Tess and Tattoos by H.A.Leuschel. "Manipulated Lives."

                    Tess and Tattoos by H.A.Leuschel.

Getting up in the morning "meant facing the same inevitable truth-that all she was really waiting for was death to make its appearance and that, when it did eventually happen, she'd not even know. Dead was dead."

This short story is taken from "Manipulated Lives" a collection of five stories but it can be purchased as an ebook on its own. It's the story of Tess, an 82 year old, living in a serviced apartment for the elderly for three years, sadly waiting to die like many others.

The setting provides a degree of tranquility and beauty for the elderly, frail occupants. It is Autumn, symbolic of the end of summer and everything it represents moving towards winter, reflecting the sad tone of a life coming to an end. Home is an attractive 3 storey, red-brick house built to outlast its occupants with "weathered faces and aching bones." We experience the wind howling as someone plays the piano whilst outside the gardeners are hard at work. The staff  leave the home smelling of apple pie or the scent of lavender from incense sticks. Quite pleasant.

Tess is less dependent on the nurses than some of the others but she does crave attention and tries to hold onto the moment which she relishes. A smile, a touch of the hand, some warmth and signs of affection perhaps? What Tess refers to as “harmless manipulation” was to simply extend the attention of the nurse in an attempt to stave off her loneliness. She does not have any visitors, had lost contact with her friends and her only son, Daniel lived in Australia with his wife and four children. Tess spoke to him once a week which she called "superficial chit-chat" so she pretends that she can speak to him and reveal some secrets, some very dark secrets. Contact with Daniel for what it's worth seems to be enough motivation to continue the struggle of living. For the moment, anyway. Daniel eventually visits Tess and we learn that he hasn’t seen his mother since his early thirties. He never forgave his mother for leaving her husband and breaking up the family. He was an impressionable sixteen at the time.

A new nurse called Sandra cheers Tess up and they bond, enough for Tess to talk about her past trusting her with sensitive information along the lines of physical abuse: cigarette burns, bruises left from broken bones and hidden mental scars.  Sandra had experienced her own heartache with the recent death of her husband to cancer and becoming a single parent to three children. She recognises Tess's talent at art, "making something come to life." Tess had worked in advertising. Art was her passion and yet her partner had not encouraged her to pursue it.

Altruism. That's the word I'd use to describe Sandra. "People dissolved so quietly out of life, and she was determined to make those lives as meaningful as she could."

Over the six months we learn about horrors suffered, tensions between son and mother and the need for forgiveness. Sometimes it comes at a price and…too late. Remember “Macbeth?”

"We are like candle flames, so fragile, so easily blown out by a gust of wind."

Tess reflected on how she was put on a pedestal but that soon changed. She was a bit of a romantic in that she dreamt of a person who would treat her like Cinderella. The author told me that the story is loosely inspired by a lady’s account who has recently “come out” at the age of seventy-seven. And Tess? That’s for you to find out!

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Publisher: Create Space. ISBN: 13: 978-15347-08976 “Manipulated Lives.”

“Tess and Tattoos” available on ekindle

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