A Scar Is Born
“A bright, sunny early spring morning in rural Newfoundland. Two young sisters wake up and remember the new swing their father has set up in the shed for them, so that they can enjoy their favourite pastime - even when it rains! (Unknown to them, it is also designed to help put a stop to the sisters’ terrified yells and screams whenever they sight the aggressive new gander their father has recently acquired.)”
Babe, the youngest member of the family, has just turned four. This means there is now only one year separating her from her older sister, Ellie, who won’t be six until August. Both girls are wearing the matching lime-green flannelette nighties their mother had made them for Christmas, with the first letter of their names cut from a piece of baby-blue flannelette and lovingly stitched onto the yoke of each garment.
Scene 1
Babe: Ellie! Ellie! Let’s go out and have a swing.
Ellie: That’s a good idea. It’s so sunny; I bet it’ll even be warm enough to leave the shed door open.
Babe: Come on – let’s go!
Ellie: Shh! There’s no one else up yet, so we have to be very quiet.
As quietly as possible, the sisters climb out of bed and tip-toe across the living-room, the kitchen, and the back porch. Then, after opening the back door, they scamper across the yard and bound up the couple of steps in front of the shed. Ellie, in the lead, throws open the large door and there are the two swings, just waiting to be used!
Babe climbs into her swing first
Babe: Ellie, will you give me a push? I can’t get started as fast as you.
Ellie: OK, but only ten pushes, then you have to pump by yourself! One … Two … Three … Four …
Babe: Oh! Ellie! Don’t push so hard – I might go right over the top!
Ellie: Don’t be such a scaredy cat! … Alright, I’ll give you only one more … Five ….
Next, Ellie jumps onto her swing and starts it going.
Babe: What song do you wanna sing first?
Ellie: Let’s sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”.
Babe: OK.
Completely elated and totally wrapped up in their own little world, the two sisters continue swinging and singing to their heart’s content, as the bright Spring sunlight filters into the shed, casting a loving glow onto everything it encounters.
Scene 11
About a half hour later their older brother, Jack, opens the back door and calls out to them. He is a little annoyed at having been given the task of getting his two younger sisters out of the swings and into the kitchen for breakfast.“Jack: Babe! Ellie! Breakfast is ready!
Ellie: Is it right ready, or just a little bit ready?
Jack: It’s right ready. Mom says you have to come in right now!
Ellie: Don’t we have time for just one more little swing?
Babe: Yes, don’t we? Please, please … pretty please!
Jack: No! Get in here right away, or the two of you’ll be in trouble!”
Reluctantly the sisters get down from their swings and as they approach the doorway of the shed, Ellie thinks she hears something.
Ellie: Jack! … Jack! … Has the gander been let out of the barn? I think I hear something behind the shed!
Jack: Don’t be foolish! There’s nothin’ behind the shed. Now you come on in here, or I’m tellin’ Mom!
Babe is the first one down over the steps. She dashes across the yard, and as she reaches the house door, she too hears something. Turning around, she is completely terrified at what she sees! Ellie is transfixed at the bottom step of the shed and the gander is rounding the corner, honking and squawking! With its large wings flapping, it runs straight towards the older sister. Raising her arms in the air, Ellie starts screaming. Undeterred, the gander continues its forward rush and doesn’t stop until it has buried its long, strong beak into the tender, sensitive flesh of the five-year-old’s upper left thigh. Its vice-like hold is unbearable and Ellie’s screams get louder and louder. Pandemonium erupts! The parents come running out of the house and the gander’s hold is finally broken, but Ellie’s traumatized, piercing shrieks go on and on and on…
A couple of days later, the sisters are once again in the shed and about to get on their swings.
Babe: Ellie, does the bite still hurt?
Ellie: Yes, it hurts a lot and it’s gonna hurt for a long time.
Babe: Can I see the mark again?
Ellie raises her skirt to reveal the site of the injury.
Ellie: It’s not a mark, it’s a scar! Remember when Mom said, “She’s scarred for life!”? That means I might have this scar for the rest of my life!
Babe: Oh, Ellie! Don’t say that – but it does look very bad! What’s all that black and blue stuff?
Ellie: That’s the bruises. Mom says they’ll go away after a while. But look at the teeth marks where it pinched me – that’s where the scar is gonna be.
Scene 111
Flash forward sixty-two years. It’s another bright, sunny early spring morning, this time at the Cala Blanca resort in Gran Canaria. Ellie wakes up, and as the sun streams in through the window, she unexpectedly finds herself remembering that fateful morning of long, long ago. Even though her younger sister has been dead for almostfourteen years now, thememory of that childhood Spring morning suddenly comes flooding back, presenting itself as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. She remembers also the indelible scar that has remained with her for so long, and as her husband lies sleeping, Ellie realizes that it has been quite a while since she has made a close examination of her upper left thigh. Getting out of bed, she heads towards the bathroom, and begins thinking out loud.
Ellie: I wonder if it’s still there.
Turning on the bright bathroom lights, she looks very closely at the area of that ancient attack.
Ellie: Yes, there it is! … Mom, your prediction was right … after all those years …. who would have thought?
Although her age and her suntan has faded the old scar quite a bit, the small elliptical circle, punctuated by the dotted suction ducts of that gander’s enormous beak, are still faintly visible … even to this day!