The Ivory Rose

An ivory object goes from on owner to another, with disastrous results.

 

 

THE IVORY ROSE

 

The window of ‘Misti’s Antiques and Gifts’ shop in a side street of a west country town was passed by every day by people in search of something different or unusual. Would-be customers stopped and gazed at the shop window, and tried to see what was inside, but had to peer into the gloom to see anything at all. Inside, the centre of the shop was dominated by a tree made of wrought iron which had, hanging from its branches, amber lamps like giant quinces. These gave out a welcoming glow which shone onto the pavement outside, creating a magical invitation, welcoming anyone to step inside.

Misti was as dark and mysterious as her shop. Two long black plaits hanging in loops behind her ears, tied with black ribbons, were her signature hairstyle. She never wore her hair any other way. Misti’s clothes were dark, long skirts, around her waist a colourful ribbon was tied in a bow with long ends. She had once seen this on a holiday in Mexico and had adopted it for herself. Misti’s husband, Calum, had thought it rather wild, then had a change of mind when he looked at the shop’s accounts and saw that Misti’s little business made more than he did as a decorator. There were pieces of antique furniture which were highlighted by satin throws and dolls with hard, white painted faces. On tables were the smaller items, Murano glass paper weights, quill pens, writing sets, snuff boxes, glass containers for hair pins, worn toys, and among all this was an ivory rose. Misti had never made any money out of that rose. Every time it had been sold, after one or two days it had been returned by the buyers as not fitting in with the rest of their ornaments. No satisfactory explanation had ever been given. Misti had told Calum that she thought it was cursed. Being a man, he had laughed it off.

 

A first time visitor to a small town spends most of the time wandering along the streets on the look out for something unusual and different from the vulgar and common. Even walking into a pub or any kind of shop can be an adventure when in an unknown place. You never know what you might come across. Analia’s hobby was looking up somewhere on internet and scrutinising it to the maximum, and if she was fascinated then at the weekends off she went. As she no longer worked, she had taken to travelling midweek as well. Nowadays many small villages have opted to set up souvenir shops and tearooms instead of the ancient artisan shops, where one could walk in and watch the potter or the weaver producing what was something from apparently very little. The bakeries were also such a source of entertainment. The smell of bread and cakes was powerful enough to overcome the most insensitive nose, and visitors went back to their homes in the cities with the still warm proof that all is not forgotten. Analia wasn’t in a hurry, she enjoyed taking her time. When you don’t have to get up early to get to work on time, you understand how much time is wasted on rushing around.

The amber light was sending out its welcoming invitation as Analia exited from a pub after a lunch of steak and kidney pie, mashed potato, and peas, followed by apple sponge with vanilla ice cream. All this had been washed down with a very hot cup of coffee. Warmed up and feeling rather drowsy, Analia  passed down the street and stopped when she saw the large puddle of light on the pavement in front of her. She looked up and read the name above the shop window, ‘Misti’s Antiques and Gifts’, Analia opened the door and entered.

Misti was standing at a small table next to a wall, Analia’s first view of Misti was her profile. Her reaction to the hair was, she must have hair down to her bottom. The bell rang as the door opened. Misti finished what she was doing and turned her head to see Analia. “Good afternoon, how can I help you?”

“Good afternoon, may I just have a look round?” Analia’s eyes were already moving from one table to another.

“Certainly, feel free to do so,” Misti replied going back to her small table.

Calum came out of the back room, “Can you manage on your own for a while?  I’m off to ‘The Green Cat’ for a drink and try to drum up some business of my own. There might not be much money around but people still need to get their houses decorated. See you later.” Calum didn’t see Analia as she stood still trying to make out what she had wandered into.

“Are you interested in any particular thing?” Misti asked, as the door shut behind Calum.

“What I’d really like is something out of the ordinary. But I’m not sure what. I’ll keep on looking if that’s all right with you.”

“Yes, of course it is. Call me if you find anything of interest,” Misti said, as she walked over to a table with boxes of antique jewellery displayed.

Analia  wasn’t sure whether to get anything. Her flat was small and even with only a few things it would soon have the feeling of being cluttered. Whatever she acquired, it would have to be small. The well worn teddy looked too worn to be worth it. Analia thought. Then she saw the ivory rose. “May I see the rose, please,” Analia asked.

Misti was by her side in an instant. “Yes, of course. It’s made of ivory. Take a look and hold it in your hand and feel the purity. The work on it, is the best.” Misti was doing her best to sell the rose without pushing her luck too far.

