For Reading

The Wishing Well

      Once a young lady came from Hong Kong to live in England. Her English name was Arlene. She liked old things, especially if they were Chinese. She liked looking at old things in an antique shop near her flat. Arlene thought, "I feel safe with old things because they remind me of the past. The past cannot change, but who knows what will happen in the future ?"
       One day the old lady in the next flat asked Arlene, "Have you seen my cat ? I am worried because my cat has not come home for two days, and I miss my cat." But Arlene had not seen the cat.
      Later that day Arlene went into the antique shop and saw a different thing with a handle, a bucket and a little roof on top. It was about one metre high. "What is that ?" she asked the man.
       The man said, "It is like a normal well that people use to get water out of the ground, but it is a Wishing Well. People think that if you put some money in, and make a wish, this Wishing Well will make your wish come true. But," the man laughed, "you must never tell anyone what you wish for."
      Arlene said, "It is a small well."
      The man said, "Yes, it is too small to be a real well. I think it came from someone's garden. Look, here is some Chinese writing on it. Perhaps somebody wanted to have something Chinese in their garden."
       Arlene looked at it carefully. She thought, "The Chinese writing is very good. Even if the well is not Chinese, the writing must have been done by a Chinese person."
       The man said, "I need the space in my shop, so I want to sell it quickly. The price is £30, but if you buy it today, I can sell it to you for £20."
       Arlene said, "Thank you for showing me." The man started talking to someone else who had come into the shop. While the man was not looking, Arlene quietly put a small coin into the Wishing Well and wished, "I hope the old lady gets her cat back soon."
       Arlene went home and she saw the old lady next door. The old lady was very happy and said to Arlene, "I have found my cat !"
       Arlene went inside her flat and thought, "That is very interesting. Perhaps my wish in the shop has come true, and the old Wishing Well really works."

       That night Arlene had a dream about China. She dreamed that she met a nice young man and they went for a long walk. They talked a lot and then they found a Wishing Well. They each put some money in and made a wish, but then Arlene woke up. "What was my wish ?" Arlene asked herself, "Oh dear, I cannot remember." Then she thought, "I must buy that Wishing Well. I wonder if the man will let me buy it for £20 today."
       Arlene got her money and went to the shop, but she could not see the Wishing Well. The man said, "I am sorry. I sold it yesterday, soon after you left."
       Arlene asked, "Who bought it ?"
       The man said, "A young man bought it. He liked the Wishing Well, and I needed the space in my shop." The man saw that Arlene was very disappointed, so he said, "I think he is a student. He often comes here. He bought several books also, but he could not carry them with the Wishing Well, so he will come back for the books tomorrow. I can give him your name, if you like."
       "Yes, please," said Arlene, and she wrote her name and telephone number on a piece of paper.

       Two days later Arlene's telephone rang, and a man said his name was Barry and that he had bought the Wishing Well, and he asked if she would like to see it ? Arlene was pleased, and she went to Barry's house straightaway. Arlene was very surprised when she met Barry. He was young and, although he was an Englishman, he was just like the man in her dream ! Arlene was careful not to let Barry see how surprised she was, and she said, "Hello, I am Arlene. Thank you for telephoning me. I saw the Wishing Well in the antique shop. I made a wish in the shop, and my wish came true, so I wanted to buy the Wishing Well." Arlene did not say anything about her dream of the Wishing Well, or that this man looked like the man in her dream.
       Barry said, "Yes, I know because the man in the shop told me. Are you Chinese ?"
       "Yes, I am Chinese," said Arlene. "I come from Hong Kong. But first tell me, do you want to sell the Wishing Well ?"
       "Not really," said Barry. "Maybe it will make my wishes come true also."
       Arlene was angry with herself and she thought, "It was a mistake to tell him that my wish came true."
       Then Barry asked, "Can you tell me what the Chinese writing means ?"
       "Yes," said Arlene, "The writing means, "Be careful, do not wish for more than you need," that is all."      
       "Thanks," said Barry. "Well, I am a poor student, so I think I will make a wish." He put a coin in the well, and then he was quiet for a minute.
       "You must not tell me your wish," laughed Arlene, "or it will not come true."
       Arlene left and thought, "That was interesting, although I did not get the Wishing Well, I met a man just like the man in my dream. I hope I will be able to meet him again. I wonder what he wished for."

