Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

June 2016

Allan - Jeanette Rothwell

There was no doubt about it, Allan was noisy. From the moment he entered this world and uttered his first lusty cry, he kept on being noisy. As a toddler he learned his nursery rhymes and recited or sang them loudly while playing with his toys, banging on a drum or pretending to be a Jet flying over the house!

This all came as a shock to his quiet unassuming parents, Jessica and Michael. They had been married for eight years before Allan came along. In fact, for a while Jessica was convinced the hospital had handed her the wrong baby, he was so different in temperament to his parents. However, as he began to grow, he resembled his Dad in looks and his Mother accepted that this noisy baby really was hers.

Jessica was a Librarian and Michael lectured in Classical Music. They liked nothing better than to sit in their comfortable lounge, reading and listening to classical music, no Television. All this they found difficult with Allan around. As he grew into a teenager, his music got louder. He slammed doors and drawers. He never moved around the house quietly, stomping down the stairs, shouting from the top of the house if he couldn’t find something, growing very tall and rather gangly, he also became a trifle clumsy, finding his long limbs difficult to control until his body started to settle into manhood.

Try as they did, Jessica and Michael attempted to break him out of his clumsy and noisy behaviour, but to no avail. Trouble was, Allan was a charming, easy going person, and remonstrating with him went straight over his head. He would smile, say ‘sorry’ and carry on as usual.

As a teenager, he was popular at school and brought home his noisy friends. His parents made them welcome but winced at the loud music and laughter. When Allan was out for the evening they would snatch a quiet time listening to their own classical music and reading without interruption. These moments were few and far between.

Gradually the giggly girlfriends started to appear. They danced to the pop music in the lounge, ran around the garden shrieking with laughter, flirting, but Allan was immune to their charms. Then, much to the alarm of his parents, Allan brought home Madge. She was an avid football fan and moved about on a motor scooter. Allan would ride pillion with his long legs awkwardly tucked in as she shot off to the next home or away match in which their local team was playing.

He was so enthusiastic about the game that he persuaded his parents to attend a home match. Reluctantly they agreed, but when they entered the stadium and found their places, the roar of the crowd and questionable language used by those surrounding them shocked Jessica and during the match she held on to Michael’s hand fiercely. When they left the stadium the crush was so great that Jessica found herself almost floating along because her feet weren’t touching the ground.

Allan was full of excitement about the game. Jessica smiled wanly at him. Michael had found some excitement at the game but not enough to tempt him to repeat the experience. With great relief, Allan began to lose interest in Madge and she faded out of his life.

Then in his early twenties, he met Kitten. That was obviously her nickname but it suited her very well. She was a tiny, vivacious, pretty girl with red curly hair, big blue eyes, and was profoundly deaf. Allan’s parents, meeting her for the first time, realised this much to their surprise. Kitten would certainly have no problem with Allan’s noisy behaviour. Allan had learned sign language and she could lip read, so there was obviously no difficulty with communication.

Their courtship was short and in no time Allan announced their engagement and wedding date. They found a first floor flat a few roads away from his parents. Jessica felt sorry for the ground floor occupants of the flats with Allan living above them, but that was their problem.

After Kitten and Allan’s very flamboyant wedding, Jessica and Michael settled back into their previous existence, listening to classical music, reading in the silence of the house. After a few weeks of this, Michael put down his book and sighed ‘Shall we break ourselves out of the habits of our lifetime, and drag ourselves into the 21st century?’

‘What do you mean, love?’ asked Jessica

‘Shall we buy a television?’