Analia held the rose in her hand and it was true what Misti had said, the ivory was of the highest quality, and the carving? Well that was out of this world. “Is this an antique?” Analia asked Misti, wondering how such a lovely article had ended up with Misti.

“We bought this at an auction. It came in a lot that you can see on the table. The original owners had died and their children only wanted the money from the sale of the house and these belongings. I believe they had lived in Africa for some time before retiring in England. Do you think it’s very old?”

“You’re the owner of this establishment, so you’re the one who’s supposed to know. I’ll take it, as it’s obviously a bargain and genuinely old. If it doesn’t match up with any of my other ornaments, may I bring it back?”

Misti swallowed, and said, “I’d rather you didn’t. I’m not keen on having articles returned. But if you are not happy with it, then I’d have no alternative but to take it back.”

Analia paid for the rose that Misti had wrapped up beautifully for her. “Do you need a bag to carry it in?” Misti asked Analia.

“No, thanks, my handbag is big enough to hold it. Thank you very much for your time and trouble,” Analia replied.

Misti sighed with relief as she saw Analia out of the door and walk down the street. At last she had got rid of the ivory rose.

 

At home Analia took off her coat and made herself a cup of tea which she accompanied with cereal biscuits. The ivory rose was still in her handbag and she took it out and put it with ornaments made of glass and porcelain. For a long time she sat and stared at the small, circular table which was now covered with small objects. The ivory rose was in the middle as being the most original, and rather exclusive.

Nine o’clock struck on her small ormolu clock, and Analia made and ate her dinner. Then she took a shower and at half-past eleven she went to bed.

In the night Analia was restless, she found it difficult to stay still. Fast asleep she began dreaming and saw herds of elephants lacking tusks and in their place bleeding holes. Elephants corpses were lying on the ground. Waking up, Analia, disturbed, went into the kitchen, the clock showed it was too early for her to be up, she wasn’t going anywhere. She turned on the television but she found it unappealing. After breakfast Analia dressed, made up her face and left her flat to go shopping.

 

Analia had bought the ivory rose on a Saturday afternoon. During the following week she had the same dream nearly every night with variances on some of the details. On Wednesday night, four nights after the purchase, the elephants’ feet were missing, too. This was so disturbing that Analia wasn’t sure what to do. Every day she looked at the ivory rose, but it always looked white, smooth, and pretty. Even so, Analia was convinced that the rose was to blame for her nightmares.

The post arrived and she saw that there were fliers announcing that in the local church there was to be a jumble sale. Great, thought Analia, I’ll put the ivory rose among some of the old clothes I’m giving. Analia collected some ornaments to go with the ivory rose in the box. She then put the box inside the much larger one where her old clothes were.

On Friday afternoon Analia went to the parish hall and put her box among all the others beside the front door. She slipped out without making her presence known. The other women were busy chatting and sorting out the items. Analia left the hall, knowing that she’d never see the ivory rose again.

 

On Saturday afternoon the vicar declared the jumble sale open. He was more than pleased with the number of things that had been handed in. Vanna and her husband, Titus, went early. He hadn’t been over keen to go, but his wife had insisted.

“You never know what bargains might be there,” Vanna said.

“Make sure you wash anything you buy here, you never know who it’s been with or where it’s been. There’s a lot of old tat at these do’s usually,” Titus declared.

“Don’t be so negative, let’s go round and see if we spy something.” Vanna took him by the hand and they began their perusal of the secondhand goods on display.

“I’m going to take a look at the books, see if there’s one that I haven’t read already,” Titus said before heading off towards the tables where the books were.

Vanna  went straight for the clothes, just in case. She was short of money and wanted to give her mother a little present for having put up with her and Titus living with her after they had both lost their jobs. They didn’t sponge off her, but it can’t have been easy with two extra mouths to feed in the house. The clothes were rather disappointing and were either too small or too big. The best clothes buys were for small children. No small children ever wear their clothes out, so for a hard up-mother second hand ones fill a gap in their children’s wardrobes.

The table in the corner caught Vanna’s eye. She strode over to it and gazed at all the objects for sale. There were old-fashioned porcelain figures, a stamp collection, silverware, clocks, paperweights, silver boxes. She was on the point of walking away to see whether Titus had found any good books, when her eye caught sight of the ivory rose. Before she knew it, her hand had stretched out to pick it up. What a find, she thought, just what my mother would like to add to her ivory collection. Let’s hope it isn’t plastic. Titus arrived at that moment and asked her, “Found a little trinket for your mother?”

Vanna showed him the ivory rose, “Look, it’s just what she’ll like. You know how crazy she is about ivory.”

