THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Friday, 3 November 2023

Fate's Embrace

"Fate's Embrace"

(author unknown)

Once in a small town, there lived a girl named Emma. She had a heart full of dreams and a smile that could light up even the gloomiest day. Emma believed in something magical, something called fate.

One sunny afternoon, as Emma strolled through the town square, she bumped into a young man named Jack. His eyes sparkled like the stars, and he had a kind, warm heart. Jack believed in fate too, just like Emma.

From that moment, their lives intertwined. They spent days exploring the town, laughing and sharing stories. They discovered they both loved painting, so they decided to create something beautiful together.

Under the shade of an old oak tree, they set up their canvas and let their brushes dance. Emma's strokes were like gentle whispers, and Jack's were bold and full of life. Together, they painted a world that felt like a dream.

As days turned into weeks, Emma and Jack's friendship grew stronger. They shared their hopes, fears, and even their dreams of traveling the world. They knew, deep down, that fate had brought them together for a reason.

One starry night, as they sat on the grass and gazed at the night sky, Jack said, "Emma, do you believe that sometimes, fate brings two people together to create something beautiful?"

Emma smiled, her eyes twinkling like the stars. "Yes, Jack. I believe that with all my heart."

With those words, Jack took Emma's hand in his. It felt like their hearts were speaking a language only they could understand. It was as if fate itself had gently guided their hands together.

From that moment on, Emma and Jack's bond grew even deeper. They became inseparable, facing life's ups and downs hand in hand. They travelled the world, painting the beauty they discovered, and leaving a trail of inspiration wherever they went.

As years passed, Emma and Jack returned to their small town, where their story had begun. They stood under the same old oak tree where they had painted their first masterpiece. It felt like fate had come full circle.

They looked at each other, their eyes filled with a profound understanding. They knew that their love and friendship were something special, something that only comes along once in a lifetime.

And so, under the twinkling stars and the rustling leaves, Emma and Jack embraced their destiny. They knew that fate had woven their lives together, and they were grateful for every moment they had shared.

For Emma and Jack, fate was not just a word. It was the gentle hand that had guided them to each other, creating a love story that was as beautiful as any masterpiece they had ever painted.

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I WILL WONDER by Marva Lee Weigelt

"I WILL WONDER"
by Marva Lee Weigelt

Just so you know
after you die
I will not wonder
why you didn’t do
your dishes or
how long it’s been
since you
cleaned your
oven or microwave or
mopped your floors
or why there were
dust bunnies under
the bed and
behind the door

After you’re gone
I will not wonder
how you could
have allowed the
piles of old mail to
accumulate or
why you saved so
many bits and pieces
of this and that or
why you weren’t
more goal-oriented and
well-organized or
why your refrigerator
contained so many
expired condiments

When you are
absent from all your
familiar places
I vow to avoid wondering
why you didn’t
eat less and
exercise more or
why you waited so
long to stop smoking
or drinking or
whatever else was
simultaneously
soothing and
deadly or
why you took
whatever risk may
seem to have hastened
your exit or why
you left so much unsaid
unfinished or
unresolved

I will only wonder
if you knew how much
you mattered to me
just as you are
as you were when we
met in our temporary
human disguises and
laughed in the
dressing room of the
world at how funkily
our skin suits fit
at times

I will wonder and
hope you knew
you were beloved

I will wonder when
we last hugged
and whether you
felt how our
heartbeats
converged
and our bellies
bumped like boats
and then we
both sighed

- Marva Lee Weigelt

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WHAT IF by Becky Hemsley

"WHAT IF"
by Becky Hemsley 2022

What if the mermaids are all of the women

Cast overboard ‘cause of old superstition

Drowning beneath the waves, gasping for breath

Then forging a tail with the strength they have left?

And what if the dragons, with their breath ablaze

Were once little lizards all thrown to the flames

Choking on smoke and then swallowing flares

Then rising up, claiming that power as theirs?

And maybe the vampires favour the night

‘Cause they’ve been kept in the dark most of their lives

Starved of companions, affection and love

‘Til they have no choice but to feed on our blood

Yes, what if these creatures of magic and myth

Are those who’ve known darkness but chosen to live

Chosen to breathe and to rise and survive

To harness adversity, hoping they’ll thrive?

