Aunt Chancy and the Brass Bull

It started out like any other day. Gabrielle Chancy sat in the kitchen at her little table making a list of things to do today while the kettle boiled on the wood fired stove that also warmed the room and the hot water. Her dressing gown was a pale blue chenille, the colour of summer skies and her eyes seemed even bluer in the morning light. Her little dog Dixie lay at her feet, content and waiting patiently for breakfast.

Things to do today. Four words on the page, thought Gabby, and I can’t think of a single thing more. The kettle started whistling loudly and she moved over to the stovetop and filled up the plunger of coffee she had already prepared. Nice and strong. There were always a lot of things to do, However Gabby had the luxury of choosing which would take her focus for the day. This was an important coffee or two as the plan for the day evolved.

Gazing through the window, memories flashed through her mind like a channel that just kept jumping. Today was one of those days when nothing seemed to matter, even if it did.

The sound of a creaking bike went by stopping for a moment at the gate. She heard the thud of the paper hit the ground and the bike squeak away to the next house drop. Coffee and paper, always on time. Dixie went ballistic as usual. ‘Ruff, ruff’, running around in circles, Dixie’s daily excitement was almost too much.

Gabby rose from the table and wrapped her gown a little more tightly to keep the chill at bay while she went out to pick up the morning paper. If only Abe were here, she thought. This was his favourite time of day. The morning dose of news and caffeine. Now it was her favourite time as there was nothing that interrupted this ritual and the peace that went with it, except for Dixie of course, and that wasn’t an interruption but a joy.

The grass was covered with a light frosting, beautifully glistening in the early sun. The paper always came rolled with a band and wrapped in plastic to protect it against the weather. She stooped down and picked it up, taking in the fresh morning air and the sounds of the world around her. Dixie raced to the gate to bark good morning to the delivery guy who was down the street by now.

It was pretty quiet this morning. Not a car on the road. Her street was rather quiet and this was the way she liked it. God forbid waking up to a rushing world every day she thought.

Back inside she smiled as she felt the rush of warmth as she opened the kitchen door and sat at the table once again, pouring her second coffee. Dixie shook with excitement, panting, and quickly settled at Gabby’s feet again, back in patient mode. Gabby unwrapped the paper and removed the rubber band. She laid the paper out on the table and flattened it a bit with the back of her hand. As she did so the headline jumped out at her:

CAN’T SEE BITCOIN FOR BULL DUST!

Gabby nearly choked on her coffee as she laughed out loud. Her last name wasn’t Chancy for nothing. She remembered fondly when Dan insisted that she bought a Bitcoin when it was just fairly new. She didn’t understand what on earth it was, but Dan seemed to believe it was the way of the future. He was so sure, he had bought several and wanted to set her up as well. She didn’t know how to do it or even why she was doing it at the time, but Dan was switched on and so she trusted his judgement. At the time it wasn’t a huge outlay and she pretty well had forgotten about it.

Gabby looked up at the brass bull on the windowsill. She smiled and thought today is a good day to polish the bull and make it shine like gold. She got up and gathered a rag, the polish and the bull. Nothing like a bit of polish before breaky Gabby thought.

She had always enjoyed polishing the brasses. It gave her a satisfaction she couldn’t quite express which came from her childhood. Her mother had always given her chores that she liked, and polishing the brasses when someone was coming to visit was one of them. Gabby loved the way they would gleam and catch the sunlight, and also reflect the world around them if they shone enough. It was one of those jobs that had a visual result and was satisfying.

Gabby held the bull in her hand and lovingly spread the polish over its body and sat it down waiting for the polish to dry before she buffed it off. There was a reason the bull sat in the window of the kitchen. It was one of the first things she saw every day and it reminded her of her husband, Abe.

Abe had found the bull in a garage sale on one of their Sunday drives. He had picked it up and laughed out loud, saying ‘this reminds me of you!’ At the time they had both laughed. He had often said she could be stubborn, like when she firmly held to her opinion, even if she was wrong. She would laugh at her own stubbornness too, especially when proved wrong. It was a bit of a game between them.

She reached for the rag and started polishing the bull. Her eyes teared up a little as she remembered how Abe had said that the bull also represented some of her best qualities, and while fertility wasn’t one of them, it was OK with him, he had her. Look how life turns out Gabby thought. Who ever knew I would be raising the boys anyway.

Abe always said she had a great inner strength and beauty that shone through even in the darkest times. He had loved her ‘perseverance, determination and grit’, as he put it. She always held to task until it was done. Abe loved Gabby for many things, even her stubborn side. It had been a source of laughter for both of them at times. She had a willpower that served them both well. Gabby was his rock and his joy and the reason he looked forward to coming home each day. He used to say he was a lucky man.

Gabby smiled as she thought about how lucky she was to have met Abe. What a great life they had together, and how it was the little things that made it so. The small acts of kindness and care spoke the loudest. Memories flowed like mist over the waters of her life. She teared a little more, and smiled as she did. She was grateful for the time they had. Every precious second.

She rubbed the bulls back as she absently thought of Abe. This was a little ritual she had every time she polished the bull. She allowed all the good memories to float by. The little joys of life and the ability to remember them are to be treasured, Gabby mused.

She thought about her inner strength. Abe had said she was strong enough for both of them when times got tough. That positive outlook, caring nature, and ability to think differently about any situation had been traits that he had treasured in her.

Gabby placed the shining bull back on the windowsill and looked out to the garden. The rose bush she had planted in honour of Abe had a single blooming rose on it this morning. It was a yellow rose with orange edges. It had the most heavenly scent and it too shone like gold in the sun.

Gabby rustled up some breakfast for Dixie and took it out to the porch. She went down to the rose in the garden to take in the aroma and whispered to the shining rose and the gentle wind, ‘Thank you Abe. I love you.’ The wind blew softly around her face and Gabby looked up to see a swallow circling above. One of Abe’s favourite birds as it represented homecoming to him.

And that’s how bull dust turns to gold she thought.

This story by Jacki Fleet was written as part of the Vocal Fiction Challenge, Raging Bull, which inspired this sequel to Dan the Go to Man.

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