Grimm's Last Fairy Tale (23 page)
Read Grimm's Last Fairy Tale Online
Authors: Becky Lyn Rickman
“Mrs. Austen, I'm so glad you popped in when you did. We are indebted to you. I heard about the pancakes and I'm so glad you were able to spend some quality time with the kiddos. You're a real blessing to us. Come again soon.”
“Ma, I love you. Thank you for everything. Drive safely.”
“One more thing, Richard, please don't talk to Roxanne. Well, you can talk to her, but don't tell her. The others didn't tell you. But feel free to call your other sisters. I know they miss you. I wish all of you could get together and have some fun.”
The children chanted their unified goodbyes, blowing kisses and waving until long after Maggie was down the road. The goodbyes were getting harder for her. This last one would be the worst and Maggie needed a day to gear up for it.
in which Maggie takes a day off, does
a little traveling and a lot of dreading
Maggie drove just across the border in Indiana and stopped at the first motel she came to. She checked in, set up the laptop and began to pour her heart into her writing. She cried throughout most of it for reasons too plentiful to comprehend. She had enjoyed the eventful trip so far, had survived some close calls, had made new friends who turned out not to be friends, helped in a crisis, been mugged, traveled by bus, and said what was possibly her last goodbye to three of her children, with the hardest goodbye to come. It wasn't that she loved Roxanne any more than the others. It's just that she was the youngest and that somehow made it worse. Roxanne didn't have a spouse to turn to for comfort. She didn't even have a serious boyfriend. She just had her faith, which is something she seemed to be born with.
Maggie continued her writing, stopping only to eat once, and when she looked at her watch it was two in the morning.
“Oh, good grief,” she said out loud. “Jacob, why didn't you tell me what time it was?”
“You dismissed me at Richard's house. Nice man with a nice family, by the way. I'm so impressed with your family. You've done a good job and shouldn't beat yourself up quite so much.”
“They came here good. They just managed to turn into great adults despite me.”
“There you go again. I'm sure you had something to do with it. Anyway, what are you still doing up?”
“What do you think?”
“Writing this whole time?”
“Yep. Going well, if I say so myself.”
“And tomorrow?”
“The hardest goodbye.”
“Well, I'm going to say goodnight and let you rest. Do you think you'll be able to sleep tonight?”
“I hope so. I need to. Jacob, I don't feel so well. I'm getting shorter and shorter of breath and I'm so tired. The trip has been so much more stressful than I had anticipated and its not over yet. So many things have happened. I just need to wrap it up and get home to take care of myself. I hope I'm strong enough to finish this journey.”
“You are. I know it.”
“Do you know it in the way you knew about the baby or do you just believe in me?”
“A little of both. I know your journey is not over. You just have to believe in it and dwell not so much on all that has happened, but on all the hope you can muster up. What's done is done. It can't happen again. It's like when you read the scriptures and you see the words, 'it came to pass.' Think about what that means. It came to pass. It didn't come to stay. Pass. Gone. Done. Lesson learned. ”
“I guess I never thought of it that way.”
“Well, it's time to turn off the thinker for the night and get some shut eye. Want a kiss on the forehead?”
“Oh, yes, please—and make it as magic as the others. Potent stuff, your kisses. I can only imagine what a real one on the lips would do to me.”
“When the time is right, you shall know.”
“Goodnight, Jacob.”
“Goodnight, my love.”
in which a sad visit turns into
a happy one and Maggie is left wondering who to believe
When the morning light crept through the heavy draperies in the motel, Maggie awoke with a heavy heart. She tried to write her feelings, but was clearly blocked, so she packed the car and got underway for the last two hours of the trip.
She invited Jacob, but made it clear to him that this would be a silent, retrospective sort of day and he regarded her wishes. This made the trip seem to creep along, and finally Maggie had had enough of thinking and pondering and turned on her music and began to sing at the top of her lungs. The last thing she wanted was to bring Roxanne down. She had to suck it up and put on a happy face and managed to do so just before pulling onto campus.
She called Roxanne from the car.
“What's new, cutie?”
“Not too much, mom, just studying.”
“It's a lovely day out. You should step away from the books and get some fresh air.”
“How do you know what the weather is like here in Indiana?”
“Look out your window.”
Click.
In a flash, Roxanne was down the stairs and dancing the dance of a girl who had been missing her mother.
“What are you doing here? Why didn't you call? Mom?”
“Before you ask the question of the month, no, I am not getting married again.”
They both laughed.
“That isn't what I was thinking at all, actually. Why would you say that?”
“I'm just echoing your siblings.”
“You've seen them all? What's going on?”
“Can't a mother take a road trip to see her kids?”
“Yes, but I sense this is something more. Come on up and fill me in.”
They entered Roxanne's dorm only to find her roommate had returned from a class, leaving them no privacy, so they decided to go have an ice cream somewhere.
On the way, Maggie filled Roxanne in on all the news from the other siblings. Roxanne felt so cut off from them. She was so busy with her studies that she didn't call as often as she should have. She was grateful for the summary her mother presented to her.
