Holly Edgecombe
Page 2 of 2
Excerpt from
On the Road to a Miracle
And then it was my turn. I made my entrance with the wise men. Jeremy pushed his ladder-back walking frame in front of me, his face wrinkled in concentration. I was an angel in an elegant white gown. My filmy wings were strewn with silver sequins. I walked carefully, taking my time to move my sticks in their familiar pattern, step one, stick one, step two, stick two, I arrived at the centre of the stage.
Although the stage was brightly lit, the rest of the theatre was in semi-darkness. There was just enough light to see that the auditorium was filled with people. ‘Look up at the stars,’ Mum whispered, and I did. The ceiling was sprinkled with tiny lights, a glow-worms’ grotto shining down on us.
Dame Malvina started to sing, ‘Once in Royal David’s City stood lowly a cattle shed,’ a pure and beautiful sound. She turned to face us. She was singing to us, looking only at us. Perhaps she knew the time and work it had taken all of us to get that far.
And then it was over. We’d done it. I walked off the stage hardly hearing the applause. The stage door shut and there was an explosion of noise! Absolute exhilaration! I remember it lifting me up and carrying me along, floating, on a river of joy, tumbling and turning down the corridor, bursting through the doors and depositing me in the foyer. We had done it. What an achievement! Mums, dads, friends, helpers and all of us were laughing, crying, talking and hugging.
Back to earth again. The downside of living in Canterbury was the winter. I inevitably ended up in hospital with pneumonia. So after five years, with some regret, we were on the move. Back once more to the North Island.
Page 2 of 2 | Previous Page