       One morning, a few days later, Barry telephoned Arlene. He said, "Do you remember I made a wish when you came to my house ? My younger sister was not well and I wished that she would get better soon. My mother telephoned today and told me my sister is much better now. Do you think it is just luck, or do you think the Wishing Well really works ?"
       Arlene thought quickly, "If I tell him that I believe the Wishing Well really works, he will want to keep it, but if I say I think it was just luck about his sister, he will probably never want to meet me again." So Arlene said, "I am sure that the Wishing Well really works, Barry, because it helped my friend find her cat." Then Arlene had a better idea, "We need to give it a good try."
       "That is a good idea," said Barry. "Shall we try again today ?"
       Arlene was very excited as she went to Barry's house. She thought, "I am so glad I can meet him again."
       Arlene said to Barry, "Let's try to get some money. I do not know how to gamble in England, but lets put some money on a horse and wish that it wins a race."
       "That is a good idea," said Barry. "I need some money to buy some more books."
       Arlene was pleased and said, "Yes, and I want some money so that I can learn to drive." She waited, hoping that Barry would offer to teach her to drive, but he said nothing. Then she asked, "How much money shall we gamble ? I have £20 in my handbag." It was the money she had hoped to buy the Wishing Well with.
       Barry said, "Yes, £20 each ? If we gamble on a horse at 10 to 1, we will each win £200."
       Arlene said, "Oh, that will be very good."
       "Come on," said Barry excitedly, "let's look in the newspaper and make a bet. Look, there is a race this afternoon, and here is a horse at 10 to 1. Here is another horse at 16 to 1, but we do not want to be greedy, do we ?" he laughed. "Let's go to the betting shop now. Our race will be on the radio, so I will bring my little radio, and we can sit in the park and listen to it." So they each made a wish into the Wishing Well and went to the betting shop and paid their money. Arlene kept looking at Barry - waiting for him to smile at her. Arlene bought some food, and they sat in the park. They listened to the race on the radio. At first their horse was in front, and they were very excited, but later another horse was in front, then their horse got farther behind, and at the end of the race it was in fourth place. "Our horse did not win," cried Arlene. "We have lost our money." Then she thought, "I have lost Barry's money too," and she jumped up and ran home, too frightened to look back at Barry.
       Arlene cried on her bed, "I have lost his money. Now he will never want to see me again, and I have lost my £20 too. Why was I so stupid ?" Then she sat up and said to herself, "The Wishing Well is no good. It was just luck about the cat and Barry's sister. If I had bought the Wishing Well, I would have wasted £20 just the same."
       Then Arlene thought, "But what about the dream ? That was not luck. Barry really is the man in my dream. I had never seen him before, so why did I have the dream ? I must find a way to meet him again. Perhaps I should wait a few days, until he is not angry, and then I can offer to give him £20. Oh dear, this is getting rather expensive. I know, I can offer to buy the useless Wishing Well from him. Yes, I can say it was my fault we lost our money, and I want to make sure he gets his £20 back."
       Next day Arlene wondered if Barry was still angry because of the money he had lost. Arlene decided to wait another day.
       On the next day, Arlene was still not sure. "Perhaps he is still angry," she thought. "I can only telephone him once, so I must wait until his anger has gone, or my chance will be wasted. I remember my father telling me that, when he was a soldier in the army, you must keep your head down when the enemy want to fight you. If Barry is still angry with me, he is like an enemy. I wonder how long English people keep their anger ?"
       Then Arlene thought, "Chinese people, like me keep their anger for a week sometimes. Perhaps English people are the same. I think I must wait for ten days, to make sure. I wish I had the Wishing Well to help me."
       However next morning Barry telephoned. He asked, "Can we meet in the park, and perhaps have lunch together ?"
       "Yes, of course," said Arlene speaking slowly and thinking quickly, "but I cannot come now, I am doing my washing." That was a lie, but Arlene needed time to think and get ready. "I will be there at 12 o'clock," she said.
       Arlene could hardly believe it ! "He did not sound angry at all, and he wants to meet me again, and have lunch together. Thank you, Wishing Well, perhaps you really are my friend. This must be my lucky day ! But I must be careful, he may still want something for the money he lost. I will put on my best dress and do my hair nicely. Maybe I will not have to give any money, but I must be prepared and take some
       They met in the park. Arlene noticed that Barry was wearing very smart clothes, and he seemed pleased that Arlene was well dressed also. Barry said, "I am sorry you lost your money. It is wrong to gamble. If people gamble they hope to get something for nothing, without earning it, like stealing. Also if they win, then somebody else must loose, and that is not fair."
       Arlene was surprised, and she thought, "Why is he so worried ? It is quite usual for people to gamble, although it was not very exciting to loose so much money." Arlene said, "Yes, I know, but why did the Wishing Well not work, it worked before ?"
       Barry said, "Yes, it worked for your friend's cat and for my sister, but it did not work for our horse race. We forgot what the Chinese writing said. Do you remember ?"
       Arlene said, "It said, "Be careful, do not wish for more than you need." Oh, I suppose it did not work because we wanted to get something for ourselves, instead of helping someone else."
       "Yes," said Barry, "I think that is why." Barry waited for a moment and then he said, "I told my family about you, but luckily I said nothing about the Wishing Well. My mother wants to meet you. Can we go there for lunch today ?"
       Arlene was pleased and thought, "He is not angry. He is not worried about losing the money, and now he wants me to meet his family." She said, "Oh, yes, of course, but does your mother know I am Chinese ?"
      "Yes," said Barry. "Actually that is why she wants to meet you. She is hoping you can teach her Chinese cooking."
       Arlene could not believe her luck as they went to meet Barry's family, and she remembered the Wishing Well again.
       Barry's mother liked Arlene and they both talked for a long time. Barry's mother said, "Please come again, my dear."
       As Barry took Arlene home he said, "My mother wants me to do something to help you, if I can. Can I help you to learn to drive ?"