When they sat and had ordered their sundaes, Roxanne looked deeply into her mother's eyes and didn't like what she saw. She began to tear up even before Maggie opened her mouth.
“It's serious, isn't it?”
“Yes, it is. I have lung cancer.”
“But you don't smoke. You never have.”
“Well, actually, I did when I was very, very young. You just never knew about it. I guess I'm just a late bloomer.”
“Oh, mom, what's the prognosis? Are you going to undergo surgery or radiation or something? You are going to fight this, aren't you?”
“Yes, actually, I just made this trip to talk to each of you and as soon as I get back home, I'm starting treatment. I am going to fight it. I wasn't at first. But I had a change of heart.”
“Are you scared?”
“You know, you're the first one to ask that. But, no, I'm not at all. I think I'm more worried about the effects of the treatments than I am dying. I know I am. I don't fear death. I think that's probably the easy part.”
“It's just another door. There is a great life beyond this world. Anyway, that's what I believe.”
“I believe that as well. It's funny we never really talked too much about such things, but I guess the time has come.”
Roxanne reached out and took her mother's hands.
“I love you, mom. Do you want me to come home next semester and help care for you? I wouldn't mind at all.”
“No, no, no. I don't want you to take a break. It would be too tempting not to go back. Just carry on and so will I.”
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“There's someone I want for you to meet.”
“No!”
“Yes! It's finally happened. I'm in love.”
“Get out of town! Who is he? Why haven't you told me?”
“Well, we've been dating for about 5 months and it just kind of gradually got serious. He was my lab partner in biochem and our molecules just sort of found each other.”
“You silly girl. When do I get to meet him?”
“Well, we are having dinner tonight. How about then?”
“Great. What's his name and his major?”
“Peter and laboratory medicine. He wants to cure cancer. How crazy is that?”
“You're kidding, right?”
“No, mom. I'm not.”
They chuckled and then broke down and cried into their ice cream. It was not how Maggie had envisioned it, but that's how it played out. The irony was even more delicious than their treats.
“Well, I think I'll go check in somewhere and meet you back at the dorm at what time?”
“Come back at four o'clock. I'll give you a quick tour before we meet up with Peter.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“I love you, mom. I'll see you in a bit, OK? Why don't you have a little nap.”
“I think I'll do that. And maybe write a bit. I'm writing now, you know.”
“I'm so glad to hear it. I know you've wanted to do that for a long time. You always threatened to have a best seller.”
“Well, let's see if I can make that happen, shall we?”
“Later, tater.”
They blew kisses and Maggie drove to another motel and unloaded her things into another room, glad that it would be the last before arriving home. She did not handle all these different beds very well. She missed her cats and her routine and looked forward to arriving home, however, with that would come a whole new chapter to her life that brought more than a little uneasiness to her.
She napped for about thirty minutes, showered, dressed and still had about two hours to write before leaving to meet Roxanne.
The words came to her, tripping over one another and screaming for her attention like small children to a department store Santa. She couldn't type fast enough. Her thoughts burned through to her fingertips and pushed her further and further and digging deeper and deeper into her psyche. She felt liberated from the prison she had built for herself these long years. Her eyes were opened to the self-inflicted oppression she had been living under, drawing her away from the friendships of others and the potential of a healthy relationship. The tears began to flow as she madly poured her soul into the keyboard.
She was startled out of her mission by a sound she knew she must have been familiar with, but could not identify quickly enough. She had to get her bearings and remember where she was and then it became clear. It was Tchaikovsky playing on her cellphone.
“Hello?”
“Maggie, this is David.”
“No.”
“Yes, actually, it is.”
“I mean no to whatever it was you were going to say or ask. No.”
“Maggie, listen, I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
Click. Maggie had the newly found strength to hang up on a man she had no desire to speak with.
Once again, Tchaikovsky began to play.
“No.”
“Mom?”
“Oh, Roxanne, I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“Did you forget? It's four thirty.”
“Oh, dear, sweetie, I'm so, so sorry. I was writing and just lost track of the time.”
“Well, I guess that's good. If you are on a streak, we can reschedule dinner I guess.”
“Don't be ridiculous. I'm already showered and dressed. I'll be right there. Give me fifteen minutes. We'll just have to abbreviate the tour.”
“That's fine, if you're sure.”
There was a little bit of disappointment in Roxanne's voice, as if she felt a little slighted by Maggie's disregard. Maggie would have to be extra effusive that evening to make up for the slight.
Quick as she could, she saved her work, brushed her teeth and grabbed the car keys.
When she pulled up to the dorm, Roxanne was waiting for her with a big smile and she surmised that everything would be fine.
“I want to show you the most magical place on campus. May I drive? It would be easier.”
“Of course.”
They drove to a building that looked older than the Civil War with grand marble entry and huge, heavily ornate iron doors.
“What is this place?”
“Come with me.”
She grabbed Maggie by the hand and the two of them walked reverently up a flight of ancient stone steps and into a library the likes of which Maggie had never before witnessed.