Night Lights

Studio
Claudet walked into the studio/gallery. People had been telling her about it ever since it had opened six months ago. She knew that the big old barn had been converted by the farmer whilst his daughter had been finishing art college. She walked through the door and was taken back thirty years. She was approached by the artist
“Hello, and welcome, I’m Jean.”
“Hello, my how this place has changed since I was last here.”
“Then I guess that you remember it as a barn.”
“Oh, yes, barn, playground, love nest, you name it.”
“Fascinating, you must have lived here then.”
“Yes, my parents had the farm before yours.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, what happened to you dad was tragic.”
“Yes, but I have long got over it. What a lovely conversion this is.”
“Thank you. Dad even included a flat above the studio for me.”
“Lucky you. I’ll just take a look around if I may.”
“Feel free, if there’s anything you want to know just ask.”

Claudet was a bit shaken, the last thing she had wanted was to be reminded of her father’s tragic accident when the tractor had rolled over on him. Once again her mind took her back thirty years and more. She was remembering the barn in happier days, when it had been full of hay a straw, and had been a playground for her, her brother and their friends. She smiled when she thought about how they used to create places to hide within the bales. She looked back to the door, and could see the ladder that led to the upper floor. How many times had she climbed that? They, and their friends, had all had such fun back then. She was struggling to remember them, there was James and Cathy, brother and sister, from the village. Who was that other boy? Oh, yes, Philip. She let out a gasp and brought her hand to her mouth. Of course there was Philip, how the hell could she have forgotten him. Of course there wasn’t the flat up there back then, only a bed of straw. Jean came up to her
“Are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine thanks. I just remembered something that happened up there twenty five years ago.”
“Ah, that explains the sudden gasp. Now you have me intrigued.”
“It was nothing bad, although my parents might have disagreed with that back then.”
“Oh, in that case I will pry no further.”
“It’s fine, you’re not prying. It was just that I suddenly remembered that it was up there on a bed of straw that I lost my virginity.”
“My word, what a memory to have after all this time. I assume you married him.”
Claudet laughed, and explained that she had never married, and had given birth to two children by different fathers. She pointed up and told Jean that they had both been conceived up above, and probably directly above where they were standing. Jean laughed, gave her a big hug, and left Claudet with her memories.