       Barry often taught Arlene to drive. Usually Arlene would be very careful, because she wanted Barry to think she was clever, but sometimes she pretended to make mistakes so that she would need more lessons, and see Barry more often. One day Barry asked Arlene to stop the car where some students were standing. Barry called to one of the students, and a young woman got into the car. Arlene wondered who she was. The girl said, "I am Layla. I have come from Egypt to study English." Arlene drove back to her flat, and Barry drove Layla away after the driving lesson was finished. Arlene wondered how Barry knew Layla, and she thought, "Whoever she is, her English is not very good."
       Next time they went driving, Arlene expected Barry to say something about Layla, but he said nothing. Arlene often looked at Barry, hoping to guess what he was thinking about, but Barry seemed very quiet. Arlene thought, "He must be worried about his exams or something, but I am sure it is not the money we lost when we gambled."

       One day Barry seemed very excited and he said, "Stop the car, Arlene. There is something important I want to tell you. We know each other quite well, so I know I can trust you with a secret." Arlene could feel her heart beating faster and wondered if Barry would notice. Barry continued, "You remember Layla, don't you ?"
       "Yes," said Arlene, slowly, trying hard not to sound disappointed.
       "Well," said Barry, "Layla can study in England for only one year, then she must go back to Egypt. The only way she can stay in England is to get married."
       "Oh, will she get married," asked Arlene, nervously.
       "Yes," said Barry, "Layla and I are getting married on Saturday."
       "What ?" shouted Arlene, trying hard not to cry. "You are going to marry Layla ?"
       "It is the only way, or she will have to go back to Egypt next week." said Barry. "Also when she is married she can get a job here. I would like you to come to the wedding, at the registry office."
       "On Saturday, but that is only two days from now. You cannot get married so quickly," said Arlene, hopefully.
       "I had to pay more money for a quick wedding," said Barry. "Please come. The wedding will be a secret, no one else will be there. I would like you to take some photos of us."
       Arlene was so upset that she just quickly said, "Okay," and got out of the car and walked quickly away.
       There were so many ideas in Arlene's mind that she could not think properly. She saw a telephone box and thought, "I must telephone his mother. She will make him stop the wedding. I am sure Barry has not told his parents, because he said no one else will be at the wedding. Perhaps his parents will not pay for his studies if he marries an African woman. His mother once told me that she likes Chinese people, but not African people."
       Arlene telephoned Barry's mother, but it was the wrong number. Arlene thought, "What is her telephone number ? Oh dear, I cannot remember. Is it 427010 or 472010 ? No, I remember the last number is a 1. It must be 427001. No. Is it 472001 ? Why can't I remember ? I have telephoned Barry's mother many times." Arlene looked up and said, "Wishing Well, please help me to remember." Arlene waited, hoping she w ould remember. Then she thought, "Wishing Well, please give me a clear mind so that I can remember." Then she thought again, "No, please give me peace so that I can have a clear mind to remember." Arlene slowly opened the telephone door and thought, "No. No, just give me peace."
       Arlene left the telephone box and walked home slowly. When she got home she looked in the mirror and thought, "What do I want ? I want Barry. I love Barry. I want Barry to marry me, not Layla. But this will not be as easy as I had hoped. I must be clever. I have lost him today, but I must plan for the future. "Today is for tomorrow". I am sure Layla does not love Barry. She is just using Barry to be able to stay in England, then she will go back to Egypt."
       Arlene wondered if Barry would follow Layla to Egypt. Arlene thought, "If he does, I will have lost him for ever, and there will be nothing I can do about that. But surely Barry will soon see how stupid he has been. Then what will happen ? He will want a friend, someone he knows he can trust. Yes, I must make sure Barry can always trust me. If I tell his mother about the wedding, he will never trust me again. That would be a very big mistake. Maybe it is really lucky that I could not remember his mother's telephone number. If no one else goes to the wedding, no one else will know he is married, only me. That could be very useful." Then Arlene thought, "After Layla goes back to Egypt he may want to marry me, so I can just keep quiet that he is already married. But suppose he wants to marry someone else, ha, he cannot, because he is already married !" Arlene felt a lot better now.
       Arlene went to the wedding. She signed her name in the big book as a witness, because no one else was there. She said to Barry, "Let me look after the marriage certificate while I take some pictures of you both." Arlene took lots of pictures and Barry forgot to get the certificate back. After Barry and Layla had gone away, Arlene took the certificate to a printing shop and made a copy.

