Frustrations seemed the order of the day for Lizzie. All her life, day and night, for sixteen long years all she loved was that vineyard. It was not just a vineyard, but was indeed a memoir, passed on to her by her father. She breathed it in, in every breath of her, she dreamt ambitions for it, and worked each day harder towards it.
All was then destined to be passed on to her brother. She breathed a breath of sorrow as she prepard food for her mom.
"Where shall I go ma? Where?"asked Lizzie as she served the sandwich.
"Perhaps, I can talk to Rony dear. I am sure he would be okay with it. It is better that you ask him. Tia is the one who isnt ready darling, Rony is afterall your brother. He is not going to ask you to leave. Am sure he would'nt" Ma sounded confident. For a while Lizzie's face brightened and a sense of hope crept in.
"Then I dont have to leave.." she said to herself, with an air of assurance.
Rony came down and went straight into the kitchen.
"Where is the coffee?" he spoke, in a semi-conscious tone.
"Here you go Rony." said Lizzie. Her mom gestured her to open her point.Lizzie did.
"Rony, I was hoping if you could let me stay here with you uh, not for long. Until I find a job in the city."
The answer was quick. It needed no time. "Lizy, Tia is particular of your room and space.
You know an inn requires atleast 3 or 4 rooms extra for the guests. Ma is gonna share her room with Du and we simply can't afford to give you a seperate room. What say sis? you tell me uh? We came upon this decision only after you agreed to leave."
"I gotta find some job Rony? I have no money to sustain,even for a day.Please, just give me a few more days, few please. After I get a job uh, I will leave that very day."
"It's not for him to decide, darling"spoke Tia. She was up and dressed. And her sound was not sweet. "The inn is opening in 3 days dear, and we have to be ready by tomorrow. Ma Jane can share Du's room. Du is not very thrilled but she said she could do untill we move to the out place."
Lizzie's shame could not tolerate any thing more. She just smiled, tear rolled down her eye. Her throat stuck. All she could come with with was," You might need someone to take care of our vineyard"
Rony and Tia spoke,almost together "Newman Agent said he would bring a wine specialist list tomorrow. So no worries about that."
Her hunger reached the brain only when she felt the heat of the city. Rony lent her 50 bugs. That could take her through the evening. But tomorrow was even more misty. The curch potico was empty. She thanked her ma for the taughtful little b'day present. It was not much but that delicate quilt must work through that cold. As she laid there, all her days at the vineyard reminded her of her mistake. Her dad, from time to time, asked her to go and have some education. But at that while that vineyard seemed hard to part. She litteraly lived in that vineyard.The flashes of her childhood kept her from sleeping. Tears drenched her face and washed off all the memories.
Ma asked her to go to Christo. "Why would he have me?"she said. Darkness was intense that night. Air was cold.
It was five when she woke up. She decided to laze around untill the sun rose. A woman, young and puny, much like her passed by. She had a queer but a kind look. Before she could realise, Lizzie was asleep again. When she woke up, she saw a puny figure smiling at her. The smile was different. Not a bit of sarcasm was found.
"Are you unwell?"she asked.
"Uh?>No, am good. Should I vacate now?" asked Lizzie.
"No, No. Uh...am Sheryl. I found you this morning here at the portico. Are you a traveller.?" she asked, with utmost concern.
"Almost..."
"Here on business eh?" asked Sheryl.
"Almost..."
"Well have you got some word other than Almost" said Sheryl, a bit frustrated.
Lizzie looked up at her. She spoke, softly "Have you got food?"
Sheryl nodded. She immediately went inside the chapel and brought out some bread and fruit drink. Lizzie ate. After eons, she felt she had the best meal, with no fear of being kicked out the next minute.
"Thanks. Thank you so much" she said.
The rest was silence. Sheryl quietly ushered her into a quiet bright room accompanying the chapel, brought out hot water and made up the simple bed. After a quick wonderful bath Lizzie was all set to take up the rest of the day.
Finally Sheryl spoke, to break the silence.
"So... what brings you here...in this state?"
Lizzie had no desire to speak. But she had to. Atleast now, 23 years after her birth she had. The demand of the evolution from an professional introvert to an expert extrovert, at that moment, was more than she could bear. But she was partly happy for the moment.But still, she kept mum, until the next question was out.
"You havent even told me your name dear. We need to know each other right? You, for sure, do require my help?"
"My name is Lizzie" she said " I come from the country"
"In search of work?"
"Well, sort of, I mean, I did not want to but I had no choice"
"What were you doing there, at the country"
"For the best part of my teen years I looked after our vineyard. I spent all my days there. Iam an expert wine maker, you know, I could tell the taste of the wine in a sight of the grapes. But days changed and my bro took charge. Its theirs now so"
"So?"
"So they asked me to leave." Tears ravaged her eyes. She cried and cried as much as she could.She cried her heart out. She cried as never before. Sheryl looked on, and kept quiet. But her hands never failed to pat Lizzie, even for a minute.
"I am sorry... Its just...its just that I loved these people too much"
"Who? Loved who Lizzie?"
"My family... mom,dad, bros all those"
"Its just the circumstance Lizzie, forgive them will you?"
"Forgive them? I have no grudge against them Sheryl, nothing at all. I still love them. I just don't understand how they can send me out like that. My dad died when I was 17, ma can't walk she needs help all the time. At times I feel what they did is right. I mean, I deserved this. All my life I spent every moment taking care of the vineyard, my parents, my sibs. I did not do the right thing of defining my future. I am such a failure. Now all of them have gone their own way and am nowhere. I am angry and if there is none I cant' forgive then its me"
"You did nothing wrong Lizzie, you did nothing wrong. You loved all, very good thing to do. But there is one thing you missed. You forgot your best friend, honey, you forgot Jesus"
"What?! I did not forget anybody. I attended every service every weekend. I decorated the whole house every christmas, I prayed every night, every morning, for the well being of my family. And this is how God has repayed me for all my prayers. He has taken away the one I loved the most, my family. How does he become God then?"
Sheryl nodded her head in dsagreement.
"Lizzie, Lizzie, my Lizzie. What are you saying dear? You thing God is your God because you give him your prayers, because you do this or that. Look at what you have done? When He was ready to stay with you always, you confined him to weekends. When he was ready to share your sorrow, you threw him far away with routine prayers. You did not give him the first priority but still he continued to love you. He gave you all you wanted. Now, he did this only so that he could turn your attention towards him.
God is ready to give you his everything. But you only want the worldly love, not his true love.
I was just like you. I only knew the truth when my fiance, the one whome I considered my everything deserted me. My life, I thought was over. But God picked me up from that gutter like he picked millions of our believers.You are indeed lucky"
Lizzie could not concur all at once. But a part of her heart lit up in joy. We know, don't we, of what would have happened after that.
