Who would have thought......

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?

I never knew I had superpowers until the day I had to rescue Major Drummond.

I was sitting in my PJ’s on the lounge reading. It was a Saturday morning and my day off and as usual I felt lazy. I usually stayed in my PJ’s for most of the morning, ate my breakfast, read my book, watched TV, and drank copious cups of tea, all in my floral flannels.

The only thing that was important to me at this very moment was deciding what I should do with the rest of the day. I could call up a couple of friends and we could wander around the markets, or I could ask Mum is she would like to have lunch out. Mmmm! decisions, decisions!! It might be too wet for the markets as it had rained overnight and more was forecast for the remainder of the day.

Deep in thought I stretched out on the lounge and pulled the soft blanket over me while I re-arranged the cushions under my head.

Suddenly I shot up on hearing Major Drummond yelping loud and sharp. Now the name Major Drummond might conjure up a picture of an old military man decked out in his meticulous uniform, shiny medals pinned on his jacket, straight and perfectly aligned, but he was actually my dog. And I might add, judging by the name, again, one might think of a very big dog, but the major was a small dog, a tiny terrier with a very loud bark.

I ran to the back door and out to the garden. Darting my head from side to side I tried to see where he was. The yelping had stopped and that wasn’t helpful.

The grass was soaked and my PJ’s were too by now. “Where was he” I though as I ran along the fence line. Then I heard whimpering, a slight sound much like a small child reaching the end of a crying outburst. It was coming from the garden shed where the door was slightly ajar. I pulled the door open fully and peered inside. It was quite dark and very cobwebby. “Major, where are you boy?” At the sound of my voice the whimpering started again and I went over the corner that it was coming from. Then I saw him or rather ‘it’. A little black tail was sticking out from under a huge garden pot. There wasn’t much tail trapped under the rim of the very heavy concrete container but enough that Major couldn’t escape. He couldn’t anyway as the large pot had fallen on top of him and he was underneath. I had to get the pot off him before he perhaps suffocated.

I bent down to touch the little bit of his tail that was showing, and perhaps calm him down a bit by the sound of my voice. “It’s ok boy I’ll have you out soon”. But when I remembered the time I had asked my cousin Jack, an amateur wrestler and my then boyfriend Ben, a very muscly and strong guy to lift the pot from my dad’s ute to the shed, and how much puffing, panting and moaning they did about how heavy it was, I had my doubts.

It was a cement pot. I had seen it in a garden centre and loved it. I had pictured a beautiful standard rose upright and regal in the centre of the huge pot and being the feature on my wide veranda, but I hadn’t got that far yet with my garden ideas. At the time of arrival, the pot had been placed precariously close to the edge of the old sideboard the boys had put it on, and they hadn’t listen to my protests about “What if there’s a storm and the sideboard shifts and the pot falls off?” instead they just said “She’ll be right, that’s not going anywhere”!!

Well it actually did go somewhere and the edge of the sideboard went with it – and at that very moment Major Drummond just happened to be having a nosey around in the shed!

I suppose I could ring a couple of the guys to come over and get it off Major. I was kneeling down next to it so reached out to push it as hard as I could just to be sure it was as heavy as I imagined. As unexpectedly as my winning lotto, the pot moved. “What? How did that happen?” I tried again and it moved even further, easily, as if I was pushing an empty cardboard carton. But the trouble was that the tail was still under the edge of the pot and Major started to really whine and yelp in discomfort. “OK Boy” I said soothingly. I wondered if I could move it at all if I tried to lift it. I was thinking of the impossibility of this as i gave it ago. I grabbed the edge with both hand and took a deep breath, lifting as hard as I could at the same time. The pot seemed so light that I almost went over backwards with it! “What the” I yelled out as I straightened myself to an upright position. “What just happened?” Major had run out from under the pot and straight to me, jumping up at my wet pyjama legs and barking in delight. I bent down to pat him, almost in a daze. My gaze went to the big concrete pot and I gingerly walked a couple of steps towards it. I touched it, feeling the cold concrete and wondered if I should try to pick it up again. I felt as if I was having a dream because what just happened shouldn’t have. I just lifted a huge pot off my dog’s tail but not just any pot – a pot that two hefty lads could hardly carry. “Out of the way Major” I commanded as I put my two hands together on the rim of it and lifted it high into the air as if I was lifting a pair of socks above my head to hang on the line. I put it down carefully and did it again, and again, until I was sure that it wasn’t a dream and that I had somehow, overnight gained a super power!

As I sat on my lounge chair, freshly showered and in clean clothes I decided that the best thing for me to do was not to tell anyone about my new power. It was just me and Major Drummond who would ever know and I was certain he wasn’t going to let out the secret.

I couldn’t resist testing it out….on everything! I started with the chairs, then tables, bed and even the fridge. I felt excited by having a super power. I had no idea where it came from or even how long I would have it but I knew I was going to use it wisely.

The first time I used this super power of mine, after lifting the pot, was at work. Of course I had to let myself back in to the office when everyone had gone home but it was the only way to keep my secret.

I had arrived at work that morning to the dulcet tones of the office ‘whiner’ complaining about where the main filing cabinet in the office was sitting. “It’s ridiculous that the things we all need to get out of the filing cabinet the most often are hidden around the corner where we not only can’t see it, but have to keep getting up and down all day long. I am sick and tired of it and I’m going to do something about it! I just wish we didn’t have to empty it to move it. I’m coming in on the weekend and I expect some of you to come in too. If we have to empty it before moving it I’m not doing it on my own”.

A few people muttered something about being busy on the weekend so I told Lorraine that I would come in and help her, but I actually had my own plan!