       A few days later Barry telephoned Arlene and they met in the park. Arlene gave the marriage certificate to Barry, but he did not seem very happy. "Layla is very pleased to be able to stay in England," he said quietly.
       Arlene said nothing, but she was secretly pleased and thought, "Perhaps Layla does not live with Barry, and he is changing his mind about her already."
       As they said goodbye, Barry said, "Keep in touch."
       Arlene felt pleased as she walked home. She thought, "Now I must play "hard to get". I will let him think we cannot be friends now because he is married." Then she thought, "But it will be nice if he wants to teach me to drive again."
       Arlene waited for Barry to telephone her. Every time the telephone rang, she thought it was Barry, but it was not. After a week Arlene became very unhappy. She worried that she may never see Barry again. She thought, "What can I do ? Should I telephone him, or write, or visit him, or telephone his mother or what ?" Arlene decided to write to Barry. Next day she got a nice letter from Barry. Barry said he hoped to see Arlene soon. Arlene waited for a week. Barry did not telephone, so Arlene wrote another, long letter. Barry never replied. Arlene could not wait any longer, so she telephoned Barry. Barry said he was keeping well, but that he was very busy although he hoped he could meet Arlene sometime.
       Afterwards Arlene wondered if Barry was telling a lie. "I am wasting my time," she thought. "I must do something useful. I know, I will have more driving lessons so that I can get a car."
       She waited for a week and then she decided to telephone Barry again. She thought, "This is important, if anything goes wrong it will be difficult for me to telephone again. Maybe now is the wrong time. Maybe I should wait." Then she decided, "Yes, I will do it now." Arlene picked up the telephone and noticed that her heart was beating faster. She thought, "It is because there is still time to change my mind, before I dial the last number." So she took two deep breaths as she dialled the last number, and while the telephone was ringing she thought, "This is it." Then a woman's voice said, "Hello," and Arlene quickly put the telephone down. Arlene thought, "Was that Layla ? I cannot be sure. Oh, dear, I must find out more about Layla, and if she is living with Barry."
      Arlene met one of the students who knew Layla. The student said that Layla always went to London for the weekend, but she did not say that Layla was married. Arlene guessed it was Layla who had answered the telephone, and she thought, "I wonder if she lives there." Arlene wrote to Barry, saying she was free this weekend, and could they meet ? Arlene thought, "If he does not reply, I will telephone Barry next weekend, perhaps he will be lonely and he will want to see me." There was no reply, so Arlene telephoned. Barry just said, "I am busy. If I am free I will telephone you and let you know."
       Arlene said, "I really would like to see you sometime."
       "When I am free, I will telephone you," said Barry.
       Arlene cried on her bed, thinking, "That was just a nice way of Barry saying he does not want to see me again. Why is everything going wrong ? It was all going so well, the dream, the Wishing Well, his mother, the driving lessons, forgetting his mother's telephone number, even Layla going away each weekend. What is there left I can do ? Shall I ask Barry if I can use the Wishing Well ? No, I need a better plan. Perhaps I can make him jealous." Arlene sat up and thought, "Perhaps if he thinks I will marry someone else, he will think about what he will do when Layla wants to go back to Egypt, and he will try to stop me. I must make him think that I am making a big mistake, so that he can save me. He made a big mistake, so he will understand. Yes, I think this is a good idea."

       Arlene pretended she knew a man called "Patrick" who lived in Manchester, but that he was not a clever man. She wrote a letter from Patrick to herself, but she wrote with her left hand, so that the writing would be different to hers, and she made a few spelling mistakes on purpose. Arlene waited until the weekend when Layla would be in London. She telephoned Barry saying, "Please help me understand a letter. I know I can trust you not to tell anyone about it. Can I bring it to your house ?"
       Barry said, "Of course, I will be happy to help you, but you cannot come here. Let's meet in the park." Arlene was a little disappointed because she wanted to go to Barry's house and see if Layla was living there, but she was glad to meet Barry again anyway.
       They met in the park. Barry helped Arlene understand the letter, but he did not ask Arlene about her friend. Arlene thought, "Doesn't he care about me at all ?"
       Next week Arlene heard that Layla had passed her exams and had gone back to Egypt. Arlene telephoned Barry, but she put the telephone down when Barry answered. She thought, "Good, Layla is in Egypt, and Barry is still in England. He has not gone to Egypt with Layla, and I think Layla will never come back to England again."
       Arlene did not worry so much. She was disappointed that she had to pay for driving lessons now, but she passed her driving test and bought a car. She did not have much money left, so she had to buy a rather old car. She wrote more letters which she pretended were from Patrick, so that she could ask Barry to meet her and help her. She asked Barry to help her write her replies - to get Barry interested in what she was doing.
       This went on for a few months. Arlene tried to make Barry jealous but he did not seem really interested in her. One day Barry asked to meet Arlene. Barry said, " I am getting married next month."
       "What ?" shouted Arlene. "You cannot get married. You are married to Layla."
       "That is why I need your help," said Barry, "not to tell anyone about Layla. It is finished with Layla."
       "Who are you marrying ?" asked Arlene, nearly crying.
       "Her name is Stella," said Barry, "but I do not think you have met her."
       "Why are you getting married ?" shouted Arlene. "Why, Barry, you know I love you, I have always loved you, you know that, don't you ?"
       "Arlene ? Are you in love with me ?" asked Barry, surprised. "But what about your friend, Patrick ?"
       "Barry, there is no Patrick," shouted Arlene. "I made it all up to make you jealous."
       "But you showed me Patrick's letters," said Barry.
       "Oh, Barry," said Arlene. "I wrote those letters myself, just for an excuse to meet you."
       "You silly woman !" said Barry, turning away. "Why didn't you tell me ? I thought you were just using me for driving lessons and things like that. It is your stupid Chinese tradition of not telling people your feelings."
       "No, it is your stupid English tradition of only listening to words, and not understanding what people really mean," said Arlene. "Stop the wedding, and marry me instead."
       "I cannot stop the wedding," said Barry. "It is too late. All the arrangements have been made, and anyway it will break Stella's heart."
       "Do you really love her," asked Arlene, "like you loved Layla ?"
       Barry put his head in his hands and said, "No, not like Layla. I can never love anyone as much as I loved Layla."
       "That is how I love you, Barry," said Arlene, hoping Barry would believe her. She could see that this was a great surprise to Barry.
       Arlene left and thought, "This time I will have to stop the wedding."