“Yes, well, we can be off then. I’ve got a couple of detective novels and DVDs at real knock-down prices. Want to see anything else?” Titus asked Vanna.

“No, that’s it for me, I only came here to see whether I could find a small gift for Mum for letting us live with her.”

 

Vanna’s mother, Rose, was overjoyed with the ivory rose. She placed it in a cabinet with a lot of other ivory articles. “I used to be called ivory rose when young because of my name and the whiteness of my skin. What do you think of that then?” Rose said to her daughter and her son-in-law. “I’ll go and make dinner shall I, or are we having a takeaway tonight?”

“No takeaways, Mum, we’ll make the dinner, you sit there and enjoy yourself. Come on Titus, you can help me in the kitchen.”

 

That night was the first of Rose’s bad dreams. The next morning she looked awful and both Vanna and Titus were very worried about her. They found her sitting in front of her ivory collection. Titus found it rather gruesome, the wonderful tusks had been carved into all shapes to be imagined. The tusks were still intact but, had been hollowed out to create elephants marching one behind the other the whole length of the tusk. There were carved heads that were pretty hideous, and other animals.

 

Rose had reoccurring dreams with elephants that were after her. She had never had bad dreams before, but for some unknown reason she was having them every night. Vanna said it must be due to the dinners they had. Titus was for calling the doctor.

 

One day, nearly two weeks after the ivory rose had entered the house, Titus took Vanna to one side and said, “We’d better get a doctor. Haven’t you noticed how your mother is fading away?”

Vanna went into the living-room where her mother was lying on the sofa, “How do you feel, Mum?”

Rose lay there gasping for breath. Vanna saw how thin her mother had become in less than two weeks. “Mum, Titus wants to call the doctor. Is that all right with you?”

Rose couldn’t even manage to smile, she was too weak. Vanna went out into the hall and said to Titus, “Ring the doctor to come round as soon as possible. She isn’t responding at all.”

Titus picked up the phone and rang the doctor. Meanwhile, Rose’s breathing was getting more and more laboured. By the time the doctor made his appearance, she had died.

Vanna and Titus took the doctor into the living-room, he made a quick assessment of the situation and rang for an ambulance. “How long had your mother been in this condition?” the doctor asked Vanna.

“For nearly the last two weeks, she said she was having nightmares about elephants.”

The doctor looked round the room and saw the ivory collection. He came to his own  conclusion without saying anything to Vanna.

The ambulance came and the two men came in and slid the still warm corpse onto a stretcher and carried it out to the ambulance. “You can accompany your mother, if you like,” one of the men said.

Vanna answered, “Yes, I’d like that, and my husband to come too?”

Titus and Vanna got into the ambulance and sat beside Rose’s corpse. “Mum asked me to get rid of the ivory rose. There was something she didn’t like about it.”

 

The ivory collection was got rid of but the ivory rose still stayed in their house. After many trips to the Job Centre, Titus was finally offered a job, the only inconvenience was that he had to fly to Africa. Vanna packed the ivory rose in Titus’s luggage. She decided not to tell him, in case he got annoyed with her superstitious nature. Vanna still blamed herself for her mother’s death, and wanted the rose to be as far away as possible from their home.

 

On the day Titus flew to Africa there was an enormous stampede of elephants. In many places elephants were angry; in zoos, circuses, reserves. It seemed they were all enraged about something. There was talk of anaesthetising them to try and frighten the others, but the Africans knew that animal lovers all over the world would come down heavily on them. The elephants were not killed, instead the boot was on the other foot and the elephants were chasing the hunters and the poachers.

The visibility in the African savannah was poor due to the dust raised by the herds of charging elephants. The plane Titus was travelling in, on his way to his new job, held twelve people.

 Because of the fine dust in the air, the plane had to make a forced landing and the tail snapped off on impact and all the luggage was spread out over the dusty landscape.  The pilot sent out an emergency call. A Land Rover came to take them back to their hotel. All of them were more concerned about saving their lives than saving their scattered belongings. The thirteen men climbed into the rescue vehicle rapidly and drove off.

 

The looters came soon after, and took away everything that was useful from the plane while some elephants looked on restlessly.

 

    The ivory rose was never found. It had come home and was never seen again.

 

Reviews

[Anina]

More! I want to know so much more about this story.
I found it really lovely, I was instantly hooked from the moment I started reading. I really liked the way Misti as characterized.
I just wished there was even more depth because of this interesting idea!

[Georgina V Solly]

Thank you very much for your very kind comment, but it's all just a little fantasy. Sorry you were somewhat disappointed. There are plenty more on my page. Thanks again. Georgina.