A Night To Remember by Lynda E Blake

"This sounds interesting Mum, would you like to go?"

"What's that love?" asked Sue's mum glancing up from the vegetables she was peeling.

"It's a talk by Janice Armstrong, a crime writer. I haven't read any of her books but it could be interesting. The newsletter here says the talk is part of the celebrations for Agatha Christie Week."

Frowning Sue's mum sighed. She wasn't much of a reader herself and had even said that she thought it was a waste of time. But Sue knew her mum's weaknesses and was quick to emphasise the crime aspect of the talk. "You like to watch crime shows on the television, don't you? Perhaps she'll talk about those too. You might be surprised."

Reluctantly she agreed to go and a few days later they were in the taxi heading for a library in a nearby city.… They'd hoped to get there early and get a good seat but when they reached the room they were shocked to see there was only one empty chair. Sue had to use a wheelchair these days, and found this embarrassing because it was as if it was a barrier that came between her and other, more active people, whom she found often excluded her from their conversations. But on this occasion she was glad she'd brought her own seat!

The guest author began to speak, but her voice was almost drowned out by a noisy fan which had been positioned directly opposite from where Sue and her mum sat. Janice Armstrong herself commented upon the noisiness of the fan, but no-one made any attempt to change its speed or direction. Neither Sue nor her mum had brought a coat, so in the end Sue's mum got to her feet and turned off the fan altogether. There was an audible gasp from the audience when she did this, but most people had by now wrapped their coats around their shoulders, so perhaps they longed to do what Sue's mum had had the courage to do?

The room fell quiet and everyone settled back to enjoy the rest of the evening, but as they did so one of the organisers stepped forward and thanked Janice Armstrong for her enlightening talk. Thus bringing the proceedings to an abrupt end. Janice Armstrong looked at her watch then down to her so far unused notes lying on the small table at her elbow. "Is it really that time?" She sounded bewildered and her face betrayed the fact that she really hadn't expected anyone to ask her to stop speaking so soon.

Sue couldn't understand it either because the evening seemed to be going so well. Janice Armstrong was clearly relishing the opportunity to share her love of writing with people who had a mutual interest in her craft.

A few people in the audience looked at each other as they slowly rose, but the woman who had sat beside Sue walked silently from the room without so much as a backward glance. No one seemed able to comprehend what had happened.

Sue and her mum didn't know what to do. A man with rather long hair came towards them, "Can I help?" he asked.

"We have to wait for our taxi," explained Sue's mum quietly. The man muttered something and then went back to join Janice Armstrong who was still packing away her belongings.

"What time is it?" asked Sue's mum apprehensively. Sue looked at her watch and told her it was exactly 8pm. They had precisely one hour to wait before James came back to collect them…

If only they had a mobile phone but Sue knew she wouldn't get one because like much of today's technology, they scared her. She was convinced she'd do something terribly wrong and break it.
But as Sue's mum reminded her, James their taxi driver could be miles away. Perhaps on another job? Even if he could collect them straight away it'd be a while before he could reach them. This was turning into a disaster…

Before long another man came towards them and asked if he could help. This man turned out to be a librarian and he led them back into the library itself. They explained the situation and he said they could wait at the desk - and even offered to call James from the phone used by the librarians. Sue told him the number and he picked up the phone and dialled expectantly, but his face changed when James told him he couldn't possibly get there before the time they'd arranged.

Putting the phone down the librarian turned to Sue and asked if there was another taxi they could use? "No," replied Sue's mum. "We know James and he knows us. He knows just what Sue needs and how to help her."

"Oh, I see." Mumbled the librarian.

For a few minutes the librarian and three of his colleagues who had been busying themselves amongst the bookshelves disappeared into a room not accessible to the public. Shortly afterwards five members of staff re-emerged but two of them quickly left the building while the remaining three stayed behind. It must have been decided that they would make sure Sue and her mum didn't wreck the place!

The three librarians who stayed behind were all friendly, and each one in turn chatted with Sue and her mum but the wait seemed to go on forever and it soon became apparent that everyone was getting restless. The librarians went off to re-arrange the books and DVDs. Sue could hear them talking about films they'd seen and longed to join in with their discussion but she rarely watched films. Her vision made it hard for her to recognise unfamiliar characters and often she'd find it hard to keep track of what was going on.

Looking around at the many shelves of books she longed to read too. But even that pleasure was denied her these days - unless she enlisted the help of modern technology, how ironic that the aspect of life which caused her so much angst also enabled her to enjoy such a basic pleasure.
Gazing at the crowded shelves she realised what a small fraction of this wealth of information she'd read. She doubted she'd ever get to access it either which made her sad. For a moment this seemed to put her whole experience of life in a nutshell. There were so many things she'd never know…

All of a sudden her thoughts were dragged back to the problem of the moment though when the first librarian approached them again and suggested they go downstairs. Was he going to throw them out into the street?

Putting a hand on the back of Sue's wheelchair he spoke wearily. "We've had to lock the doors, but you'll be able to see when your taxi driver arrives and then you can give us a shout to come and unlock the door…"

It was pointless arguing, so minutes later they found themselves abandoned in the small glass foyer which looked out onto the street. Sue was starting to feel anxious and didn't like being on show like this. She looked at her watch again. 8.40. "Let's hope he's not delayed," she said hesitantly.

It was dark outside now but only a few people were walking around. The library was close to the city centre, but it was still quite early and perhaps fewer people went out on Tuesday nights? Sue was glad it wasn't a busy night at the weekend with lots of young people milling around.

Fortunately their agony wasn't prolonged though and they both sighed with relief when James' face appeared at the window. But of course they still had to get out and somehow had to let the librarian know. They glanced towards the steep staircase, but there was no sign of anyone and they hadn't asked the librarian's name.

Sue's mum moved towards the stairs and Sue thought she was going to go and find someone, but to her amazement her mum instead shouted out the name "John!"

They never found out if this was a lucky shot, or if the librarian just heard a noise and came running to investigate, but it achieved the desired effect!

On the way home Sue thought over what had happened. Yes, it had been a memorable evening, but not for the reasons they'd expected.

The End