       The weather was cold on the day of the wedding. Arlene looked at the copy of Barry and Layla's marriage certificate and thought, "Thank you, Layla. This will be very useful. I will show this at the wedding, so that Barry cannot marry Stella. What a lot of trouble this will make !"
       Arlene got into her car and tried to start it. "Come on," she said to the car, "you must start today." But it did not start. Arlene said a bad word and tried again, but the car still did not start. Arlene looked at her watch, "Oh, no," she thought. "Now there is no time to get a bus, I will have to get a taxi." She telephoned for a taxi. She waited and waited. She kept looking at her watch and she thought, "I know that the bride always comes late in England, but come on, taxi, hurry." At last the taxi came. "Please hurry," Arlene said to the taxi driver.
       "I will try, Miss," said the taxi driver, "but there is a lot of traffic this morning."
       Arlene kept looking at her watch and thought, "Oh, no, the wedding is starting now. Please, please, let me get there in time."
       When they got there, Arlene ran out of the taxi, and the taxi driver followed her to get his money. When Arlene got to the building she met all the poeple coming out, and there was Barry with his bride ! "I am too late," Arlene cried. She stopped and turned round so that no one could see her face, and she nearly fell. The taxi driver put out his hand to help her and he said, "You look so white, Miss. You had better come and sit in my taxi." In the taxi the driver asked Arlene, "Are you alright, Miss ? Shall I take you home ?"
       "Yes, please," whispered Arlene.

       Arlene lay on her bed. "Finished," she cried. "It is all over now. I was too late. Barry has married Stella, and now he can never marry me." She lay on the bed, crying. The telephone rang. Arlene let it ring, thinking that it would soon stop. But the telephone continued to ring and Arlene became angry. She picked up the telephone and shouted, "Go to Hell," and threw the telephone onto the floor, shouting, "You can all go to Hell." Her bottle of headache tablets also fell onto the floor. She picked up the bottle and emptied the tablets onto the bed. She counted them, "Twenty one." She swallowed one, and then another. She looked at each one carefully and thought, "Each of these tablets is the door to a dream. I remember the dream I first had about you, Barry. But a dream lasts for only a short time. All these tablets are the door to twenty one dreams, and twenty one dreams will give me a long dream, which will last forever." She swallowed another tablet, and another, then two at a time, and then she swallowed them as fast as she could until they were all gone. She felt sleepy and thought, "Barry, I just wish you could kiss me once before I go." She thought of Barry, closed her eyes and went into a deep sleep.
       The next thing Arlene knew was that Barry was shaking her and shouting, "Wake up, Arlene, wake up."
       Arlene woke up, looking surprised.
       "Thank goodness you are alive," said Barry.
       "Barry," said Arlene sleepily, "why are you here ?"
       "I wondered why you were not at the wedding," said Barry. "I thought I saw you when we came out of the building, but when I looked again I could not find you. I telephoned you and then I heard you shouting, so I thought something must be wrong, and Stella and I came straight away."
       Arlene looked round and saw a lady with Barry, and recognised Stella from the wedding. Barry continued, "I have telephoned for an ambulance to take you to the hospital. They say that you will be alright if we can keep you awake. I am sorry we cannot stay, but Stella and I must hurry to catch the aeroplane for our holiday."
       Arlene just looked at Barry, and then she turned away.
       Barry continued, "I am glad that you will be alright, Arlene."
Barry moved closer to Arlene and whispered, "Arlene, I was so worried when we came here and we saw what you had done. Why did you do it ?"
       "Barry." cried Arlene, turning and looking straight at him, "You know why. It is your fault. You will not let me live, and now you will not let me die."
       "No," said Barry slowly. "It is not me who will not let you live and not let you die. Arlene, it is you."
       The ambulance came and Barry and Stella said goodbye. Arlene thought, "I know that woman's voice. Where have I heard that voice before ?" Arlene fell asleep, but when she woke up in the hospital, she remembered, "That was the voice that said, "Hello," when I telephoned Barry once. I wanted to know if Layla was there. I remember it did not sound like Layla. So, Barry has known Stella since then. Oh dear. Now what hope is there for me to ever marry Barry ?"

