Seamstress

Sally had not lived a ‘normal’ existence by a measure of our society or of any before ours. Employed as seamstress, she had as little presence in the ‘real’ world as it was possible for a professional to have. For 20 years, she had been alone in a far out cottage of the New Forest, England where the only contact she received was with her work liaison, a courier. He was an elderly gentleman, foreign and spoke no English, who would deliver her materials and a garment request list once a month and would collect her finished items from the previous month. Aged 48, she was unkempt and unwashed with an appearance that would make even the most accepting of souls, recoil. The only thing about her that possessed any harmony was that everything she displayed outwardly matched how she felt on the inside, the exception was when she had a thread and needle in hand.

She felt something enchanting when she was making clothes – her abilities with a thread and needle were magical. When practicing, she did not feel unwanted or alone, in fact she was not alone. She would transcend all that was possible and become one with nature. Nearby animals would sense this and interpret their sensations as a calling from her. They would flock to her cottage in the dozens: falcons flew from the trees, foxes foraged through the branches, squirrels scurried, rabbits ran, snakes slithered, deer darted…

Knowingly she would invite them in as she thread her clothes. Her needle and thread would glow a shining bright gold, a metaphor for the peace and warmth she felt within. The animals would gather round listening intently, time would cease, and Sally would share her deepest secrets and tell untold stories of her past without uttering a word. The animals would in turn do the same and this event that occurred every afternoon gave Sally an inextricably close bond to her surroundings. However, this would only happen when she was in practice.

One day, when she was weaving her final garment for the month, the courier arrived early. The animals somehow sensed that another human presence was coming to the cottage. The door swung opened and they charged frantically out of her cottage. The needle and thread stopped glowing and Sally warily made her way to the front door unaware that it was indeed the courier approaching. She saw the courier walking down the path towards her door and interestingly did not appear to notice, or was certainly not phased, by the horde of animals racing past him. He merely proceeded to take the old garments and gave her the new materials for the next month, a completely normal encounter!

Was this all in her head? How could it be when made her feel so alive?

Sally flooded with doubt. As the courier drove away he was convinced that he saw, out of the corner of his eye, several deer all at once turn their heads towards the cottage and stared almost with a look that conveyed a loving concern...