Maternal Bondage (standard:drama, 4403 words)
Author: Tim Callaway	Added: Aug 30 2002	Views/Reads: 3842/3209	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Sonia Broadhurst is a single mother struggling to bring up four boys prior to a divorce. She stumbles across a revelation and her life takes on a new dimension. A must for all adults bringing up teenagers!

Maternal Bondage. 

A short fictional story by Tim Callaway. 

The radio alarm clock boasted 3.45am and Sonia was still wide awake,
sleep did not come easy to her owing to the pressures of single, 
maternal responsibility. Her mind would not stop its rambling journey 
of thought, anxiety and failure so she started her well rehearsed 
relaxation technique feeling her body become heavier filling the empty 
space next to her. She opened her eyes again hearing one of the 
children stir, it was 3.47am, the darkest and loneliest part of the 
night favoured by suicide victims. She was not about to commit suicide 
but searched for another way out of her current misery. Her mind fired 
up again and considered September 29th the date of her divorce absolute 
and the challenges that lay ahead. She mulled over her ideas eager to 
find a solution to her probable almost certain future, but none came. 
Sonia knew that she had to manage the house and not continue to be a 
victim of it. The peace she sought finally came at 4.05am when her 
conscious mind ceased its function and she fell into restless slumber. 

To the outsider Sonia Broadhurst had it all, a lovely six-bedroomed
house, four beautiful children (all boys), a successful career and 
money. So what if her husband had run off with another man, Sonia could 
cope. But outsiders do not know everything; they could not even begin 
to appreciate the isolation and pain that Sonia suffered from this 
forced estrangement. She had a reasonable marriage and was never abused 
by her ex-husband. There was no love lost between them and they had 
drifted apart to search for their own desires. She, of course, hid her 
personal anguish behind a brave façade and only shared her concerns 
with her best friends who could not provide what she was really looking 
for at this stage in her life and tunnel of existence. 

Her eldest son, Josh was 18 and about to take his A' level exams. He was
independent, good looking and a definite favourite with the local 
girls. His smouldering brown eyes were the spitting image of her 
husband's and when Sonia had cause to chastise her eldest she tried to 
avoid his gaze to allow her to concentrate. 

Jake was 16 and also about to take his GCSEs. He shared Josh's zest for
life and would rather hang out with his mates than complete his 
coursework. Recently he had his ears pierced, a large tattoo cut into 
his right forearm and his lovely thick, black hair cropped as a protest 
to his mother's nagging. Sonia took it all in her stride and tried not 
to pass comment about his appearance to keep the peace. She detested 
his new appearance and longed for him to return to normal but didn't 
know how to approach it. 

Jez, her third youngest was 11 and about to start his new secondary
school. He was so different in both personality and looks to his older 
brothers. Jez was quiet, reflective and had short blonde hair and 
piercing blue eyes, the product of an extra marital night of passion. 
Her ex-husband was unaware of her liaison and just called his son 'the 
odd one!' Sonia loved all her boys but Jez was her favourite as he 
shared her gentle nature and love for the arts. To her mind Jez was the 
only member of her family that could be trusted to complete his chores, 
in fact he was her right-armed boy. 

Jamie, the youngest was just Jamie. At just eight years of age sharing
the youthful looks of Josh he possessed boundless energy, a gift for 
destruction and was very accident-prone. His knees, legs and elbows 
bore testament to this as they were covered in scars, dirt and scabs. 
Sonia realised that Jamie was the youngest and probably given the 
greatest freedom as her energies were very much taken up with the older 
boys. She tried to give him 'quality time' but he would prefer to play 
outside rather than engage her in conversation or share a book before 
bedtime. Sonia had taken Jamie to a Child Psychologist to get him 
checked out and discovered that he was slightly hyperactive but this 
could be managed with a carefully structured behavioural programme at 
home. Sonia knew what she had to do but didn't have the time or energy 
to facilitate this. Jamie was a handful but charming with it. Sonia 
continued to dream about her children and tossed from side to side as a 
yacht caught in a storm. 

The alarm woke her on Monday morning; it was 6.00am, the calm before the
storm. Sonia felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and she ran 


Click here to read the rest of this story (408 more lines)