       One day Arlene received a letter from Barry. Barry said Stella will have a baby. Arlene replied. She was pleased that she could still write to Barry and she thought, "I am glad he will never know that I wanted to tell everyone at the wedding about his marriage to Layla."

      Barry and Arlene often wrote to each other, but they did not meet each other. Barry told Arlene that Stella knew they wrote to each other, and that Stella never saw the letters.
       Stella had a baby girl. The baby's name was Barbara, and Barry invited Arlene to see the baby. Arlene liked Barbara when she saw her, and Arlene thought, "Barry, this should be my baby, our baby."

       Later Arlene had an idea. She thought, "If I can make Barry think that Stella was unfaithful to him, Barry will divorce her, and he will be free to marry me." Then she thought, "If Barry thinks he is not Barbara's father, he will think Stella was unfaithful. Yes, that is a good idea, but how can I make him think he is not Barbara's father ?"
       Arlene could not think of a way then, but she decided, "Even if I cannot think of a way now, I still need to be able to see him somehow, and baby Barbara, so that I am ready for when I do think of something."
       At night Arlene could not sleep. She wondered, "This is a terrible thing to do, to make Barry think the baby is not his. This is the sort of thing a man would do, not a woman. Am I thinking like a woman or am I starting to think like a man ?" Arlene thought about Barry. "Barry, only you could have such a beautiful baby. It really seems wrong to make people think that the baby is not yours, Barry." Then Arlene thought about the baby, "Ah, Barbara, you are so sweet. Well, that is thinking like a woman, so maybe I have not changed." Then she thought, "I know ! I can look after Barbara when Barry and Stella want to go out. Yes, that is a good idea, because if I am their baby sitter, I will be able to see Barry and Barbara. And then perhaps one day I can find a way to make Barry hate Stella."
       Barry and Stella were pleased that Arlene wanted to be their baby sitter, and Arlene always looked forward to looking after Barbara. One day Arlene thought, "I really like you, Barbara, and it is so nice seeing you and Barry, even when Stella is here. Actually, I am not sure I want to make trouble now."
       One day Barbara was ill and Stella was very busy, so Arlene took Barbara to see the doctor. The doctor had to take some of the baby's blood. Barbara cried, but she stopped crying when Arlene picked her up. The doctor said, "Ah, only a baby's mother can stop a baby crying." Arlene felt very pleased because the doctor thought Arlene was Barbara's mother.
       A few days later Arlene went to baby sit Barbara again, and Barry joked about Barbara's first letter. It was from the hospital with a note about Barbara's blood, from the test the doctor made.
       The note about Barbara's blood group made Arlene think. She told Barry that it would be a good idea to keep copies of their blood cards in their car, in case there was an accident. Barry agreed and gave Arlene his and Stella's blood cards for Arlene to make the copies
       Arlene saw that Barry's blood group was "O", and that Stella's and Barbara's were both "A". Arlene went to the library and borrowed a medical book to understand about the different blood groups, "A", "B", "AB" and "O". She read that if the father's blood group is "O" and the mother's blood group is "A", then the blood group of all their children will be "A". She also learned that if the child's blood group is "A" and the mother's blood group is "B", then the father's blood group must be "AB", and cannot be "O". "So," thought Arlene laughing, "if I can change Stella's blood card to show that her blood group is "B", Barry will know that Barbara's father's blood group must be "AB", and not his blood group which is "O". Then Barry will think someone else must be Barbara's father !"
       Arlene went to a printer and copied the blood cards. Then she found some printing with a letter "B" which looked the same as the "A", and carefully cut it out. She glued the "B" over the "A" on the copy of Stella's blood card and then she made a copy of that. Arlene looked carefully at the copy of the copy, and thought, "It is perfect. No one can see that the letter is different." Arlene put the copies of the blood cards in a plastic envelope and gave them to Barry to keep in the car. Barry did not ask Arlene for the original blood cards, so Arlene put them in the Wishing Well. She hoped that Barry would not look for them, and she thought that if he did find them, he would not think Arlene wanted to hide them.

       A few weeks later Arlene saw Barry alone and said, "It is strange that you all have different blood groups. When I copied them for the car I noticed that you are group "O", Stella is group "B" and Barbara is group "A". I wonder why that is." Arlene watched Barry carefully and noticed that he suddenly looked rather worried. Arlene thought, "Ha, ha, I think my plan is working ! I expect Barry will look at the copies of the blood cards next time he is in the car, and then he will wonder if he is the father of Barbara."

       A week later Barry asked Arlene to babysit, but next day he telephoned and said, "Do not come today because Barbara is not here. Barbara and Stella are staying with Stella's parents. Stella and I had a big argument."
       Arlene thought, "Good," and wondered how long Stella would live away from Barry, and then she thought, "Maybe for ever. But I will miss baby Barbara."

