Lovely Land(Jeff Glazier) Lovely Land By Jeff Glazier





“Hello Granny.”
“Hello Katie darling.” The old lady bent down to kiss the little girl on her pale dry lips. She could hear that her breathing was faint. She sat down gently beside her on the bed trying not to let her sadness and anxiety show. “How have you been today?” Granny fussed with the little girl’s pillow, Katie looked at her through slightly misty eyes.
“I’m okay Granny, and how are you?”
“I’m also fine.” That was far from true.
“Am I going to have another operation tonight?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about it.”
“Okay.”
“You know, I had some operations when I was your age, I was nine I think.”
“I’m ten now, don’t you remember? Why did you have them?”
“I was in a car accident.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Well, it was a long time ago, I can’t really remember. I don’t think that the operations did though. Actually I was in hospital for a long time, when I wasn’t in Lovely Land that was.”
“Where’s Lovely Land?”
“I don’t quite know where it actually is, quite a way away I think.”
“What was it like?”
“It was like an adventure, I never knew what was going to happen. That’s my idea of an adventure.”
“It’s not mine.”
“No, but you girls are far too grown up these days.”
“You haven’t told me what it was like.”
“Well it was . . . lovely . . . sunny and warm, bird song all around and everyone there was so friendly. And the air was so fresh and clean no one was ever poorly.”
“I think that you must have dreamt it . . . I had a dream a bit like that once.”
“Yes, I thought that it was a dream – so do you know what I did?”
“No Granny.”
“The next time that I went I took Jeremiah – he was my first teddy bear. He was getting quite old – teddy bear years are different from children’s. He’d lost quite a lot of his fur and one of his orange glass eyes was missing.”
“Oh dear.”
“It didn’t seem to worry him. Anyhow, I left him there because it was such a nice place – a lot better than where I lived. And I knew he was there because when I came back he was missing.”
“I think another child stole him – do you remember Melissa Jacobs? She took one of my dolls once. She said she didn’t, but I knew she did. She was really poor though – didn’t have many dolls. If she’d have asked I would have given her one.”
“Well, the next time I went I took Lucy, she was a little doll in a tartan skirt – she liked Jeremiah – just in case he hadn’t made any friends and needed company. I needn’t have worried though, it’s easy to make friends in Lovely Land. In fact I remember one time when we had such a lovely dinner party. We were all dressed up around a great big table, we had tender lamb and crispy roast potatoes, and sprouts . . .”
“Sprouts! Yuk.”
“That’s what I thought until I tried them – they tasted of caramel . . .”
“Yummy.”
“And peas that tasted like jelly tots, and cabbage . . .”
“I really hate cabbage.”
“You’d like it if it tasted like marshmallow though wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, of course I would . . .”
“And what are you two ladies talking about?” The nice doctor and the pretty nurse were by the bedside.
“Lovely Land, do you know about it? Granny’s been there – when she was a girl.” The doctor was holding Katie’s limp hand and feeling her pulse.
“No I haven’t.” The doctor smiled at Granny.
“And how do you feel today Katie?”
“I’m fine thank you, and how are you?”
“Always better when I see you. And Granny, how are you?” There was deep concern reflected in his glance.
“I’m up to it Doctor, you know me.” The doctor and nurse continued on their rounds.

“I think of all my patients Katie deserves to get better, she is such a selfless and cheerful child.”
“I think that she gets that quality from her Granny.” The nurse observed.
“No doubt, and there’s such a deep loving bond between them.”
“Are you going ahead tonight?”
“Yes, theatre’s booked for seven.”
“How’s Katie’s mum doing?”
“Well, you know she hasn’t coped well. She’s on some serious medication, that’s helping a little. She knows the risk, all parties are aware. A bone marrow transplant and the need for a general anaesthetic at this stage carry risk for both of them. But Granny’s a perfect match. She’s frail, I don’t deny that, and it may be a last chance for Katie. But everyone has decided to take the chance . . . it could go either way. Just look at them, so comfortable with each other.”