That evening when the office was empty and after the cleaners had emptied the rubbish bins, vacuumed, and gone home I let myself in. “My first assignment” I thought as I looked around to see where the best spot to put the filing cabinet was. “Yep right over there, and that will keep Lorraine quiet for a while.”

I went around the corner and looked at the tall and extremely heavy metal filing cabinet. “Ooh let’s hope I still have the power” I thought as I bent down to put my arms around the front of it. With a swift lift, up it came. The worst bit was balancing it as it was quite tall and wide. I was wobbling around a bit as I plonked it on the grey carpet but it was perfectly placed not far from Lorraine’s desk. “I can’t wait to see her face and actually everyone’s faces tomorrow when they realise that  metal monster has been moved”.

Sure enough as I walked into the office the next morning, coffee in hand, the talk was about how on earth the filing cabinet had been moved. “Does anyone know who did it?” Lorraine asked. “I mean it’s in a perfect spot now and I am so grateful that I don’t have to come in at the weekend and empty and shift it, but I want to know who did it in such a short time, and even more intriguing, in the night! It is the weirdest thing” she continued. I sounded just as perplexed as everyone around me! No one could help her solve the conundrum, so that is how it stayed, an office mystery. I suppose further down the track someone would find an object that mysteriously appeared or disappeared from the office, just to add to the intrigue.

The next time I had to use my super power to help someone was when I had decided to take the train to the country and visit my Aunt and Uncle. They were a dotty couple, always forgetting things but with hearts of gold. They were getting on in years and closer to eighty than seventy. I tried to get to see them a couple of times a year and usually managed to. When I turned up I got a wonderful warm welcome and they were so pleased that I had decided to stay for a night and get the train back early the next morning.

 After sitting in their warm chintzy lounge room, drinking tea and catching up on all the news about both sides of the family, they asked if I would like to see what they had done to their garden since I was last here. Both avid gardeners and Uncle George a retired park ranger, they spent most of their spare time in the garden, but as time went by I think it became harder to do the jobs that were heavy work, so they were now happy to keep the garden as it was with no extra tree planting or extravagant projects. It was a colourful and eye catching display of trees, flowers and garden furniture. When one walked into their garden, your shoulders dropped as your body automatically relaxed with the sights and perfumes that emitted from it. This was always a favourite part of my visit here. As we walked around I could smell the roses and lavender, and the tiny violets dotted everywhere in the beds were nodding their heads at us. I sat down at one of the wooden table and chairs that Uncle George had once made and looked around. It was neat and methodical but crammed full of garden delights. I was lead to the back of the garden where a huge tree lay on the ground. “Oh my goodness, what happened to this big boy?” I asked. “Struck by lightning in the storm we had a while back. We couldn’t believe it when we came out here and saw it. Didn’t hear a thing of course as it’s so far from the house. We really must organise to have it cut up and removed. It’s just a matter of when. The worst thing about it all is that it’s fallen on the bed where all the spring bulbs come up. Won’t be too long and they will all be trying to push through the soil, and we have the open garden season not long after they all flower. Trouble is the cost. It won’t be cheap so we’re just waiting a while til we get a few bills out of the way. Not to worry. Shall we wander into town soon and you can see if anything has changed since you were last here?”

A day and a night isn’t long anywhere but I had seen Uncle George and Aunt Margaret so I was happy about that.

When I went to bed that night I had told them I wouldn’t see them in the morning before I left as it was so early and would still be dark. Of course I told them a couple of times to make sure they understood as I had a job to do before I left!

When I was sure they were both asleep that night I made my move.

I put my coat on over my PJ’s and my sneakers on and crept out through the back door. I stood outside of it for a couple of minutes to make sure they hadn’t heard me and decided to get up to check the noise. No sound at all so off I went. I was so glad there was a torch in my room. I’m not sure how I would have been able to see where I was going without a torch as it was pitch black outside. I knew exactly where I was headed so walking around the edge of the garden near the fence I made my way to it. Sometimes when you see something in a shop that you like, go home to think about it and come back the next day, it is usually gone, but not this tree! I knew this would still be here. It was massive. “Now how am I going to go about this?” I thought looking at the enormity of it. I stepped out the length and it seemed to go on for ever. “OK then. I’ll get half way along and just lift. I can’t think of another way. Except, where am I going to put it?” I walked back half way through the garden and realised, what I had actually always known, there was bushland on the other side of the road. This made my job easy. I didn’t want to put the tree where it was a problem for anyone.

It wasn’t an easy job, not the weight of it as that felt like a feather, but just the length. As I was walking through the garden with the torch sticking out of the top of my coat and shining everywhere but straight in front of me, the tree was dipping forwards and then backwards awkwardly until I reached the bushland and I could put it down along the fence line where it could hardly be seen from across the road. I felt rather pleased with myself and especially as now it made it easy for my lovely Aunt and Uncle.

Off came the coat and sneakers and I snuggled down into bed for a couple of hours sleep before the alarm went off and I had to get ready to catch the train home. As I nodded off my last thought was about how long it would take George and Margaret to see that the tree had been moved and who on earth did it. They were in the garden daily so I was expecting a phone call not long after I got home!

It was actually lunch time when they rang, bubbling over with wanting to tell me ‘something I would not believe’. “Honestly we couldn’t believe our eyes and we’ve been telling everyone. Jimmy Parsons from the paper has been over and taken photos and is writing an article about it. It’s a real mystery, but can you believe it seems like one person lifted the tree. One person! There are foot prints and only one set. That’s impossible. Are you there?” “Yes I’m here Uncle George and I don’t know what to say. Except that now your bulbs will come up and you can have your ‘open garden’ day so I’m really happy for you both.” As we said our ‘goodbyes’ Uncle George was still excitedly going on about the mystery. I, on the other hand was quite chuffed that it would be in the local paper the next day!