       A few days later Barry telephoned Arlene. "Stella is in hospital," he said. "Stella was alone in her parent's house today with Barbara. Stella was cooking when suddenly the knife slipped and she cut her hand. She could not stop the blood and she became worried and telephoned me." Barry said he went to Stella's parent's house, and saw that Stella had lost a lot of blood. "I drove her to the hospital," he said. "I knew that the doctors would have to give Stella more blood, so I took the blood cards from the car to show the doctors. It was lucky you made those copies."
       Stella had to stay in the hospital, because the doctors were worried about her. Barry went to see her everyday, and after three days Barry telephoned Arlene and said, "Stella is very ill. Her skin is becoming yellow, and she is getting weaker each day."
       Next day Barry telephoned Arlene from the hospital, but this time he was crying as he told her, "Stella has died."
       Arlene could not believe it, "Stella dead ?" she thought. "But why, all that happened was that she cut her hand with a knife. She must have got something bad into her blood." Then Arlene shouted, "Oh, no ! Her blood ! If the doctors gave her blood from the group that was on the blood card in the car, it was the wrong type of blood for her !"
       Arlene got up and walked round the room. She thought, "What have I done ? Has Stella died because of me ? Have I killed her ? No, it was an accident. Surely the doctors check before they give blood to someone. But this is terrible. Suppose Barry finds the real blood cards, then he will see that I changed Stella's blood group, and he will think I wanted her to die. Perhaps he will tell the police. Oh, no ! Please, Wishing Well, you must help me."
       Arlene sat down and thought, "I must stop Barry finding those blood cards. I hope they are still in the Wishing Well. I must go to Barry's house somehow and get them, and throw them away. If he never sees that the copy is different to the real card, he may think only that the hospital made a mistake when they made Stella's card."
       Arlene wondered if somehow she could use baby Barbara. She telephoned Barry and asked, "What is happening to Barbara ? Is Stella's mother still looking after her ?" Then Arlene had an idea, "You cannot ask her to do that for much longer, and you are a man and you cannot bring up a baby. Let me come and look after her."
       Barry said, "Yes, you get on very well with Barbara and I would really like you to look after her. Please come to my house tonight and we will get her."
       Arlene told Barry how shocked she was that Stella had died. She hoped Barry would believe her. Then she thought, "I really am shocked. I never thought this would happen." She looked for the Wishing Well, and saw that it was broken ! She thought, "Has Barry found the blood cards ?" Then she asked, "What has happenend to the Wishing Well ?"
       "I broke it," said Barry. "I was so angry when Stella died. I thought that somehow it was the Wishing Well's fault."
       Arlene thought, "Yes, it was the fault of the Wishing Well," and she hoped Barry was not looking at her face then. She thought, "He has said nothing about the blood cards, perhaps he has not found them. I must make Barry leave the room while I look for those cards."
       "The Wishing Well is not badly broken," said Barry. "I can easily mend it."
       "There is no time to worry about that now," said Arlene quickly. "We must get Barbara first. Barry, go upstairs and get some blankets."
       While Barry was out of the room, Arlene went quietly to the Wishing Well and looked for the blood cards. She found them where she had hidden them, and she quickly put them into her pocket, thinking, "Thank you, Wishing Well, for keeping them safe. Now Barry will never know."
       They went to Stella's parents house to get baby Barbara, and Barry asked Arlene to stay for a few weeks to look after Barbara.

