Who Wants To Live Forever?. Steve Wilson

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СКАЧАТЬ to the topic. She was almost librarian-looking, with short bobbed brown hair and glasses; she reminded me of Donna Reed in the alternate-reality portion of It’s A Wonderful Life, but I soon saw that she portrayed none of the timidity of that character.

      “Before we begin,” she said, cutting across my mind-wandering, “I think it would be helpful if we all introduced ourselves and said a little about what we hope to gain during the next few months. I’ll start. I’m Louise James, and, as you’ve gathered, I’ll be teaching this short course and, over the next ten weeks, I hope to introduce you all to some of the more interesting events and characters associated with the county of Lancashire since 1911. Some people think of history in terms of wars and nations, but it is much, much more than that. A single unsolved murder that took place a century ago can still have relevance today…”

      There was a sharp gasp from one of the women to my right, but when I instinctively turned to look all three looked deep in concentration on Louise’s words and I wondered if I had imagined it.

      “Everybody has a history, something that is personal to each and every one of you, and I want to begin by exploring that. So come on now, it’s your turn, stand up and introduce yourselves to the group. Tell us what you hope to get out of the course.”

      I always hated that sort of thing, and I tried to sink down into my chair to become less noticeable, but Louise was looking directly at me and I had no choice. I stood and, in an unsteady voice, I began. “Er, I’m Ethan Hudson, and I’m fifty-nine years old. When I was younger, I hated my name, but now it’s come back into fashion it makes me feel a bit younger.” I could feel sweat beginning to trickle down my temple. That wasn’t what she meant when she said introduce yourself but I felt as if my mouth had been working of its own volition. “Yes, er, I’m divorced, two children, one married and living in the South of England and the other on a sabbatical to South America for a year, so I don’t get to see much of them, unfortunately. I’m retired, but I worked for most of my career as a loss adjuster at a variety of insurance firms across Lancashire. So I’ve travelled about the county, but know very little about it, really. What am I hoping to get from the course? It’s strange in a way. I always hated history when I was at school, but now I’m older I often find myself wondering about the past. Especially as a lot of it is my own past, but you don’t look upon things in the same way when you’re a child, do you? It’s the chance to learn a little about the county I was born in that attracted me when I saw the advert. And that’s about it, I suppose,” I said, hastily sitting down.

      “Thank you,” said Louise, and her warm smile suddenly made me feel a lot better about myself. She turned her gaze to my right, to the first of the three women, the one with the wedding ring on. She had short multicoloured hair, a mixture of light and dark brown, and my immediate instinct was to wonder whether or not she dyed it to cover the grey. I judged her to be approaching sixty, but before I could glean any more information she stood and began to speak, in a strong, clear voice.

      “My name is Gail Smythe and I’m a fifty-two-year-old housewife. My husband is the national manager of a fast-food franchise, and — as we don’t have children — I travel with him a lot as he goes to the head offices in America several times a year. He doesn’t have any overseas trips planned for the immediate future, but he works long hours and is often late home, so I was looking for something to fill some of my spare time. We’re originally from London — we met at the Isle of Wight festival, as we were both big fans of The Who at the time, and we moved to this area two years ago when the company moved its UK headquarters to Manchester. As I’ve never really thought much about life in the north before, I considered it might be useful to learn something about the area I now live in, and the people who live here. I could also pass the information on, as it might be of use to my husband in his job.”

      She sat down, and I wondered if she had been the one who gasped when Louise spoke. Something about what she’d said didn’t quite ring true. I vaguely remembered the Isle of Wight festival as taking place around the time of Woodstock, which I knew was in 1969. I did a quick mental calculation. If Gail had gone to the festival in, say, 1969 or 1970, then she would only have been around eleven or twelve. It was possible, of course, but it just didn’t seem right, but I tried not to be overly judgemental; perhaps I was wrong about the dates and the festival had been in the mid-seventies after all.

      The woman next to her, who had short-cut dark reddish-brown hair, rose and began to speak. “And I’m Trish Carson, and it isn’t short for Patricia or anything like that. Trish is the name on my birth certificate. I’m fifty-four, and a happily divorced businesswoman — some of you may have seen me during the working day, for I provide sandwiches for some of the larger employers in Lytham and the surrounding areas.” I glanced across at her, trying not to stare and make it too obvious. Fifty-four? I wouldn’t have thought her to be a day over forty-five. She didn’t notice that I was looking at her, and continued to introduce herself. “Like the others said, I too would like to know a little more about the county I’ve lived in for the last thirty years. I also thought it might be a good way of meeting new friends, as modern life doesn’t give us the same opportunities to socialise as our parents had. It would be interesting to learn how things were fifty and a hundred years ago, so we can see how things have changed, and it might make it easier to determine whether all of those changes have been for the better or not.”

      As she sat down, with a slight crimson shade on her face, the third of the trio — a bobbed fair-haired beauty who looked to be in her mid-thirties and dressed as if she were ten years younger than that — stood, ready to tell us her own potted life story. “Let’s get this over, then,” she began, a little nervously. “I’m Deborah Havers-Home,” she said, carefully enunciating each syllable. “It’s spelt the same as the former Prime Minister that some of you will undoubtedly remember. And that’s all I have in common with him. I prefer to be called Debbie rather than my full name, as it sounds rather pretentious. It isn’t; I just wanted to keep my own surname when I married Mr Home. My job is very unglamorous — I’m an accounts clerk at a bakery, as I had to return to work when I left my husband.”

      She went to sit down, then hurriedly rose again. “Oh, and in keeping with everyone else, I’m fifty-five years old and I am fascinated by the past, so I thought this was an ideal opportunity to be with like-minded people. I do know the county quite well, for I’ve travelled a lot over the years, but you can always learn something new. And, as…Trish said, an event like this can also be very useful for meeting people. I think it’s very important to have plenty of friends and acquaintances from all walks of life.”

      I turned to look in her direction. My guesses were way off the mark tonight. Fifty-five? Surely not. But as I took a closer look, I could see signs around her eyes that she wasn’t quite as young as I’d first thought. I noticed the others glancing across at her too, and wondered whether there might be looks of envy from those of similar age to Debbie.

      “Thank you,” said Louise, before turning towards the couple on my left. The youth rose, exuding aggression in his stance. “Mike Ryan. I’m one of the forgotten generation who haven’t been able to find a job thanks to the old establishment figures who make the decisions.” He almost spat the words out, and I could see from his looks that he counted Gail, Trish, Debbie and myself amongst the old establishment figures. With his long hair, sideburns, armless T-shirt and torn jeans he almost seemed to be a throwback from an earlier decade. “So I’ve plenty of time on my hands, and as the unemployed can do the course for a fiver, I decided to let you all have the benefit of my knowledge. I wasn’t expecting to be with so many old people, though,” he added.

      There was silence for a second, then the girl alongside him said, “Okay, you’ve had your say. Sit down, Mike.” As he sat I noticed him casting a long and hard look at Gail, and a small smile played on his lips.

      Trying to cover up the awkward silence, I said, “And finally, young lady?” I took СКАЧАТЬ