Creative writing submission from the Rest Less community – submit your entry here.
Yay! Finally, we’re out of self-enforced hibernation. We can open the shutters, pull up the blinds and look for the light. I’ve never been big on heat, and a bit like a vampire, I run for the shade as I believe that in the sunshine, I’m likely to spontaneously combust.
Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but not much of one as I find myself (and my rheumatoid arthritis) now allergic to high temperatures and direct sunlight, anything over moderately warm and I’m finished. With a heat wave and its accompanying lack of sleep, I find myself completely debilitated. I hurt, my joints are swollen, and I’m grumpy. I can do nothing except loll around pathetically, something which seems to transfer to the sausage dogs.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly lucky to live in a Victorian house. Even at its worst, I can keep the inside of the house reasonably cool and, with the help of a fan, a tolerable temperature. I have to live in darkness, though, with all the windows and doors kept tightly shut after 9am, but that’s okay. As long as I open all the upstairs windows overnight to let the heat out, I can regulate my inside environment to something bearable. But once I step outside, that’s it, I just start to melt and feel my bonhomie dissolving along with my physical person.
That said, I’ve been setting my alarm for 5am over the weekend to take the doglets out in safety, and I can’t deny I love it! Yes, it contributes to my general lack of sleep, but the joy of walking out over cool grass, under trees, feeling like I own the place, with no one else up except the odd fox or neighbourhood cat. To see the sausages jumping about, ears flapping, chasing each other and the odd tennis ball is priceless.
Last week, I was worried about Bear, who struggles with mobility and was finding the heat too much. Of course, he is somewhat of a drama queen, so I wasn’t overly concerned. But the difference when he was out at 5am was obvious.
He’s taken to doing something funny, which I will share with you here. No matter where he is, the moment you walk towards him, he slithers onto his side (like he’s suddenly died) before rolling onto his back, all four legs waving up in the air. It makes me laugh every time he does it! It stops me in my tracks, makes me bend down to have a chat with him and give him a gentle tummy rub (which I believe is the objective of the exercise).
Willow has coped admirably with the heat, bouncing about as usual and ‘Willowing’ anybody who’ll let her at every opportunity. So, what is Willowing? In essence, it’s a small black and tan Dachshund forcibly inserting herself into your face to get as close to you as possible, even though she’s cut off your ability to breathe. Now this is not done gently, but rather with the strength of a Bull Mastiff, making it an outright battle to remove her. I’ve never known anything like it. You need six pairs of hands and cast-iron determination to match hers, as it’s frankly incredible that something so small can be such a force of nature.
On the other hand, my neighbour, noticing my painful listlessness in the heat, insisted on taking me to Weymouth beach for a paddle, as she and her children swam about like dolphins. In fact, I can’t swim and have a very healthy fear of water. I really didn’t want to go, but once persuaded, it was wonderful. Standing in the shallows, the waves coming up to my thighs, I felt the pain in my knees simply melt; the cool water was like therapy.
By the time we went back to the car, the swelling in my left knee had reduced by half! It was so therapeutic that I persuaded a friend to go back with me the following Saturday, where, feeling brave, I submerged my feet, knees, elbows and hands, all bathed in gentle cold to nurse them and take away their non-stop complaints. It was simply glorious!
Amazingly, with the nights stiflingly hot, I had two little sausages complaining (and dramatically shivering) under the fan, fighting to get under the rolled back covers at the end of the bed. Just ridiculous!
Anyway, the heatwave is over (for now), the light has been let back in, the sausages went back to the cricket ground to meet their friends at a reasonable hour, and I feel human again. Long may it continue, now all I need is some rain for the garden and I’ll be as happy as Larry! (Who is Larry anyway?)
Are you feeling creative? We are proud to have a hugely talented community on Rest Less, which is why we’re so excited to open up a section of the site dedicated to showcasing the wonderful and diverse writing of our members. If you have a piece of creative writing that you’d like to share with the Rest Less community – you can do so here.