SANDS OF DELUSION

SANDS OF DELUSION  By Tessa Harvey The doctor was concerned. "Has this child been traumatized before?" she queried.     "Alice was a refugee child. She came on a battered boat. The conditions were terrible. Actually, Alice is the only one of her family who made it. She will not talk about it."     Behind her, Alice moaned on her bed, tossing the covers away. "I no chink," she murmured, "not Covid."     Dr. Wilson thought for a while. "She hasn't been physically hurt, but when Luis found her, he saw some youths hastening away in the distance." The doctor's eyes were sharp. She glanced at the parents. "Alice will be fine in a few days. Give her Children's Panadol every few hours, and walk with her to school and back, of course."     "Bullying can rekindle trauma. If Alice can talk to you about her experiences, it will help. Call me if you need me, folks!"     Briskly the doctor picked up her bag , shook Lui...

SANDS OF DELUSION  By Tessa Harvey Alice was worried and a little frightened. Some big youths were following her. The little girl went faster, her heart beating fast as her feet moved swiftly. But the men picked up their pace also.     She wished she hadn't taken the short cut home past all the wasteland. "Hey, Chink!" a male voice roared. "What's the hurry?" "Don't get too close," sniggered another, "we don't want COVID." Alice turned bravely to face the three big men. "I am Eurasian," she said firmly, though inside she was quaking. "I not Chinese."     Stressed as she was, her accent reverted to the one she had used as a small child. Her thoughts were like small birds scattering before a hungry feral cat.     "I not Chinese!" mocked the first boy. "She can't even talk proper," he declared mockingly. Something strange was happening to Alice. She felt as though she was shrinking inside, ...

SANDS OF DELUSION By Tessa Harvey  Kitty looked out of her window to the estuary bay. The water looked silver in the sunlight. Cormorants flapped overhead, heading fishing. At night they would arrow homewards to Bird Island.     Just as Maria loved plants and flowers, Kitty loved birds. Once she had seen an Eastern Curlew and marveled at its beauty. There used to be so many, they were hunted for food. A few fan-tailed Godwits were waiting for food in the shallows. She especially loved watching the little terns flying, sliding and swooping through the air like small skiers on a steep mountain slope, fast as the wind.     The young girl stepped into the shower. She was especially glad her teacher and case worker had stopped hassling her about getting rid of the baby.      She was not aware of the battle that had been fought on her behalf, nor of how close Luis and Maria had come to losing their foster children to the system.     As the war...

SANDS OF DELUSION   By Tessa Harvey Sylvia looked her son straight in the eyes. "Before you say ANYTHING, Jaxon, it was NOT your fault dad died. I checked." She had actually checked to make sure for her own sake, but the doctor assured her the heart attack was massive and nothing could have been done to save him, even if he had been in the coronary care unit.      As it was, Sylvia was immensely proud of Steve, trying at the very end of his own life to save others from a dreadful car crash.     "It was not your fault about your wife either, Jax. You had no way of knowing which path the fire would take. Nor did you know where Merilyn was. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You aren't God, Jaxon, and if you don't let him take control of your life, you will have nothing left. All this worry is hurting Max!"     She reached out her arms to him and he came to her in tears. She patted his back. "I love you son, very very much. Now you have a ...

SANDS OF DELUSION   By Tessa Harvey "Dad, dad, wake up!" Jaxon, disoriented, looked at the sleep-rumpled face of his son. The boy was also frowning in anxiety. "Dad, you have to stop this. You have to get help!" Max declared. "Sorry, son, you are right. I will!" Jaxon looked around at the tossed-around bedding. Glancing at the window, he could see it was almost morning. "Fine, I'll ring Poppa."     His dad was good at counselling. It was his life's work. He was a pastor at a church close by, in the next town. His dad, Steve promised to come over later that day. He didn't ask unnecessary questions.     After lunch, he waved goodbye to his beloved wife, Sylvia and set off in his little green car. It was a clear, cool late autumn day and the leaves of the poplars were silver and gold. A breeze was setting them spinning and dancing.     The sky was a merging sea of blues infinitely beautiful, patterning round cloud islands, white and crea...

 SANDS OF DELUSION By Tessa Harvey Kitty toyed with her food. For quite a while now, she had struggled with food, since some older girls at school called her fat and ugly. At the time she had been a little overweight, but had since grown. She looked up. Her dad was gazing at her with a troubled frown.     "Katherine," he spoke firmly, "you are not overweight. You need to eat properly." He gave her a kind smile. "Just eat what you can for now. Believe me, it is important."      "Why?" spoke out Alice, "she is just dieting."     Maria looked at her beautiful little face. She had gorgeous Asian features and looked adorable.  Suddenly Alice lit up. "Is Kitty having a baby?!" she gasped. "Oh, wow! Is it a boy or a girl?"  Maria spoke firmly. "It is a family secret for now, Alice. We don't know if it is a boy or girl."     Alice looked solemn. Kitty looked at her parents. "I will eat for my baby," s...

 SANDS OF DELUSION By Tessa Harvey CONSEQUENCES The boy realised there were two pairs of adult eyes firmly focused on him. He flinched. "What?" he asked, defensively. "It was just a fight!" His friend, Bryant had accused him of being horrible to Kitty. He had overheard Max's accusation and been really upset.     The boys sometimes had disagreements, but this one was serious. Because Max knew his friend was right, he had become angry and shoved him. The situation had escalated from there.     Jaxon, watching his son's face, saw apprehension, then anger and defiance. Suddenly he blurted out, "I just took the kid a ride on my skateboard. Nothing wrong with that, even if we did skip school."     "Kitty is pregnant," Maria Alvarez declared firmly, unsmiling. "Yeah, so," rudely Max answered, speaking louder than was necessary.     His dad flinched. "You admit this? What were you thinking? Mrs. Alvarez says Kitty is only fifteen. ...

SANDS OF DELUSION   By Tessa Harvey WASTELAND Tiredly, Jaxon stretched out a fire-scarred arm and turned the doorknob, pushing hard. The door refused to budge. Frowning, Jax felt through grimy pockets, shaking fluff and other detritus from his fingers until he found the key.     As the door flung open to the dim hallway, he instantly knew the house was empty. It was his son's turn to do tea, a job he loved, but there was no warm smell of frying onions or mushrooms. There was not even the smell of supermarket pies in the oven.     A note was propped on the cluttered kitchen table, wedged between the chicken salt and the sauce bottle. "Gone to do homework at Bry's."     "Yeah, right!" thought his dad. He washed his hands in the laundry, put on some washing, used the sanitizer, and checked the fridge. He still had a microwave meal. Checking the use-by date, Jaxon grunted approval, pierced the plastic and put it in the microwave - chicken nuggets, mashed p...