This is not Happening

"It can't be, I can't be! No, you have to be wrong. False positive - something like that...”

"Ms Silver both your blood and your urine tests have returned positive and your scan just confirmed fourteen weeks. Give it a day or so...”

Marley drew the white gown around herself protectively; her mind went blank with the shock of it all.

"You don't understand," she persisted very definitely, "I simply can't be - I mean ... well, I have not been with a man like that. This is not happening - it is just not possible."

The Doctor looked concerned and a little irritated also.

"This can be a natural reaction I promise you - especially when your hormones are fluctuating, emotions become confused. In time you will familiarise yourself with the idea of motherhood...”

Marley glared back at him.

"Doctor Tilden, how can I possibly be pregnant if I have not as much kissed a man in well over a year?"

"Here" he said in a much quieter voice as he drew back the curtains, "you can get dressed now and when you are ready come out and talk with me we can go over your history and treatment plan."

Marley hurriedly put all her layers back on and tried her best to compose herself. She realised, quite rightly, that the doctor was very uncomfortable with her.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

A Tabloid Acceptance of the World

One year later and Marley's business had begun to decline badly. She had not been able to source the unique floral substances that were the base notes of her perfumery.

She had tried to match the aromas with high-end synthetics, but because she had used some ghostly olfactory counterfeits, they had taken on the signatures of the cheaper brands. The ever responsive public quickly moved to the counters beside her's, taking their money with them.....

Her fairy-luster charm had fallen away, and, in the eyes of most, she was quite insignificant. Her former glamour had been taken for granted, and now Marley was at a loss as to where her attractiveness had gone.

She thought commonly with paraphrases and spoke using blanket judgements. Marley lived with a tabloid acceptance of the world, unquestioning the 'norm' - resolute, resigned, and although only in her early thirties, her demeanour had grown decidedly elderly.

She preferred her own company second only to the cat, who would idly brush up against her now and then with an unspoken yet persuasive dominance.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series