“Is there school in Lovely Land?”
“Yes, but it’s called cool.” The little girl laughed.
“Cool.”
“Yes, and it’s such fun, the boys are so nice to you.”
“They’re not nice at mine, that Nigel Gates pinched me so hard . . . and his friend, he’s horrid too.”
“Well at cool the boys will open the door for you, they’ll share their sweets, pull your chair back for you to sit down. But the best thing about cool is the teachers will only teach you things that you find really interesting.”
“I like the sound of that. We’ve had to learn about something that happened hundreds of years ago, it was dead boring. How many times did you go to Lovely Land?” The old lady stared out into the distance for a moment.
“I went twice more I think, I took Jeremiah and Lucy their favourite cups from the tea set, and . . . oh yes, I didn’t mean to leave it, but I forgot to bring back my comforter. Actually I was getting a bit too old for it, and it was a bit smelly, so I didn’t worry.”
“Tell me something else that you liked about Lovely Land. Did you have a special friend?”
“Yes, there was one little girl, I say little girl, she was a bit older than I was . . .”
“Like twelve?”
“Yes, but she was quite grown up, and very pretty I remember.”
“What was her name?”
“Candice. She’d been there for quite a long time. She had the loveliest bedroom that I’d ever seen, with a sweet little bathroom just through another door, all to herself.”
“Gosh, I’d like that. And did she have a big bed? This one’s far too small for me don’t you think?”
“Oh yes, it was a huge comfy bed, and from the bed you saw the best part of the room. At first it looked like a long mirror that covered almost the whole wall. But when she said the magic word the mirror began to move. It slid, ever so gently . . .”
“What was the magic word?”
“. . . Do you know I don’t think she ever told me. It was her secret . . .”
“So what happened as the mirror slid?”
“Well . . . little by little it revealed the most beautiful clothes that I’d ever seen. There were long dresses that sparkled . . .”
“Like film stars wear?”
“Yes, Candice let me try one on once – I remember walking in front of the mirror pretending that I was a model on a catwalk.”
“What colour was it?”
“It was a rich purple, with bright shiny stars on it . . . it was so beautiful . . .” Katie seemed to drift for a moment, she had closed her eyes. Granny kissed her cheek. “Best you rest my child I think that I’d better . . .” Katie reached for Granny’s hand to pull her back as she tried to leave.
“No, don’t go Granny, tell me something else about Lovely Land, please.”
“ . . . Okay just for a few more minutes . . . Oh yes, I know something else that you’d really like . . . there were no long car journeys.”
“That’s good, I hate them, but how did you get anywhere?”
“What happened was . . . you’d think about where you wanted to go to, shut your eyes tightly, then click your fingers and . . . you’re there.” Katie tried to click her fingers.
“What happens if you can’t do it?” She tried again, with the same effect.
“Oh I couldn’t do it here, but I could there. In fact all the things that I couldn’t do here, I could do there.”
“Like throw a ball like boys do?”
“Yes, just like the boys do.” Granny stopped to think for a moment.
“Are you thinking about the boys there Granny?”
“Yes I was actually. I remember that there was a boy called Dean.”
“Did he kiss you?”
“What a question young lady, that’s very personal.”
“Melissa Jacobs tells everyone who’s kissed her.”
“We’ll I’m not Melissa Jacobs.”
“No one’s kissed me yet Granny.” For a second she thought she saw fear in the girl’s eyes.
“Well you’re far too young, that’s the trouble you all think that you’re just too grown up these days . . . one day it will happen . . .” She realised that her voice was wavering. Katie yawned. “Maybe best if you get a little sleep now. I’ll come and see you a bit later.”
“Okay . . . Have you ever been back to Lovely Land?”
“No . . . but I’d quite like to though.”

“It’s quite remarkable, I’ve never seen such an instant and rapid recovery in a child before.”
The doctor was studying scans. “If I wasn’t so sceptical I would even accept that there had been some divine intervention.” The ward sister appeared solemnly at the door.
“I’m afraid Katie’s granny didn’t make it through the night . . . she passed away just before dawn.” The nurse was visibly distressed . . . “She was such a kind person – such a sacrifice.” The doctor was also moved by the news. They stood in silence for a few moments.
“Yes, I’m really saddened, I had every hope, the operation went well . . . I will tell her daughter.”
“What about Katie, who’s going to tell her?”
“I’ll see if her mother will, this is going to be difficult, I don’t want any setback in her recovery, but at the same time don’t want her to have expectations and be wanting to see her granny again.”

Katie’s mum arrived at the hospital later that morning. The doctor was surprised to see her so calm. Even though still early days, he gave the encouraging news about her daughter – then gently broke the news about her mother. She took a few moments to respond.
“I slept uncomfortably last night, but just before dawn I experienced calm. I was semi-conscious as I was filled by a strange sensation – then I could see out of my room through two open doors into what seemed another far-off land. I had this weird feeling that something – some being, was going out of one door, then sensed someone entering the other. Do you think that I . . . ?”
“Had some premonition? Maybe. Are you strong enough to tell Katie? We do have people trained...”
“No, I’ll tell her.”

“Hello Katie darling.” She bent down to kiss the little girl’s pink lips, and listened to how strong her breathing was.
“Hello Mummy.”
“How do you feel?”
“I’m fine thanks, and how are you?”
“Well, I’m afraid that I have some sad news, it’s about Granny, she won’t be . . .”
“Oh I know about Granny, I was with her last night . . . in Lovely Land.”
“Where?”
“Lovely Land, it’s really lovely Mummy.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t really know, quite a way I think. But don’t worry, Granny’s fine. We went to a teashop together – her favourite kind of teashop. When we opened the door a little bell went ting. Music was playing, proper music she said, not that racket you hear on the radio these days. And they had the sort of teapots that she really likes, you know, the white ones with long spouts. And there were lovely cakes on a big stand, all sprinkled with icing sugar. So she’s fine. She was just a little sad when I left – I’ve not seen Granny cry before. And she gave me these, look?” Katie carefully turned back the cover the other side of the bed, then gently opened what looked like an old comforter. Lying close together was a pink plastic doll in a tartan skirt and an elderly gentleman of a teddy bear with one orange eye missing. “Meet Jeremiah and Lucy, but shush,” Katie brought her finger to her lips. “They’re sleeping after their long journey.”

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