuge in the local library, only to find that she's not the only one with a visiting relative from 'beyond'.

Has some terrible mistake been made in Heaven?

Borrowed Time

It was one of those cold but clear winter mornings just hovering on the brink of spring. I could almost smell the sunshine, it was so bright and yet a touch of fog dusted the treetops and roofs of the village.

I smiled as I walked, the anticipation of golden days infecting me with something approaching joy. Through the thinning, floating mist my father pedalled towards me on his ancient bicycle.

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A lonely woman knits to forget, a pair of yellow booties changes everything.

Casting Off

‘Damn and blast it!’

The sound reverberates and worries her. Noise has its place, locked away, not inside where her voice cuts into the silence.

Agnes presses her lips tight, a smudge of morning lipstick remains in deep wrinkles around the cupids bow, and she watches the ball of Cosydown four ply roll under her feet. The corkscrewing umbilical of pink wool tugs stitches from her fingers, pulling at them like an over eager child.

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Things can get hard, and sometimes promises don’t materialize. But when Karen feels let down by her sister, her daughter Rosie reminds her that love and loyalty are the most important things, and that Christmas is a time for the family to be together.

Christmas Decorations

My sister Karen would try the patience of a saint and I am no saint. My halo had become an anklet a long time ago and had definitely slipped off my foot somewhere. Perhaps, when I find it, I can trade it in for some Christmas presents. Because after the bombshell news my sister had just dropped, it might be the only way we would be able to afford to purchase any gifts this Christmas.

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A young girl wants to know the ins and outs regarding Santa and The Tooth Fairy.

Comfortable

“Do we have lots of money, Daddy?”

“The wolf isn’t at our door, Susie.  Why?”

“What’s a wolf got to do with it?”

“Nothing.  Daddy was being silly.  Why do you want to know about how much money we have?”

“So I can decide.”

“And what is it you have to decide?”

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It wasn't easy for Terry to communicate with his new wife. That was partly due to the fact he was on deployment with the Royal Navy and partly because she was so busy with her own life and her 'really nice' new friend David.

Coming Home

He’d phoned her on Tuesday, from the ship. He’d queued for over an hour waiting his turn. The communication system had been down for a fortnight and everyone was anxious to contact their loved ones. Twenty minutes each they were allowed, whenever the system was working. Terry had listened to the men before him, he couldn’t avoid it. They were assuring wives and mothers they were well and missing their family. Everyone was eager to prepare for their homecoming, just a few weeks away.

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Dennis had made careful arrangements so he could be with his daughter when she gave birth. Dennis was reliable, unlike that man she'd married.

Dizzy

Dennis answered his mobile. "Yes, love?"

"Dad, I think I've started. I'm fine ... but I'd like you to come if you can."

"Of course I can."

He said he'd be there, so he'd be there. Dennis, unlike some he could name, wasn't the sort to let his darling Melanie give birth all alone. Dizzy! Even the man's name sounded unreliable. Well, Dizzy had a very important photo shoot two weeks before his first child was due to be born and had gone swanning off to the Outer Hebrides. Honestly, you couldn't make it up.

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A man takes a job as a chauffeur so that, on her wedding day, he can be near the daughter he has never seen. His plan goes wrong when the main car gets stuck in traffic and he has to collect her himself.

Driving Miss Katie

Today I’m breaking a promise I made twenty years ago. I promised Julia I would stay away. No visits, no phone calls, not even a card at Christmas.

It’s a perfect September day. The sky is a blanket of blue. No breeze disturbs the perfect stillness of the afternoon.

I’m outside number 25 Sunnycroft Road exactly on time. I walk down the clean path, past the watching lines of maroon and white dahlias, and up to the door. Inside, I know they will all be ready. Rattling round like peas in a pod, just waiting to be popped. I feel the excitement in the air as I ring the bell.

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Eleanor was looking forward to having her young relations come for a visit. Surely caring for children couldn't be as impossible as her friends and neighbours feared?

Easter at Eleanor's

Eleanor now understood why her great niece, Suzie, had sounded so grateful on the telephone. Suzie, heavily pregnant with her unexpected fourth baby, had called with the news that she was scheduled for a caesarean in just over a month’s time.

“Please don’t worry too much about that, Suzie love. I believe it’s a routine procedure these days.”

“I’m not worried about the operation, well not much anyway,” Suzie had assured her.

“But you are worried about something?” Eleanor guessed.

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Lucie’s violin playing is horrible, but how do you break that to a 12-year-old?

Everybody's Good at Something

Lucie’s violin playing was so bad I had to resist putting my fingers in my ears.

“Lucie,” I said, after a horrible rendition of Twinkle Twinkle, “you haven’t been practicing, have you?”

“No, miss, I have,” she insisted. I would have believed her – practice didn’t seem to improve her playing noticeably even when she did do it – but she followed it almost immediately with a confession. “No, actually, I haven’t. Sorry.”

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The mixing bowl has been in the family for generations, handed down from mother to daughter. I want to continue the tradition but, as I have twin girls, I can't without dividing either it or them. My family is already too fractured for me to take that risk.

Family Recipe

I fetch the ceramic mixing bowl from the garage. It’s too heavy for everyday use, so for most of the year it’s put away. It only comes out when I mix together the Christmas pudding ingredients. My grandmother used this bowl to make her Christmas puddings before she passed it on to my mother. The bowl is mine now. I’ve taught my own daughters, Sally and Carol, to make puddings according to the family recipe.

As I run water to clean it, before making this year’s batch, I’m reminded I can’t keep doing this for much longer.

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Dad loved a bargain, and it sometimes drove his family a bit crazy. But when the family pet died and they acquired a very feisty new dog, the supermarket special offers paled in comparison. And mum got her revenge for all those extra packets of stain remover.

Get One Free

“Did we really need six packs of stain remover?” my mum said. "They weren’t on the list.” The question was as inevitable as the response each time my dad went to the supermarket.

“They were on special offer – two for the price of one. You can’t miss an opportunity like that,” he would reply.

Mum would look at me and raise her eyebrows and Jimmy would giggle. This conversation was routine, like the steps of a well–rehearsed dance.

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Emma is late. Again. This time it's different; we're hoping it won't be the last time.

Girls' Night Out

When I walked into the pub, the others were already at the bar; except Emma. After our conversation the day before, I’d hoped she’d have made an effort to be early.

“See you in The Frog and Bucket tomorrow?” I’d said.

“There again? Can’t we just do something spontaneous?” Emma had asked.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. If we decide now, it won’t be spontaneous, will it?”

“No, but if we leave it to you, we’ll be spontaneously hanging about waiting  until it’s too late to go anywhere.”

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Gracie was determined to enter the competition. All she needed to do was to get herself fit for the event. She didn’t realise that times had changed, and disaster ended her competition.              

Gracie's Dream

‘I can do it, I know I can’, Gracie said to herself.

She’d watched them on the television, and she knew she could still do it.

I’ll straighten my back, and get my limbs to move freely. Gracie was determined to get fit to enter the competition in two months’ time.

Dressed in her tracksuit, and new white trainers, off she went for her first run.

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Granddad's magic cushion helped Sue learn to roller skate, settle into Uni and through a difficult pregnancy. Then just when she needed it most, she discovered it wasn't special at all.

Granddad's Cushion

One of my earliest memories is Granddad teaching me to roller skate. I wasn't scared; I had Granddad and his magic cushion. When Granddad produced that deep red square of padded velvet and his old leather belt, I knew everything would be just fine. Once he'd strapped the cushion round my skinny hips and pulled the belt as tight as one of his hugs, I was ready for anything.

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