And what if you too have been thrown to the waves,

Befriended the night and encountered the flames

And so you’ve assumed that you’re destined to burn,

To drown in the darkness -

But what if you learned…

That maybe your story is not over yet

That there are still pages that need to be read

Pages of oceans that you’re yet to swim,

Fiery chapters for you to breathe in

Lines built on words that are so full of light

Of such warmth and strength, they inspire you to write

And what if you choose now to pick up a pen

And write through the night ‘til you come to the end?

And what if you read it back?

Well, then you’ll find

That your story has always held magic inside

Becky Hemsley 2022

Beautiful artwork by Demelsa Haughton Illustration

‘What if?’ is from my second collection

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Wednesday, 1 November 2023

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE ME? by Mehendi Guha Roy

"WHY DO YOU CHOOSE ME?"
by Mehendi Guha Roy

My man asked me today, “Love, I hurt you so much then why do you choose me every-time?”

Well baby, love comes with happiness and pain..

You can’t love someone’s good and hate someone’s bad..

I choose you every-time because of the good, because of the essence of us which feels incomplete without your piece of puzzle..

He again said with a heavy heart, “I can’t see you in this pain.. you are better off without me, please be happy..”

Well love, I don’t know about happy but I know that you are my best friend, my unpaid therapist and my home..

The uncertainty that lacks in my life because of your presence keeps me conscious..

The rush of adrenaline that I feel when I see you, digs every muscle of my body, making me feel lively..

I can’t explain that the child in me feels safe and feels tugged in your arms..

The warmth of your breath makes me relive those crunched part of myself, which I threw labelling as ‘waste’ on the way..

“You can’t live with me right love?.. I don’t deserve you isn’t it?.. Please say something baby”, he said as his voice went deep and heavy..

With a lot of courage I managed to speak this time and I said, “I wish you knew how much I love you, that even your faults gets washed away by my tears.. I really hope you knew you much you make me feel alive that even death shivers seeing you by my side.. I want to live but with you right by my side, I want to cry but on your shoulder even if you are the one making me cry, I want to complain about you to you so that the world can’t throw dirt at you. I need you like a passenger needs a shade, I need you like a thirsty person in a desert needs water, I need you in my every breath.. from the day you came into my life I felt worthy, I felt beautiful, I felt deserved.. I really wish you understand that before life crumbles my path..”

—Mehendi Guha Roy https://www.facebook.com/usRaw

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GIVE ME CREDIT by Jun Mark Patilan

"GIVE ME CREDIT"
by Jun Mark Patilan

People give me credit for a lot of things I don't deserve. They say I'm strong, but I just kind of had to be. They only see me in my armour, never knowing I'm trembling inside it. They only hear the "yes" but never the "NO" my heart screams over and over.

They say I'm fluent in silence, but I just can't find the courage to let the words out. I long for funny conversations, too, or even deep ones while sitting under the moonlight. I love listening to people when they talk about the things they're so passionate about. Their eyes always shine.

People give me credit for a lot of things I don't deserve, but if there's one thing they got right, it's when they tell me I'm a dreamer. I really am. And I know I can take whatever life throws my way, put on a mask if I have to, pretend to be strong and fluent in silence if I need to, but I hope that one day, I can just sit under the moonlight, look at the stars, and tell them a lot of things didn't turn out the way I wanted, but it was all worth it, anyway.

—Jun Mark Patilan

Artwork: 700_illust

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THE OLD MAN ON THE PIER

"THE OLD MAN ON THE PIER"
(author unknown)

This is a wonderful true story. You will be glad that you read it, and I hope you will pass it on.

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favourite pier.

Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.'

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place .

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like 'a funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant, maybe even a lot of nonsense.

Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Millennials.

Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida ... That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive.

Every day across America millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive.

The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle.

They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft...suddenly Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal of it - a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait....and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea.

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull... And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

Reference: (Max Lucado, "In The Eye of the Storm", pp...221, 225-226)

PS: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he was race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America's first ace. In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero. And now you know another story about the trials and sacrifices that brave men have endured for your freedom.

As you can see, I chose to pass this story along as it was passed to me from my father. It is a great story that many don't know...I think it exemplifies a couple of life's lessons to be remembered. You've got to be careful with old guys, you just never know what they have done during their lifetime. It also speaks to me about how we never know what we adversity we might face, but when we put our talent both mentally and physically together, we can overcome, but we must never forget what we learned and to remember to thank those that helped pull us through even if it was as something seemingly meaningless as a seagull and to pay it forward.

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