As is often the case with a new story, the introduction is by necessity quiet and probably boring, but do bear with me because once the scene is set, then things will quickly start to go over the top!
This is the first and opening story of a five part story – or at least that's what I've planned but who knows how a story unfolds until it's ended.
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It was 1976 and Britain was about to enjoy one of it's finest summers in living memory. Day after day of hot unbroken sunshine would be sending temperatures soaring well up into the 80s and even the 90s, but thus far in the year it was still only Easter time – mid April as yet and the heat of the summer ahead was an unknown quantity.
But even before that summer heat, the decades of pop music and 'flower power' had liberated much of the younger population and sex was no longer a hidden pleasure. Social permissiveness had been eagerly taken up by so many, bringing sexual awareness into the open while 'the pill' was now bringing sexual freedom to so many more. The summer heat would just add encouragement to their activities.
All the excesses of that summer were still to come but yet in the springtime of that year it was a glorious time to be young and free.
We were young, that was for certain. Andy and Sarah the twins, were 19, I was almost 22 while Mum was still young at 44, coming on 45.
We were free because our Mum, Patricia or Pat (do not call her Pattie though), had jolted us from our ways with some wild and exciting news – we were going to move. Not just down the road but some 120 miles from the English Midlands to the South coast, a move that made more sense to her than to us when she'd first outlined her plans.
Initially she'd just asked us if we'd like to move and after we'd more or less agreed she took us on a road trip to view the new location and some potential houses, so we knew what we were letting ourselves into. She also pointed out that we'd have to leave our jobs, again asking us if we still wanted to move but again we agreed so Mum thanked us for our support and told us that she'd get the wheels in motion...and that was all she told us.
So we now had to onerous tasks of telling our bosses that we were leaving and as we'd each held fairly decent posts, it was going to be something of a wrench. My job was, as my boss growled, "A position of growing responsibility" and he couldn't see for the life of him why we should choose to move.
"It'll spoil your future prospects, you mark my words," he'd grumbled, "All this flitting around. Now in my days..."
He rumbled on but I interrupted him, shook his hand and departed – now unemployed but free to join Mum and my siblings on our journey.
Andy and Sarah both had similar tales to tell of their bosses reactions but they'd both stuck by Mum and her plans, so now, as I said earlier, we were free.
Later that same day Mum explained the details to us as we gathered around her, describing how she wanted us to start a whole new life. She reminded us that she'd given us the option to stay or to leave with her and that we'd all agreed that we'd rather stick with Mum, so now that we'd given up our jobs she was happy to expand on her plans.
"We're going to sell this house and buy another one," she said, "You've already seen it so you probably remember which one it is and I've been able to get it for a really good price."
The way she stood there swaying her hips seductively told me that she would have caused any estate agent to lower his price (along with his morals) while remaining pure, clean and unsullied herself. Her voice and her lovely smile turned her into an angel for me and yet also made me want to have her as mine, to love her completely. I had no doubt that Andy felt the same way but inside me I knew that her comforting, warm and well chosen words were for me alone...that's how her words affected my mind.
Mum had indeed offered us the options of staying or leaving, pointing out that we'd all passed the age of majority (18 in our country) so we could now make our own decisions, but we'd unanimously agreed to go with her – to the ends of the earth if necessary, so our journey of discovery was about to begin!
Her planned move was designed at least in part to escape the vicinity of the death of our father, killed by an error that was firmly blamed on his employer.
Thinking aside, it's odd how, when the word 'industrial' is added to an accident, then that accident suddenly becomes far more gory and nasty in the imagination – but it wasn't like that; it was simply a mechanical flaw, a heavy chain sling that came loose at just the wrong moment, a violent blow to the back of my father's head that broke his neck instantly and a bit of very bad luck that the end of the steel chain had hit him. One more step and he might have been safe; instead he was dead.
The fatal accident, now over a year ago did have it's fortune attached in the form of the payout of our father's insurances and a fair amount of financial support from the company too; both gains that helped the family get over our loss and although the sums involved were a shadow of the kind of figures paid out today in such circumstances they were generous enough for the time.
Despite the financial windfall however, we all felt that his demise must have been a hammer blow to Mum but she withstood the trauma well and although she probably felt grief far more deeply than we did, being alone did have it's benefits it seemed because, aware that she was now the breadwinner, she expanded her literary skills.
We knew of her writing ability as she'd already had a book published (not long after dad died actually) – a full length book apparently, the name of which she had refused to divulge to us.
"It's for grown-ups," she said simply, along with a wicked grin, "You wouldn't understand it."
She also refused to let us know how much royalty they paid her each month but however much it was, it made her smile contentedly when her monthly bank statement arrived.