       So Arlene stayed to look after baby Barbara, and she was very happy to be Barbara's nurse. Two weeks later, when Arlene was cleaning Barry's house, she found a postcard, but she did not understand what it said. She asked Barry about it when he came home from work. Barry said, "Please read it to me."
       Arlene read;
            "See Adonis sleeping, and Venus too,
             Sweat drenched bodies turned away,
             Satisfied now for today,
             No more thought of touch or play,
             Just sleep."
and she said, "but I do not understand what it means."
       "You cannot," said Barry quickly, "because you are not married, and then he shouted, "Stella wrote that, you must not touch her things !"
       Arlene was frightened because Barry had shouted at her. She stood up quickly and ran to the door of the room. She kicked the Wishing Well as she went past, and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She thought, "I knew it would soon finish. I knew something was sure to go wrong, or that I would make some mistake. Now I will have to leave." Then she thought, "I hope Barry will still want me to come and look after Barbara
for him."
       Arlene got all her clothes out and started to pack them into her suitcase. Soon there was a sound at the door. "Who is it ?" she asked, and then she thought, "How stupid, it is Barry of course, who else can it be ?"
       "It's me, Barry. I am sorry I shouted at you, Arlene. Please can I come in ?"
       "Alright," said Arlene, angrily.
       Barry came into the room, and he saw Arlene's clothes everwhere. "You are not leaving, are you ?" he asked.
       Arlene quickly covered up some of her clothes that she did not want Barry to see, and said, "Yes, I must leave. I am sorry, Barry, but it is the only way. You still feel that Stella is here."
       "But I need you," said Barry, "and Barbara needs you. You have been wonderful with her. Please stay."
       "No, Barry," said Arlene, "I cannot stay any longer. You asked me to stay to help you for a few weeks. I have done that, and now I must go back to live in my flat."
       "But what about baby Barbara," asked Barry. "You do not want to leave her, do you ?"
       "Oh, Barry," said Arlene. "You know I love Barbara. Of course I do not want to leave her, but she is Stella's daughter and she reminds you of Stella."
       Barry sat down on the bed, so Arlene had to continue packing her things, but she kept looking at Barry. She thought, "Please say something, Barry. If I finish packing my clothes, I will have to go, and if I go, how can I come back ?"
       Barry looked out of the window, and Arlene could not see what he was thinking. She pretended she had trouble packing her clothes and suddenly she emptied everything out of the suitcase. Then Barry said, "Arlene, I cannot forget Stella. I expect I will get angry again sometimes, but I am not angry with you, I am just angry because she died. I suppose I will slowly forget. What will you think of me when I say that I have forgotten her ?"
       Arlene did not answer the question. She said, "I cannot continue to live here," but she hoped that Barry would not agree.
       "Why not ?" asked Barry. "You can be Barbara's nurse. I can pay you, not very much I am afraid."
       "But suppose we argue again," said Arlene. "I am in a trap. If I live here, and I want to leave, I will have nowhere to go. Also people may think I am only your woman, but not your wife."
       "I will pay you to be Barbara's nurse, that is all" said Barry. "This can be your room, I will never come into it, and also I will give you a cheque for a thousand pounds. I will not put a date on the cheque, so that when you want to leave, you can put the date on yourself and get enough money to find somewhere to live."
       Arlene thought, "What a wonderful, kind man he is ! But I must not be too quick to agree."
       Barry looked at Arlene and then said, "You look frightened."
       "Yes, I am frightened," said Arlene. "You know that I am in love with you, but if you pay me, you will want to make love with me. I cannot do that. It is not the Chinese way when people are not married. I am sorry."
       "No, Arlene, never," said Barry. "I just want you to look after Barbara. I will never expect you to make love with me."
       "But you might come home drunk one night, and take advantage of me," said Arlene.
       "Arlene," said Barry, "you know I do not drink." Then Barry waited a moment and said, "I am glad you do not want to make love. I think it is very wrong for people to make love before they are married."
       "Really ?" asked Arlene, surprised, and pleased.
       "Let me tell you something funny." said Barry. "When Stella and I got married, our wedding night went wrong ! We did not know how to do it at first, although it was alright at the end of our holiday."
       Arlene looked surprised and asked, "Didn't you and Stella make love before you were married ? I thought all English people did that."
       "No, we did not," said Barry. "We were very much in love of course, and many times we felt we wanted to do it. Then we always talked about it and decided we would feel unhappy afterwards, so we waited until we were married. I am glad we waited. If Stella had agreed before we were married, I would hate her afterwards. I would think she was cheap and that she had made love with other men."
       "Yes," said Arlene slowly. "But surely you knew what to do ? You must have made love with Layla."
       "No," said Barry. "Layla only wanted to marry me so that she could stay in England. We never lived together."
       Barry waited a moment and then he asked, "Now, how do you feel about living here ? Perhaps we can pretend we are brother and sister."
       Arlene smiled and held out her hand. "Alright, brother and sister," she said as they shook hands.

       When Arlene knew that she would always be with Barry she thought, "Thank you, Wishing Well, you really are my friend. It will be wonderful living here, and perhaps, when Barry forgets Stella, he will want to marry me."
       Arlene was quite busy looking after Barbara, but sometimes she wondered what Barbara will think when she grows up. "Barbara will grow up to think that I am her mother, and she will love me, and yet her real mother died because of me."

       Arlene liked Barry's house and one day she asked Barry why he chose it. Barry said, "It was what Stella wanted. She said she wanted a house with one big room downstairs so that our family could be together all the time. She was worried that she and Barbara would never see me if I had a room for all my books, and so she never minded my books lying everywhere. She said a home is where we all do things, together, and not just somewhere nice to show our friends. Stella said this would help Barbara, especially when she goes to school."
       Then Arlene thought, "Barry, Stella was a good woman, but I hope we both can forget her - soon."

       One evening, when Barbara was three years old, Arlene put Barbara to bed and read her a bedtime story as usual, and then Arlene went downstairs to do some ironing.
       Barry said, "You have changed, Arlene."
       Arlene looked at her clothes and wondered what Barry meant.
       "No, Arlene, I do not mean what you are wearing," said Barry. "I mean that you are a different person now, you are not the same as when I first met you."
       Arlene started to iron a dress for Barbara, and she thought, "Yes, Barry, maybe I have changed. Before I used to think that tomorrow was always so important, but now I just think about what I must do today."
       Barry got up and walked to where Arlene was standing. Barry took Arlene's hand and said simply, "Arlene, I want to marry you."
       Arlene smiled at Barry, and then looked at the Wishing Well. She read the Chinese writing, "Do not wish for more than you need." Arlene thought, "Thank you, Wishing Well, now at last you have given me everything I need - Barry."

[© Martin, 1992 Jan 8, words = 8772, revision 060530]
Top of page